Home Buying: Don't buy a house from a used car salesman
Gemma and I are looking to buy our first house. We got what we could together, did a fair amount of research into the technical aspects of process, and set out on the journey by selecting our financing and real estate assistance.
A week later, we're not much further along.
There are some really great people in the real estate industry, but it seems so difficult to find them. Even if the majority are great people, the predatory types are so aggressive it feels like that's all you run into.
When we looked for financing, I knew I wanted an UpFront mortgage broker to help us out. It's certainly been the best decision. He's given us lots of great advice, certainly has put my conscience at ease, and I don't feel dirty after talking with him. Not so much for the other places I contacted, on a you-don't-go-with-the-first-guy-you-meet reasoning.
I had to tell them I didn't want to work with them anymore, tell them why I didn't want to work with them any more, get told that they don't do what I thought they did, and point out that their legal disclaimers page specifically says that they do indeed do what I thought they did, before I was ever told that the company I contacted was NOT the company I was in touch with now, but was in fact a DIFFERENT company with THE SAME NAME that they switched me to without telling me!
Sleazy much?
Then the real estate agent ... Ugh. This search is going around in circles. Every time I find one I like, I find out they don't do what I thought they did. I suspect in most cases it's because they advertised such-and-such, then went to a different real estate group (which should really just be referred to as a hive or collective, but at least they're rarely referred to as a company) where the rules forbid them from fulfilling any of the things they advertised on the page they never bothered to change.
The latest was great. I e-mailed a lady in Chino Hills, she said she'd love to help me, but meant that she'd love any anonymous person in a group down in Corona to help me. Then this morning I got a call from some guy in New York saying that he'd love to tell me what he can do for me ... but he can't tell me what he can do for me in e-mail or on the phone, I have to drive out to LA and meet in person at a time when he's in LA. I DON'T KNOW YOU OR YOUR COMPANY AND I'M NOT GOING TO WASTE MY TIME MEETING WITH YOU IF YOU CAN'T CONVINCE ME WE'RE A GOOD FIT. I hate going to presentations for MY job, I'm sure as heck not going to do it for YOUR job.
He couldn't imagine a scenario where meeting with him was a waste of my time. He seemed to think that because I sent an e-mail to a woman in Chino Hills, I'd agreed to an exclusive contract with him. Oh, and by the way, he doesn't do anything but coordinate other agents and one or more of them who I may or may not ever meet will be the ones helping me.
And this is from trademarked Realtors. And this doesn't include the sleazy ones I dismiss out of hand for calling themselves things like The Inland Empire Condo-KING when they e-mail me.
It's probably these aggressive ones who get all the business, too. I just want to find good people to do their job conscientiously. I know they're out there. They're just not easy to find.
A week later, we're not much further along.
There are some really great people in the real estate industry, but it seems so difficult to find them. Even if the majority are great people, the predatory types are so aggressive it feels like that's all you run into.
When we looked for financing, I knew I wanted an UpFront mortgage broker to help us out. It's certainly been the best decision. He's given us lots of great advice, certainly has put my conscience at ease, and I don't feel dirty after talking with him. Not so much for the other places I contacted, on a you-don't-go-with-the-first-guy-you-meet reasoning.
I had to tell them I didn't want to work with them anymore, tell them why I didn't want to work with them any more, get told that they don't do what I thought they did, and point out that their legal disclaimers page specifically says that they do indeed do what I thought they did, before I was ever told that the company I contacted was NOT the company I was in touch with now, but was in fact a DIFFERENT company with THE SAME NAME that they switched me to without telling me!
Sleazy much?
Then the real estate agent ... Ugh. This search is going around in circles. Every time I find one I like, I find out they don't do what I thought they did. I suspect in most cases it's because they advertised such-and-such, then went to a different real estate group (which should really just be referred to as a hive or collective, but at least they're rarely referred to as a company) where the rules forbid them from fulfilling any of the things they advertised on the page they never bothered to change.
The latest was great. I e-mailed a lady in Chino Hills, she said she'd love to help me, but meant that she'd love any anonymous person in a group down in Corona to help me. Then this morning I got a call from some guy in New York saying that he'd love to tell me what he can do for me ... but he can't tell me what he can do for me in e-mail or on the phone, I have to drive out to LA and meet in person at a time when he's in LA. I DON'T KNOW YOU OR YOUR COMPANY AND I'M NOT GOING TO WASTE MY TIME MEETING WITH YOU IF YOU CAN'T CONVINCE ME WE'RE A GOOD FIT. I hate going to presentations for MY job, I'm sure as heck not going to do it for YOUR job.
He couldn't imagine a scenario where meeting with him was a waste of my time. He seemed to think that because I sent an e-mail to a woman in Chino Hills, I'd agreed to an exclusive contract with him. Oh, and by the way, he doesn't do anything but coordinate other agents and one or more of them who I may or may not ever meet will be the ones helping me.
And this is from trademarked Realtors. And this doesn't include the sleazy ones I dismiss out of hand for calling themselves things like The Inland Empire Condo-KING when they e-mail me.
It's probably these aggressive ones who get all the business, too. I just want to find good people to do their job conscientiously. I know they're out there. They're just not easy to find.