Thread: Question about documentation & "buyer's rights"

Are you aware every Realtor must abide by the following Code of Ethics? If they ignore them, forget them, or intentionally break them then they run the risk of fines and losing their license. Read up on this first. Also, the local association of realtors will have a process by which you file complaints against a Realtor. Depending on the situation several things can happen. After reading the Code of Ethics I would contact the local board to determine the options you have available.

NAR: Real Estate Resources: 2012 Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice

Since noone here is aware of the entire situation (only obtaining your view/opinion) it would not be prudent to say exactly what you should do. Clearly the first step is to try and communicate with your realtor. Once you have exhausted that avenue then what I mentioned above is available to any buyer or seller.

This is only one reason why short sales suck. If you want to be treated like a human being then stay away from short sales.

Originally Posted by edfupper

My wife and I found what we believe is our dream home -- a short sale. Needless to say, it has been delayed for months as title people work to clear liens, etc. We used this time to try and get the price down, since the house has some $30k worth of repairs we will have to do. With much effort, I finally got our realtor to accept and send a letter informing the bank of the house's condition. The response to this was an offer to provide a small check toward repairs, which was later retracted. Long story short, and several letters later, we came to the conclusion that we're not sure what our Realtor has sent, and we began asking for proof that the letters were sent at all.

Basically: 2 problems:

#1: It seems in what little written documentation we've been given (after begging for it), that the bank has only been told we want money for repairs. We have never asked for this, only that the sell price be reduced.
#2: No matter how many times I ask our realtor for proof the letters were sent to the bank (through her and the selling realtor) we simply are given a run-around.

In essence, my wife and I feel like it's us vs. them, and them "them" includes our own realtor. She simply seems to have no interest in helping us get a better deal or doing small things we ask. It's like pulling teeth and listening to low hum of her talking constantly instead of listening.

What rights do we have as buyers in this regard? How can we know our realtor is doing her job, and sending the communications we've asked her to send?

Short sales are indeed a beast to deal with (so dont assume the realtor is at fault), I see no reason for either realtor to withhold any request for concsesion by you (since its up to you if you wish to procceed and if your not obtaining this concesion then you wont close). If on the other hand you asked your realtor to present these requests to lower the sale price (yet said... "but if they dont accept this request for concesion we will buy it anyways") then maybe your request was not taken seriously.

as far as documents go... you should absolutly recieve copy's of anything you have signed! If you are feeling the agent your working with is dishonest about doc's or is simply not communicating with you then your first step should be to call his office manager directly (or the broker he works under).

Some people end up on short sales as they are misled by some people who don't actually know about short sales as well. If you are to be involved with it, you better consult first a professional realtor and seek proper advice from them.