I hope so, because I want to jump out of one Thank you though - and thank you also codell and SamCassell. It will work out in the long run I'm sure... just tough being that close to it. Now you kind of start over. SamCassell - I see what you're saying about friends, but even in this instance I was fine with him making money. I absolutely believe realtors are worth that and would never even consider asking for them to take lower (I guess there are situations where maybe that applies, but I wouldn't if they were looking for a home for me). My thing was he came to me with that idea... and when I found the house, I just handed it to him like, "Lets get it done". Hand-delivered to him and he said he would give me back the 3% ... and all that happened. I never saw that reversal coming, but it was a huge mistake on my part. Even when I spoke with his father this morning (though the conversation was polite and honest), I was kind of angered some by comments like, "It's not worth our time at a lesser price" or "maybe you should seek a less expensive home". This wasn't any friendship discount and he was just clueless on how this partnership came about. Real awkward. Anyhow, now you know the super-secret reason why the April Fool's gag was no gag
Sorry, Clutch. That really blows. It almost happened to me last year when I was buying my first house. House was listed WAY over market value. The seller's realtor knew it but the seller was an imbusil. Finally got her to come down to a reasonable price (with help from codell's better half) and everything was great. Told my landlord to shove it, got ready to move, started counting the days until closing. Then, the house wouldn't appraise because it was still over market value. So the idiot seller decided she wanted to RENT it out instead. Very stressful time for me. I was thinking I would be out on the streets since my landlord had already rented my apartment out. Finally, the hillbilly butterhog seller relented and we ended up closing on schedule, but it was very stressful, so I can imagine what you're going through right now. But things have a way of working out for the best, so maybe you'll end up finding a better house in the end. Good luck.
It will work out for the best. Say...why don't you get a license ? It's not so hard. I'm a broker, and my wife is getting her license right now. She's somehow getting to class despite two kids, and can get it done in about 5 weeks at the real estate school, with her degree. This is also another chance to re-frame and think who you are and what you really want. If you could be anywhere in the city, where would it be? Don't put boundaries on that - they will come anyway. There's probably an opportunity to move closer to that, if you think you can. I bet you'd build a cool place, too.
Sorry about your situation... The good news is theres always another house that will come along, especially if you don't mind waiting. I spent over a year looking for my house (in Houston) before finally finding the right one. Quite a few came and went but I ended up perfectly happy with what I've got now. I also had trouble with my broker. She would only show me her listings, or listings with her company. She had a lot of high priced listings and seemed to be 'bothered' that I would take up her time with the homes I was interested in (considerably cheaper than her other listings.) Basically I was told to go find a home I liked, call her and she'd take over whenever I was ready to make an offer. Since I was doing all the work, I figured I'd be better off without her. About 3 months passed, I found a house I liked, made an offer, gave all the contracts to my lawyer to review them, and saved myself 3%. Agents can be very helpful in the right situations, but you've got to get a good one. The one I had has an excellent reputation, and is supposed to be one of the best, but did little or nothing for me.
