Reba Haas's Discussions

My understanding of this method of assignment is that it is not allowed in most states and is illegal for several reasons, one being that if financing is involved then there may be lender fraud included in the assignment.

Our general experience is that only a small portion of agents actually provide feedback on viewing listings. There are several reasons and some of them have to do with how agents want to spend their time. If you are the seller and they are working with buyers then you aren't their client and sometimes they don't feel the need to spend time meeting your expectations. Other agents are a bit more professional and understand that only by working together to provide feedback do we have an effective marketplace where sellers can respond to market conditions. These can include responses regarding price, condition, cosmetic issues, and more.We try a couple of times a week to send out a request for feedback on our listings but we get only about a 10% response rate overall. But, for those that do respond we do forward that information to our clients so they can work with as good of information as we can possibly provide for decision making. Occasionally the feedback is for issues we don't have much control over - such as a neighbor's broken down car or much needed paint job. But sometimes we do use it to contact the neighbor to ask for their assistance in improving short term appearances. Recently I had to work with a client to have an abandoned car removed by the local police that was impacting our ability to sell his home. We can't do much about his messy yard but we have had it mowed a few times.

Concessions for items such as consideration for items that were found during an inspection are fine as are credits given that can be applied toward the financing package for a buyer - they must ALL be open and upfront. Money paid to either party after closing - hence, a kickback - is ALWAYS illegal.RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) also dictates that no kickbacks are allowed to any of the professionals involved in a transaction such as a lender paying a fee to a real estate professional for referring business. None of this can happen and there are many other examples. In fact, Stewart Title was just slammed by the Washington Insurance Commission for just such a problem. They were paying out all kinds of fees for agent's expenses above and beyond the maximum $25 per year that is allowed. A massive fine is about to be handed down to them.

Hi all, I'll be up front and tell everyone that I am a real estate agent. I've got a client that is about to put a house on market in the next few months and we're discussing how much work he should put into the home over the next month or 3 to get it ready. He's considering putting it on in "as is" condition but it's got a lot of cosmetic needs. I am putting together for him a comparison of price points in "as is", partial remake, and complete makeover price points. My question here is this: what condition of home do you prefer to buy?  Cosmetic fixer?  Move-in but needs some updates?  Or, it's in perfect condition with no changes needed? Thanks!Rebecca "Reba" HaasTeam Reba of RE/MAX Metro Realty

In response to the original post regarding feedback on showings - we tend to find that only a portion of showing agents will respond. We've decided to do phone calls only after emails have gone without responses. Many agents don't feel it's worth their time to call a listing agent back but I won't say that all agents feel this way. The more professional and courteous agents will reply with what they can recall.  That is why we use email and we send a link to the listing info to make sure the agent knows exactly which house we're asking about. Sometimes over the phone the agent may not remember your house, especially if they'd seen a dozen or more with that client (or a mix of clients) that day. We do try to ask specific things such as what did they like about the house, what didn't they like, what did you think of the price point (low, high, ok), was there anything that you think should be changed, etc. We also make sure to let agents that we contact know that we will be happy to reciprocate on any showings we may do of their listings in the future to help foster cooperation.  On average, I'd say we get feedback from about half of the agents we contact.

Keeping it along a real estate vein - I would recommend to any client that they remove any items that could be a liability while the property is for sale.  Trampolines, bouncies, and such would be items that I'd suggest either be dismantled or ridden of prior to going on market. There is case law of sellers being sued for both agents and prospective buyers getting injured on their property during viewings. We also recommend clients speak to their insurance agent prior to going on sale to insure that they have enough coverage for any thefts that could occur, liability (such as injuries), and to make sure that if they aren't living in the home that it is covered. Many policies consider a home "abandoned" and won't cover some problems unless there is agreement with the insurer to cover during that period.

The agent that had this own house being held open by his son should have been reprimanded by his local MLS (if they were advised about it) since non-agents in most states are not allowed to do this kind of thing.  I'm an agent in WA State and that would NOT be acceptable here. It also seems that the agent was not a "professional" in the sense that most of us - the people who make real estate our primary and ONLY business. Had this person had the proper training and oversight this never should have happened.  It's unfortunate that it did. Regarding the notes about the Crazy Russian house: For one, most people in Russia don't own their own homes. So, it would not be "normal" behavior there. For those folks that wonder if keeping a house neat is worth it when going on market - IT IS!!!  Granted, it can be a nerve-wracking experience if you're on "forever" or it feels like it, but if you are priced right, look good, and can feel confident that you are the best value for the money in your price range, it is worth it to keep it up. You'll get more for your house, for sure. Oh, and that brings me to another point... If you have pets (and I have 4), a good way to help eliminate smells in the home is to make sure and wash all the pet bedding before going on market and to regularly do so while on market. I've got clients that just try to put masking odors in place like scented candles, plug-ins and such but DO NOT use these.  The best smell your house can have is to be CLEAN, not covered up in scents.  For people with sensitive noses or allergies the scented stuff can be a major turn off or make them ill.

You might consider areas like South Park, Renton, Skyway, Lakeridge and similar.  If you're coming out here and you are a Realtor, then you know the advantages of finding someone local who can help you sort this out. If you're going north end, then you might look at Lake City Way and surrounding areas, Haller Lake, Bitter Lake, Greenwood, etc.

Zillow and NAR will always come at different view points because they do different things. Zillow gets great marketing out of a report like this and it helps to keep them relevant and ad marketing dollars. That's all fine and good.  NAR owns the majority of the MLS programs in the US and the data that they log is not the same as Zillow, so duh, they won't report the same numbers. NAR doesn't track assessor data or other info in its MLS database. As for Seattle, I work here and while we have been impacted by the fear put into the marketplace and the real issues of what loans are available to the buying public, we're not going away any time soon in terms of a decent market. We've stabilized, yes.  But, no market can sustain 12-35% annual appreciation forever which is what was happening her for several years. It's true that 2006 was our recent peak and mid-2007 got hit by the mortgage mess, but there are too many folks still relocating here and people's lives continue to experience changes that require our market to chug along.  Plus, if you stop looking at the ridiculous marketing of homes that has occurred over the past several years of "your home is an investment" and realize that homes are shelter first, and a large asset second, then you might recall that it's never been a good idea to buy believing that a short term hold would net you a lot of gain.  Homes are similar to stocks - they might have "paper value" like what Zillow is claiming, but you don't realize gain or losses till you actually sell.  So, if you're holding a house for 5-10 years, chances are you'll come out ahead.

We tell clients to expect anywhere from a couple of minutes to about half an hour.  If they're staying in longer than that you may have inexperienced agents who don't know how to move their clients along or you have that wonderful situation of very interested buyers - and you want them to be comfortable in the home so that they are more likely to buy it.  If people are there only moments long then they aren't your buyer typically. One other reason that a buyer may take a long time is if they are in the early stages of looking. They might be going out with their agent to see what fits their price range, what kinds of features that price point gets them, and to see what they like.  Some buyers don't know it's a little rude to ask a seller to "hang out" while they do this little dance but I work with my buyers to let them know if we have a vacant house that it could be worth it for us to go through it slowly to determine and narrow down their likes and dislikes.  We try to treat the sellers with respect by not hanging out too long particularly if the buyer decides early on that the house isn't for them.  I will tell you though that especially with the advent of all the HGTV shows and such that a lot of people will just walk around trashing a seller's home.  I tend to push my clients through those situations because it's not productive for them or me to do so.  I will listen to some of the issues because I can then provide feedback to the listing agent that is constructive, but if all they're doing is trashing someone's personal tastes or cleanliness, etc, I'll move them along as quickly as possible.