Listings that pique my interest... feedback?

[woodburyowner]

If you look at the picture of the backyard, the house color looks more correct. 

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

I agree the color at the backyard is more indicative of the true hue. Agent must have photoshopped it to get attention.

 

[ps99472]

Here's another one, now why can't they build any new homes with high ceilings like this
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Tustin/11085-Matthews-Dr-92782/home/4775068

Do homes with vaulted ceiling in the living room take up more of a footprint?  What's the reason for TIC not going this direction?  Some say it's wasted air space, but I love the feeling when walking into a house with high ceilings..

Looked at a few El Dorados a few years back when I was still interested in TR, nice community.  Though at this price i would be asking why I couldn't move a few blocks over into West Irvine..

 

[iacrenter]

Here's another one, now why can't they build any new homes with high ceilings like this
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Tustin/11085-Matthews-Dr-92782/home/4775068

Do homes with vaulted ceiling in the living room take up more of a footprint?  What's the reason for TIC not going this direction?  Some say it's wasted air space, but I love the feeling when walking into a house with high ceilings..

Looked at a few El Dorados a few years back when I was still interested in TR, nice community.  Though at this price i would be asking why I couldn't move a few blocks over into West Irvine..

I would take El Dorado over WI hoods. I like the feel of the community, HOA pool/tot lot, and proximity to Peter's Canyon trail. The only thing WI has is the Irvine address.

 

[ps99472]

Man I'm really liking the vaulted ceilings...
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/23-Arbusto-92606/home/4629535

This one is in Westpark.. went off MLS for awhile and now it's back.. close to gym, market, work, daycare, etc.. only thing is it's almost $100k over my budget... sigh...

Decent lot size at over 6000 sq ft..how come the backyard looks so cramped?  Is it because of the bigger footprint of the house due to vaulted ceilings?

Vintage plan 4 by StanPac... another went for $1 million back in Sept.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/17-Santa-Rida-92606/home/4626542

 

[usctrojancpa]

Man I'm really liking the vaulted ceilings...
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/23-Arbusto-92606/home/4629535

This one is in Westpark.. went off MLS for awhile and now it's back.. close to gym, market, work, daycare, etc.. only thing is it's almost $100k over my budget... sigh...

Decent lot size at over 6000 sq ft..how come the backyard looks so cramped?  Is it because of the bigger footprint of the house due to vaulted ceilings?

Vintage plan 4 by StanPac... another went for $1 million back in Sept.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/17-Santa-Rida-92606/home/4626542

You should be able to buy a Vintage plan 2 or 3 within your budget.  The backyards look smaller on some of those Westpark II homes because the houses do have a slightly larger footprint and many of them are set back deeper into the lot (i.e. larger front yard/driveway).

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Plan D Vintage is one of my favorites... his/her master closets and the downstairs laundry has its own room with sink off to side and not as a pass-thru to the garage.

Those StanPac 3CWG homes have a huge footprint so even though the lot is ~6200... you're not going to get a huge backyard.

 

[LongtimeOCRes]

I'm surprised Monica hasn't pulled the "hey, if you go with me I can get you the house" strategy for people coming by to see the home.

I'm surprised that CA still allows double parking.  Isn't there a serious conflict of interest in doing that??

According to the MLS, Monica Carr is double-ending 32 Torrey Pine. (In the past, she and Sandro Siles would team-up to list then represent buyers; same basic objective.)

I have always seen double-ending as a complete violation of ones fiduciary obligation - and to blatantly state 'hey, if you go with me I can get you the house' sounds like a strategy to maximize her income while limiting the sellers net due to not working with other agents, perhaps not submitting their offers, etc. (It's like the seller is negotiating against themselves: makes no sense.)

 

[woodburyowner]

I'm surprised Monica hasn't pulled the "hey, if you go with me I can get you the house" strategy for people coming by to see the home.

I'm surprised that CA still allows double parking.  Isn't there a serious conflict of interest in doing that??

According to the MLS, Monica Carr is double-ending 32 Torrey Pine. (In the past, she and Sandro Siles would team-up to list then represent buyers; same basic objective.)

I have always seen double-ending as a complete violation of ones fiduciary obligation - and to blatantly state 'hey, if you go with me I can get you the house' sounds like a strategy to maximize her income while limiting the sellers net due to not working with other agents, perhaps not submitting their offers, etc. (It's like the seller is negotiating against themselves: makes no sense.)

Can this type of behavior be reported somehow to the DRE?  Seems very shady and prevents buyers with their own agent from ever being able to purchase a short sale property listed by one of them.

 

[usctrojancpa]

I'm surprised Monica hasn't pulled the "hey, if you go with me I can get you the house" strategy for people coming by to see the home.

I'm surprised that CA still allows double parking.  Isn't there a serious conflict of interest in doing that??

According to the MLS, Monica Carr is double-ending 32 Torrey Pine. (In the past, she and Sandro Siles would team-up to list then represent buyers; same basic objective.)

I have always seen double-ending as a complete violation of ones fiduciary obligation - and to blatantly state 'hey, if you go with me I can get you the house' sounds like a strategy to maximize her income while limiting the sellers net due to not working with other agents, perhaps not submitting their offers, etc. (It's like the seller is negotiating against themselves: makes no sense.)

I've lost a few buyers to that same exact tactic used by listing agents, where the listing agent told my buyers that if they go through him that the agent will make sure they get the home.  I've also even had one circumstance where I put an offer on an approved short sale (all cash buyer) last year and the list agent kept stalling telling me the seller was out of town.  I kept following up with him and on the 3rd follow up he told me that another "stronger" offer had come in and they want to move forward with it.  Fast forward 60 days from that time, I see the home close for a price $5k lower than what my buyers offers and low and behold the listing agent was also the buyer agent.  I so wanted to report his azz but I doubt it would have done anything.  Anyone who thinks real estate is black and white and that things are done on the up and up isn't living in real world.  The commissions being as high as they are really an incentive for agents to put themselves in front of ethics and/or their client's interests, which is very wrong and very unfortunate.

 

[usctrojancpa]

I'm surprised Monica hasn't pulled the "hey, if you go with me I can get you the house" strategy for people coming by to see the home.

I'm surprised that CA still allows double parking.  Isn't there a serious conflict of interest in doing that??

According to the MLS, Monica Carr is double-ending 32 Torrey Pine. (In the past, she and Sandro Siles would team-up to list then represent buyers; same basic objective.)

I have always seen double-ending as a complete violation of ones fiduciary obligation - and to blatantly state 'hey, if you go with me I can get you the house' sounds like a strategy to maximize her income while limiting the sellers net due to not working with other agents, perhaps not submitting their offers, etc. (It's like the seller is negotiating against themselves: makes no sense.)

Can this type of behavior be reported somehow to the DRE?  Seems very shady and prevents buyers with their own agent from ever being able to purchase a short sale property listed by one of them.

Unfortunately it'd be like pushing a car up hill proving that kind of unethical behavior.  In the past, realtors could not represent both sides but people within the realtor association thought it'd be fine if agents could represent both sides which opened up the pandora's box of proving some agents to ability to game the system in their favor (financially speaking).  As one of my clients told me and has been mentioned on the forums, realtors are one step above sleazy used car salesmen.  Hence why I call myself a CPA first and realtor second (also because it takes more brain cells to pass the CPA exam than it does to pass the real estate exam). 

 

[irvinerealtor]

@LongtimeOCRes... Where on the MLS feed does it state who the buyer's agent is?

I believe they publish that info after the sale is closed, unless that's changed (it might have, but I haven't seen it before).
From what I can see, the home is still pending sale.

@USC... on the short sale that you mentioned, was the net $$$ to the lender that they accepted lower than it would have been if they'd accepted the offer that you presented?

-IR2

 

[usctrojancpa]

@LongtimeOCRes... Where on the MLS feed does it state who the buyer's agent is?

I believe they publish that info after the sale is closed, unless that's changed (it might have, but I haven't seen it before).
From what I can see, the home is still pending sale.

@USC... on the short sale that you mentioned, was the net $$$ to the lender that they accepted lower than it would have been if they'd accepted the offer that you presented?

-IR2

I'm not sure what the details of the offer from the ultimate buyer was but we asked for no closing costs credits (if you don't include the request for the seller/short sale to pay for a 1-year home warranty and the HOA transfer docs/fees along with a 50/50 pro-ration of escrow fee). 

Redfin actually lists the selling/buyer agent's DRE number so you can look up who the agent is on back-up and pending listings.

 

[irvinerealtor]

@LongtimeOCRes... Where on the MLS feed does it state who the buyer's agent is?

I believe they publish that info after the sale is closed, unless that's changed (it might have, but I haven't seen it before).
From what I can see, the home is still pending sale.

@USC... on the short sale that you mentioned, was the net $$$ to the lender that they accepted lower than it would have been if they'd accepted the offer that you presented?

-IR2

I'm not sure what the details of the offer from the ultimate buyer was but we asked for no closing costs credits (if you don't include the  request for the seller/short sale to pay for a 1-year home warranty and the HOA transfer docs/fees along with a 50/50 pro-ration of escrow fee). 

Redfin actually lists the selling/buyer agent's DRE number so you can look up who the agent is on back-up and pending listings. <----That's interesting to note...

Was the ultimate buyer's initial offer higher, and reduced after they had their home inspection?

 

[usctrojancpa]

@LongtimeOCRes... Where on the MLS feed does it state who the buyer's agent is?

I believe they publish that info after the sale is closed, unless that's changed (it might have, but I haven't seen it before).
From what I can see, the home is still pending sale.

@USC... on the short sale that you mentioned, was the net $$$ to the lender that they accepted lower than it would have been if they'd accepted the offer that you presented?

-IR2

I'm not sure what the details of the offer from the ultimate buyer was but we asked for no closing costs credits (if you don't include the  request for the seller/short sale to pay for a 1-year home warranty and the HOA transfer docs/fees along with a 50/50 pro-ration of escrow fee). 

Redfin actually lists the selling/buyer agent's DRE number so you can look up who the agent is on back-up and pending listings. <----That's interesting to note...

Was the ultimate buyer's initial offer higher, and reduced after they had their home inspection?

I have no idea, hopefully next time he pulls something like that it'll come bite him in the behind.

 

[LongtimeOCRes]

@LongtimeOCRes... Where on the MLS feed does it state who the buyer's agent is?

I believe they publish that info after the sale is closed, unless that's changed (it might have, but I haven't seen it before).
From what I can see, the home is still pending sale.

@USC... on the short sale that you mentioned, was the net $$$ to the lender that they accepted lower than it would have been if they'd accepted the offer that you presented?

-IR2

Agents can set-up a custom report and pull the selling agent (buyers agent), even for those properties in 'Backup Offers' and 'Pending' status.

 

[LongtimeOCRes]

I'm surprised Monica hasn't pulled the "hey, if you go with me I can get you the house" strategy for people coming by to see the home.

I'm surprised that CA still allows double parking.  Isn't there a serious conflict of interest in doing that??

According to the MLS, Monica Carr is double-ending 32 Torrey Pine. (In the past, she and Sandro Siles would team-up to list then represent buyers; same basic objective.)

I have always seen double-ending as a complete violation of ones fiduciary obligation - and to blatantly state 'hey, if you go with me I can get you the house' sounds like a strategy to maximize her income while limiting the sellers net due to not working with other agents, perhaps not submitting their offers, etc. (It's like the seller is negotiating against themselves: makes no sense.)

I've lost a few buyers to that same exact tactic used by listing agents, where the listing agent told my buyers that if they go through him that the agent will make sure they get the home.  I've also even had one circumstance where I put an offer on an approved short sale (all cash buyer) last year and the list agent kept stalling telling me the seller was out of town.  I kept following up with him and on the 3rd follow up he told me that another "stronger" offer had come in and they want to move forward with it.  Fast forward 60 days from that time, I see the home close for a price $5k lower than what my buyers offers and low and behold the listing agent was also the buyer agent.  I so wanted to report his azz but I doubt it would have done anything.  Anyone who thinks real estate is black and white and that things are done on the up and up isn't living in real world.  The commissions being as high as they are really an incentive for agents to put themselves in front of ethics and/or their client's interests, which is very wrong and very unfortunate.

Sadly, I must agree regarding the incentive for some agents to not put the clients' interests ahead of theirs. With a 2.5% commission to each side, on a $850,000 sale, it's a $21,250 commission for each side, which is too tempting for some agents. Doesn't make it right, but as USCTrojanCPA stated, 'it'd be like pushing a car up hill proving that kind of unethical behavior.'
Reminds me of agents that throw out high phantom numbers when meeting with sellers; it's not attainable, not substantiated by comps, facts, market conditions - and will probably result in the seller selling for less - but that kind of agent really does not have the best interests of the client in mind: they probably have an idea of what bottom line # the seller is willing to accept and will use that against the seller in negotiations with the buyer.

 

[usctrojancpa]

@LongtimeOCRes... Where on the MLS feed does it state who the buyer's agent is?

I believe they publish that info after the sale is closed, unless that's changed (it might have, but I haven't seen it before).
From what I can see, the home is still pending sale.

@USC... on the short sale that you mentioned, was the net $$$ to the lender that they accepted lower than it would have been if they'd accepted the offer that you presented?

-IR2

Agents can set-up a custom report and pull the selling agent (buyers agent), even for those properties in 'Backup Offers' and 'Pending' status.

You'll get a little kick out of this story about my first encounter with Monica...so back in early 2010 Monica listed 25 Torrey Pine (there was a long thread about that on here). 

She called the mother of the husband of one of my buyers to tell her that she can set up a "special" private showing for my buyer and his wife before the property was listed and that she could "help" them get the home if they really wanted it.  So my buyers call me and ask me to accompany them to the home for their 8pm private viewing appointment.  I knock and the door with Monica answering, oh you should have seen the look on her face...absolutely priceless (knowing that I was an agent).  So to try to break the tension in the living when my buyers went up to look at the 2nd floor she says...."His mother never said that they were working with an agent" to which I responded with "Well, you never asked." 

I still to this day wonder if she "recommended" that her sellers to go with a cash buyer (current owner) who offered around $5k less another one of my buyer's offer for the home (highest one).  Guess I'll never know...

 

[usctrojancpa]

I'm surprised Monica hasn't pulled the "hey, if you go with me I can get you the house" strategy for people coming by to see the home.

I'm surprised that CA still allows double parking.  Isn't there a serious conflict of interest in doing that??

According to the MLS, Monica Carr is double-ending 32 Torrey Pine. (In the past, she and Sandro Siles would team-up to list then represent buyers; same basic objective.)

I have always seen double-ending as a complete violation of ones fiduciary obligation - and to blatantly state 'hey, if you go with me I can get you the house' sounds like a strategy to maximize her income while limiting the sellers net due to not working with other agents, perhaps not submitting their offers, etc. (It's like the seller is negotiating against themselves: makes no sense.)

I've lost a few buyers to that same exact tactic used by listing agents, where the listing agent told my buyers that if they go through him that the agent will make sure they get the home.  I've also even had one circumstance where I put an offer on an approved short sale (all cash buyer) last year and the list agent kept stalling telling me the seller was out of town.  I kept following up with him and on the 3rd follow up he told me that another "stronger" offer had come in and they want to move forward with it.  Fast forward 60 days from that time, I see the home close for a price $5k lower than what my buyers offers and low and behold the listing agent was also the buyer agent.  I so wanted to report his azz but I doubt it would have done anything.  Anyone who thinks real estate is black and white and that things are done on the up and up isn't living in real world.  The commissions being as high as they are really an incentive for agents to put themselves in front of ethics and/or their client's interests, which is very wrong and very unfortunate.

Sadly, I must agree regarding the incentive for some agents to not put the clients' interests ahead of theirs. With a 2.5% commission to each side, on a $850,000 sale, it's a $21,250 commission for each side, which is too tempting for some agents. Doesn't make it right, but as USCTrojanCPA stated, 'it'd be like pushing a car up hill proving that kind of unethical behavior.'
Reminds me of agents that throw out high phantom numbers when meeting with sellers; it's not attainable, not substantiated by comps, facts, market conditions - and will probably result in the seller selling for less - but that kind of agent really does not have the best interests of the client in mind: they probably have an idea of what bottom line # the seller is willing to accept and will use that against the seller in negotiations with the buyer.

I'd be willing to bet that the 'hey, if you go with me I can get you the house' is said 90%+ of the time at open houses (applied in both of my situations).  You know, I'd even be willing to pay additional realtor dues if the local realtor association were to do a little random undercover sting work by sending in people posing as buyers and come down like a ton of bricks on the agents that try to pull that jack move. 

What your describe above is what I call the "up-sell" which was given to my parents when they sold their home and one of the main reasons I decided to get my real estate license.  When my parents asked why they haven't received any offers (homes were were selling briskly at the time), the agent replied saying that the market "had softened" and that they need to consider reducing the list price.  I'm not sure how much money he cost my parents, but I vowed to never let another realtard represent any of my family members and myself. 

 

[usctrojancpa]

@LongtimeOCRes... Where on the MLS feed does it state who the buyer's agent is?

I believe they publish that info after the sale is closed, unless that's changed (it might have, but I haven't seen it before).
From what I can see, the home is still pending sale.

@USC... on the short sale that you mentioned, was the net $$$ to the lender that they accepted lower than it would have been if they'd accepted the offer that you presented?

-IR2

Agents can set-up a custom report and pull the selling agent (buyers agent), even for those properties in 'Backup Offers' and 'Pending' status.

Never tinkered around with MLS to create/view those kind of reports, but good to know.  Makes a lot of sense since Redfin does pull their data from MLS.