Thread: Is my agent buyer agent trying to cheat me?

Good agents are rare these days...
Why don't you shop around for an agent, like a car or a camera?
Don't you want the best for your money or something?
Ask questions, get involved...

For example: " If I can show you that I am a ready, able and willing buyer, will you give me $20 every hour wasted waiting your call back if I had to leave a msg since you didn't answer right away, between let's say, 9:00am and 4:00pm?"

Get creative...
I passed my license because of agents like these, just to serve myself better.
When I go to listing presentation and the sellers want to sign with me, I always suggest to keep shopping around and give them my 14 questions.
I want them to compare and I get them not only for one listing but for many referals...

Not recommended you call the seller or sellers agent. it will just create more problems.

If the property is a Short Sale and vacant, the bank could take a very long time to respond to an offer. Not the agents fault.

A multi party seller must get signatures from people in different locations. That can take time, especially with the holidays.

From past experience, someone who is not returning calls is doing so due to several factors. 1. Does not care 2. Does not have any information for you yet 3. Busy and forgot.

Beleive it or not, some agents are actually BUSY working with several clients, and most make every effort to keep people up to date as much as possible. Sometimes you just have to be patient.

I am waiting almost a week for a Short Sale to get signed by the owner before it gets submitted to the bank, which will take another 2 months for a response.

Let your agent know you are not satisfied and request communication even if there is nothing to report.

I recommend email as it can be faster than playing phone tag.

All the best!

I would look for another agent. All of these things can happen, but your agent needs to communicate better with you.

WOW you guys are tough. Communications is a 2 way street. If the agent does not know how much or in what ways the client wishes to be updated people need to discuss and be aware.

Donald Trump gave Tarra Connor a second chance!
Give the guy a second chance and tell them how you feel.

If you told me you have already had 3 buyers agents and now you wanted me to work for you all I would be able to see is red flags swirling around.

This agent already told you all she knows and you are upset because she is not calling you and telling you she hasn't heard anything.

What is the problem and why do you think she is trying to cheat you?

Buyers' agents typically only get paid if their clients' successfully close on a property so they are generally working hard at making that happen. I am unclear of why their is a lack of communication but I would give her the benefit of the doubt until you know the reason. Around here, just about everyone's kids I know (including my own) have either the flu or strep so she could have something more pressing but I'm sure will get back to you as soon as she has information you need. Remember, patience is a virtue--unfortunately, communication not so much.

I wonder whether every single agent is bad for you. You need to sit down with you agent and spell out your expectations at the very beginning. There are some bad agents out there as there are also some unrealistic buyers. You really need to be on the same page.

Thanks you for the advice everyone. The situation ended with me losing the house. The seller didn't offer a counter and just picked another buyer. My agent called me this afternoon (even though she found out yesterday) and told me that the other buyer offered an initial price that was 20% above the asking price. I think something crooked must have happened here. The other buyer must have had some inside information. Why would you offer 20% above asking in the initial offer in this market? There are literally hundreds of houses exactly the same on the market for less. (so I don't feel bad losing it) I'll probably just put on offer on another a few blocks away.

Anyway... I think the agent I have is honest. Someone asked me what I want out of an agent... I really don't want much. I'm not sure I even need one. I find all of the houses I want to look at on the Internet. I want my agent to make the appointments for viewing, make the offer to the seller's agent, and keep me informed on the process. I don't think that's too much to ask from a person that's going to make several thousand dollars on this transaction.

AS to the firing of the other agents. I didn't really fire them. I don't sign exclusive agreements with anyone.

The first agent I had was also a mortgage broker. He lied to me about my credit scores. He told me they were between 650-680. I had already confirmed my scores independently and with other lenders and I score between 790-810. Then he gave me a good faith estimate with all kinds of bullshit expenses. Closing costs of $12,000 on a $160,000 home? Conveniently rolled into the loan of course. He also told me that PMI is tax deductible in Wisconsin until 2010. I know for a fact that's not true. At least not right now. After that I wanted nothing to do with him.

The second agent I met at an open house. He had the air of a used car salesman. He took the time to meet with me at my house and really go over everything. I TOLD him that I was looking for under $175,000 for a purchase price. I asked him to find me some places that fit my criteria. I was very specific with what I wanted. He can't find anything that I would like for $175,000 but there was a lot for $250,000 - $300,000. A quick web search proved him wrong. I asked him about those home that I had found and he sounded flabbergasted, and told me that they didn't show up when he did his search. I asked him if we could skip the expensive homes and look at the ones I wanted. He said we should look at all of them. Day 1... all we looked at were expensive homes. Day 2... the same... Day 3 the same... day 4... he brought me to these dumps in bad neighborhoods (that were not on my list) After seeing 20+ homes (none that I wanted to see) I told him I would look elsewhere for an agent.

My issue the third agent was that she wouldn't make appointments to view the houses I wanted (the cheap ones) I made the mistake of letting her know how much I can afford. I'm looking to buy at about 50% of what I'm approved for. Suddenly with this news, I'm only able to view homes within a couple thousand of my approved financing. She told me there wasn't any viewings available for the homes I wanted to see. I didn't believe her so I called another agent and within two hours I was viewing all the homes on my list. Either this agent was a lier or incompetent. Either way... I didn't want her working for me.

So I've been with this agent for awhile. At least I'm getting to see the homes I want to see. She doesn't know about the other agents. She also doesn't know how much I can afford.

I don't think she's trying to cheat me... I think I'm just paranoid because I've had so many (less than honest) people come before her. I've also been dealing with a lot of dishonest mortgage brokers compounding my paranoia.
Communication was poor during a critical time ( I think ) but I found out that she was on vacation. Given the circumstances I don't think there's anything she could do. At least if what she's telling me is true.

And that is the crux of the situation --- how do I know what any of these people are telling me is true. There are two middle-men involved and it's in their best interest to sell the most expensive home.

Anyway... any more advice is welcome. I'm sticking with this agent.

banks are slow - they are even slower responding if you are low balling them