patrick.net

finding the right house is kind of like finding the right girl (assuming you're a straight guy). it's a numbers game. don't waste time on any one house. don't fall in love right away - don't get one-itis. if the house is not perfect, move on. there are lots of houses out there.

waiting_for_the_fall says

Consider yourself lucky that the agent 'fired' you before you were 'burned'.

+1. You should be happy that agent indirectly helped you make a good decision.

Hire a lawyer who specializes in such matters to represent you in the transaction. That is what my partner and I did, a lot less aggravation. That lawyer also had referrals for property inspectors, etc.

Then, how do you buy a property in the bay area?
This past 2 months have been more difficult for me than dealing with mafia. At least, they may give you something in return :-)
In the process of buying, you literally have to deal with mental case realtors, dishonest loan officers, contractors, insurance people and the rest of the pests all lined up to suck you dry LOL.
When does our government step in and impose some regulations so that a buyer trying to do an honest purchase gets some protection, crying out loud?

Prices are falling still over there. Don't catch a falling knife. Someone else said call the offending person's boss, I say call and write a letter to the boss, the company, and cc any association they say they belong to.

APOCALYPSEFUCK says

Remember, the Realtor® is a psychopath by definition and would be tearing the kidneys out of infants to sell to vampires if they didn't get into real estate crimes racket.

Why do you restrict these blood thirsty vampire squids to only two choices? Can't they "..tear out the kidneys of infants..." AND "...get involved with real estate crimes..." at the same time? They would then have the opportunity to sell AND/OR eat the kids kidneys as well?

----and here is the kitchen----and this is the doorway to the cozy termite and mold infected faux loggia...Imagine entertaining your friends and professional associates in your rhinestone studded velvet slippers...." And you get 6% for these stories?

Beware the Realtor® that says "I'll pay you Tuesday for a kidney today".

Half Moon Bay is a nice place to visit on the weekends, but why would you want to live there? Are you working in that area?

This agent you signed a contract with, is this the listing agent and are we talking about dual agency here? In any case, the Realtard, if you buy into this buyers agent concept, should not be talking with other agents about you.

I am trying to get out of crowded and overpopulated places like san jose, sunnyvale, palo alto etc. My work is in san jose, and hours are adjustable. I prefer solitude over convenience :-)

windsurfer says

Then, how do you buy a property in the bay area?

As you do in other states. Contracts.

windsurfer says

Unfortunately, there are really no true real estate laws to protect the buyer in a scenerio like this.

All transactions related to buying and selling of real estate are governed by "Contract Laws".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract

I meant company-required contracts should not be included in the buying process. You can miss fine print very easily unless you hire a lawyer. I don't have any problems with state-mandated contracts; they go step by step into the buying process and protect both the buyer and the seller.

waiting_for_the_fall says

TW, I paid 430k for a 2200 sq ft 4 bedroom/ 2.5 bath new home in Fremont 12 years ago. It kind of gives some perspective on how high prices still are.

And a year before you bought it was somewhere in the mid-upper 300K. Crazy 12-13 years we had.

waiting_for_the_fall says

TW, I paid 430k for a 2200 sq ft 4 bedroom/ 2.5 bath new home in Fremont 12 years ago. It kind of gives some perspective on how high prices still are.

And a year before you bought it was somewhere in the mid-upper 300K. Crazy 12-13 years we had.

windsurfer says

I am trying to get out of crowded and overpopulated places like san jose, sunnyvale, palo alto etc. My work is in san jose, and hours are adjustable. I prefer solitude over convenience

You want to commute 40+ miles each way just to live in Half Moon Bay? Wow.

A number of years ago, I was working for a major company headquartered in downtown Minneapolis, MN. I lived in the Warehouse District which was right next to downtown. I would walk to work or if I was feeling lazy, take a bus for 50 cents each way.

All my co-workers lived in the burbs and had hour long rush hour drives. Me? I was the first in the office and would have a relaxing bagel and coffee while waiting for everyone else to show up.

At least when you get home, you can go to the beach and breathe unpolluted air. Half an hour on the beach will wash away all your troubles and stress. I have done it before; trust me it is worthed.

windsurfer says

At least when you get home, you can go to the beach and breathe unpolluted air. Half an hour on the beach will wash away all your troubles and stress. I have done it before; trust me it is worthed.

Don't get me wrong, I like HMB, but that drive..... Ever think how much pollution is being caused by the commute?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jvolstad/sets/72157600405977418/

It is beautiful, isn't it? It is so unlike anywhere else in the bay area. You have to love it to compromise the 40mile commute. I have currently 2 friends that live and commute from HMB. They say after a while you forget about counting the miles. Having an electric car also helps :-)

file a complaint with the DRE dept of real estate

http://www.dre.ca.gov/cons_complaint.html

not sure what the violatio is but definetly shady
hope you can get the D bags license pulled

windsurfer says

Then, how do you buy a property in the bay area?

Go to www.redfin.com No BS, just helpful agents working on salary, not commission.

You're planning for a 40 mile commute? That just sounds crazy. A 2+ hr drive per day so that you can enjoy all of what 15 mins by the beach? Really... think about that. The realtor might've unintentiopnally done you a favor on this one.

Okay - shame on you for signing a contract like that - but you know that now...

So - she can go and muddy your name to other agents? I'm surprised to hear that she would be bad mouthing anybody - in the world of realtor, isn't it all about smiles and too much perfume? Throwing mud around seems to be a bad idea for realtor. One of these days somebody should muddy her name back.

My take on this, once holding two real estate licenses in two states for real estate investment referral is that I never disclose my personal financial details on an investment, including if a deal is going to financing, with a RE agent (unless they are lending the money, a RE has absolutely no business knowing personal financial affairs.) Secondly, loan or not, in my opinion a deal IS always a cash deal to the buyer considering my offer, no matter where the money is coming from if in the end the buyer is paid in full (unless they are holding back some of the purchase as a loan to them it is a cash deal.) SO the notion of “cash deal” is IMHO often a misleading and manipulative misnomer. Thirdly, a real estate agent is there to show me the property and present my offer to the seller, the idea of being pressured into any contract is against my personal standards of professional conduct, and I would have in no uncertain terms, if the pressure went that far simply told the agent, "My money spends anywhere. You can go to Hell!"

I would not hesitate to post the realtors name, copy of the email and the brokers name all over the internet. Make a point to send links of all the posts to the used house salesman and broker. There are sites specificaly for this like ripoffreport.com. I would make enough post so that when the broker or agent is Goggled one of your post shows on the first page. Why protect them by not posting the agents name? Help protect other buyers from that old bimbo.

The house aint no fly. It will still be there later when the the contract expires.

The contract you signed do have an expiry time, doesnt it? I will never sign a contract that is forever.

The agent worked to get you that property. She obviously thought it was a waste of her time. It may have been or not. I don't know that. When she fired you in the email. That does not undo the contract. She may have better people she thinks for that house. Therefore she did not include the contract in that manuver. Maybe thinking she could loose a deal.

She has the right to protect herself in contract. Which like it or not is very wise. Deal is if you fullfill your part of the contract. Since she decided to keep it. There is nothing she can do. You did not spell out the problem entirely so it is difficult to assertain. Exactly what the problem is with the contract. That needs to be known. Sounds like there is no exclusive. So wait till it expires. If nothing else.

I grew up in HMB, it is a nice place but there are some down sides. First off it is wet and foggy or overcast much of the time. It has a very wet cold that cuts right to the bone. It is not the stereotypical sunny California beach town by any means. If you have kids there is a big drug problem in the high school, something like 85% or more admit to drug use in surveys. And on sunny weekends don't plan on going anywhere very fast, the routes in and out are clogged with traffic. And commuting to San Jose would get very old very fast for most people, do you really want to spend all those hours in a car?

"Thirdly, a real estate agent is there to show me the property and present my offer to the seller, the idea of being pressured into any contract is against my personal standards of professional conduct, and I would have in no uncertain terms, if the pressure went that far simply tell the ag ent to go to Hell."

Amen :-)

"Okay - shame on you for signing a contract like that - but you know that now... So - she can go and muddy your name to other agents? I'm surprised to hear that she would be bad mouthing anybody - in the world of realtor, isn't it all about smiles and too much perfume? Throwing mud around seems to be a bad idea for realtor. One of these days somebody should muddy her name back."

Trust me, I won't do the same mistake twice! She called me to admit her mistake. But, it is too late; I just cannot depend on her any longer especially when it comes to hairy dealings such as short sales.

"You're planning for a 40 mile commute? That just sounds crazy. A 2+ hr drive per day so that you can enjoy all of what 15 mins by the beach? Really... think about that. The realtor might've unintentiopnally done you a favor on this one."

I have done this commute several times in the same week just to see how it feels. It takes 45min each way. I can adjust my work hours out of rush hour traffic. It is not all that bad :-)

"Go to www.redfin.com No BS, just helpful agents working on salary, not commission."

I dealt with them before. You cannot even talk to the guy since he is too busy to handle 30 other transactions. If the sale is a regular sale and you are the only client, then there is no problem. Shorts, foreclosues, multiple offers etc. you get what you pay for.

"I grew up in HMB, it is a nice place but there are some down sides. First off it is wet and foggy or overcast much of the time. It has a very wet cold that cuts right to the bone. It is not the stereotypical sunny California beach town by any means. If you have kids there is a big drug problem in the high school, something like 85% or more admit to drug use in surveys. And on sunny weekends don't plan on going anywhere very fast, the routes in and out are clogged with traffic. And commuting to San Jose would get very old very fast for most people, do you really want to spend all those hours in a car?"

Thanks, woggs1. These are truly good points you are bringing out. I knew about the overcast and the fog, but I didn't know the cold would cut to your bones. But, it cannot be worse than Minnesota :-)

"file a complaint with the DRE dept of real estate http://www.dre.ca.gov/cons_complaint.html not sure what the violatio is but definetly shady hope you can get the D bags license pulled"

I didn't know this. Thanks. There was another idiot before this one who used my offer to make the other buyer perform in a multiple offer situation on another property. I should do that for him. I will investigate this. Thanks again.

If she told an other agent unpleasant things about you that are provably untrue, and they affect your ability to do business with others, that's Slander,

maybe get a lawyer to draft something where you agree not to sue under slander laws if they release you of the contract ?

The first thing agent did was to make me sign a contract

There is one born every minute...

windsurfer says

I have done this commute several times in the same week just to see how it feels. It takes 45min each way. I can adjust my work hours out of rush hour traffic. It is not all that bad :-)

I've had a 45 min commute before with zero traffic, and it was ok for the first month. It really starts to wear on you though. Right now it's 25 minutes and that still feels too long.

I hope you've accounted for other things, such as the issue with increased traffic every year. Rush hour will soon be rush hours, and eventually it will be unavoidable. If 45 minutes is the best you can do on a good day, then I'd highly reconsider living that far from your job.

"I've had a 45 min commute before with zero traffic, and it was ok for the first month. It really starts to wear on you though. Right now it's 25 minutes and that still feels too long. I hope you've accounted for other things, such as the issue with increased traffic every year. Rush hour will soon be rush hours, and eventually it will be unavoidable. If 45 minutes is the best you can do on a good day, then I'd highly reconsider living that far from your job."

You do have a point. Thank you.

StoutFiles says

the issue with increased traffic every year. Rush hour will soon be rush hours, and eventually it will be unavoidable.

I've had that happen as well when I used to work near DC. Even when the economy supposedly took a dump (although you wouldn't know it around here) traffic still kept getting worse.

I lived in Santa Cruz from around 2000 to 2007 while I was working in Sunnyvale. At first the 45 minute (I went off hours) commute each way didn't bother me. Living in Santa Cruz was also very nice at first and relaxing. I thought that living in a vacation destination would be fun; my friends would come to me and I'd already be where everyone wanted to go.

And then my friends never wanted to put up with vacation traffic so I'd drive up to the Bay Area to visit them, the 45 minute commute got really really old, and I absolutely hated how whenever I had free time to enjoy Santa Cruz it was generally overrun by tourists and what should have been a 10 minute drive across town would turn into a 45 minute drive.

And then I moved to downtown SJ where I can walk to one office location, take Caltrain to the other, and I'm much much happier with the situation.

If all your friends are out in HBM it sounds like it could be a good move. On top of that 92 isn't nearly as bad as 17 so the commute will be better.

But after living in Santa Cruz I decided I'm never living in a vacation destination again. No way. I hate dealing with the tourists.

omgbacon says

On top of that 92 isn't nearly as bad as 17 so the commute will be better.

As long as Devil's Slide doesn't wash out. Of course, the new tunnel/bridge project should help with that. Also, on weekends during pumpkin season, you better not leave town during any daytime hours, because you won't be able to get back any time soon.

As for the substantive question, she can't practically speaking "fire" you and still claim to be your exclusive agent -- she can't have her cake and eat it too. She's breaching the contract.

I'd love to know who this is, so I never have to deal with her. You should talk to the broker who should be supervising her (if she's not the broker) first to try to work this out. If explaining the inanity of this situation and the fact that she is breaching doesn't work, report her to the DRE.