Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[trd2343]

Thanks so much for the tips. I think I overlooked the interview part and was just expecting to find one just by reading some tips and reviews.

You're absolutely right though, if I don't want to make the same mistake, I should be spending more time getting to know the person I'll be working with.

[quasi]

If it's something you care about ask them if you're going to be dealing with them or they are going to hand you off to one of their assistants especially when dealing with the more popular realtors? When I sold my place for the sale of my place I dealt with my Realtor when it came to the buying end I primarily dealt with his assistant and honestly it soured our relationship, I'll never use or recommend them because I think they really dropped the ball on that end.

He did a poor job of getting us into houses we wanted to see, there were even cases where he told me the house was sold but I'd see it still up there call the listing agent and their like no it's still available. That shit pissed me off, then when I sent them an email about it they got all defensive and started making all kinds of excuses that shit pissed me off even more own your fuck ups.

When we ended up finally purchasing a house we found and viewed on our own that checked all our boxes that they never even suggested we looked at I called my realtor who was in Hawaii on vacation and basically told him listen I don't fucking trust this guy to get it done, I want this house get it fucking done today which he did but that bridge was already burned as far as I was concerned.

[trd2343]

I lost trust in my agent after finding out that the place that I bought was actually listed for almost half a year (listed and delisted). That was never disclosed to me (as far as I recall), and I'm not sure if it was because the agent just didn't, or they didn't know about it. If it's the latter, I think it's fair expectation that if it was something I was able to dig up, they should've known about it, and told me about it during the negotiation process.

[Wormiez]

As many of said this is the most important transaction of your life. Interview as many as you need to, referrals may not be the best choice, and don't choose an agent to do them a favor... As a buyer/seller you can always fire your agent.

I fired our broker for providing misleading information. She said we weren't qualified for a construction loan but what I found out later was she wasn't getting commission from referring us to the applicable bank. We ended going with another broker which we got us lower rates and much better service.

[JDMDreams]

Why does length of listing matter?

Originally Posted by trd2343

I lost trust in my agent after finding out that the place that I bought was actually listed for almost half a year (listed and delisted). That was never disclosed to me (as far as I recall), and I'm not sure if it was because the agent just didn't, or they didn't know about it. If it's the latter, I think it's fair expectation that if it was something I was able to dig up, they should've known about it, and told me about it during the negotiation process.

[trd2343]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

Why does length of listing matter?

From my perspective, I felt like it would have affected my decision in purchasing the unit.

Half a year seems like a long time (at least from my POV), and had I known, I probably would've digged further into property (I should be doing that regardless).

There are problems with the building (and probably no building Vancouver is to immune to it), but it felt like that being listed for half a year should have been red flag for me.

I would like to hear your or anyone's thoughts on it though. Maybe it was the wrong expectation, or half a year isn't that long.

Ultimately, I just felt regardless of whether half a year is consider long or not, I wished I had known beforehand.

[Sw0op]

Just sounds like you want to blame the realtor for your lack of research/DD tbh

Have seen places go unsold for months and relisted and sold over ask suddenly cuz the market flipped a switch and went from cold to hot

If I knew the place I would be bidding on was listed for awhile I would just start the negotiations at a lower price point but all the building checks and all that’s mostly on the seller with maybe some input from the realtor

[westopher]

6 months today? Yeah that’s a long time. 6 months 5 years ago? Could have just been a touch too high.
If you enjoy where you live, it’s moot.
If you don’t enjoy where you live, ultimately it was your decision to purchase it. I think it really depends on the situation from a ton of different viewpoints. If the realtor was purposely withholding info, or truly negligent with their end of what they should be doing looking into the building, of course they are at fault. But if you were happy with the property, you shouldn’t expect a realtor to convince you to dig deeper to really decide if you want it.
I’ve only purchased two places in my life, and both were brand new and I was not represented by a realtor in either situation so honestly I don’t know where their responsibilities lie when it comes to it.

[trd2343]

Originally Posted by Sw0op

Just sounds like you want to blame the realtor for your lack of research/DD tbh

Have seen places go unsold for months and relisted and sold over ask suddenly cuz the market flipped a switch and went from cold to hot

If I knew the place I would be bidding on was listed for awhile I would just start the negotiations at a lower price point but all the building checks and all thatÂ’s mostly on the seller with maybe some input from the realtor

I think what I'm stuck on was how the agent was really helpful on going through the details of the place, and any concern that I have and ways that could be solved. The agent did a lot of research into the place.

Yet, when it was time to put down an offer, there was no suggestion to use the listing length as part of the negotiation. We just went in with that they listed.

Maybe the agent thought it was a good price already, and there was no room for negotiation. Or possibly I am over my head and actually got the unit at a fairly good price.

This is the first time I talked about this, or I guess anonymously on a forum, so it does give me different perspective to how I felt and saw.

I am open to any criticism if anyone else have any, or that my expectation is unjust and unfair.

[donk.]

Offers list price > gets home > dissapointed in realtor

[westopher]

I think it’s totally reasonable to believe that the lack of clarity in the listing length may have missed an opportunity to negotiate a better price, but like you said, it may have been that the realtor thought there wasn’t the room for negotiation at that point in time. If you’ve got a trustworthy realtor I think you could have brought that point up to them and they could clarify for you. It would be better than stewing over it. Transparency goes a long way for both sides.

[Sw0op]

Originally Posted by trd2343

I think what I'm stuck on was how the agent was really helpful on going through the details of the place, and any concern that I have and ways that could be solved. The agent did a lot of research into the place.

Yet, when it was time to put down an offer, there was no suggestion to use the listing length as part of the negotiation. We just went in with that they listed.

Maybe the agent thought it was a good price already, and there was no room for negotiation. Or possibly I am over my head and actually got the unit at a fairly good price.

This is the first time I talked about this, or I guess anonymously on a forum, so it does give me different perspective to how I felt and saw.

I am open to any criticism if anyone else have any, or that my expectation is unjust and unfair.

So is it the price negotiation you have issues with (as mentioned in ur first and most recent post) or the building itself (where u mentioned in ur 2nd post that it would have alerted you there’s something wrong if it’s on the market this long)???? Totally confused

Price negotiation is moot if you like the place and I am sure you have seen others in around the area and price to roughly gauge the value on your unit at that time. Maybe the seller was holding out for a certain price which if you had bought around covid time people weren’t willing to pay cuz they weren’t or too afraid to go and look at places.

If he was acting shady on you then yea your realtor is a scumbag but for the most part, you drive your own bus here and rely on their expertise when you ask them on related questions

Was there no inspection done if the building is below your standards? Did they recommend against it? Did you not read the strata minutes?

[JDMDreams]

Sounds like your realtor wasn't that experienced or doesn't care? Length of listing really doesn't mean much, as maybe they keep getting low balled or ppl don't remove subjects. Or maybe sellers new place want ready yet, tennants so many reasons. My realtor basically will give me some points or notes about a certain building or area just by giving him the address. Cuz either he's bought or sold in that building or had some third hand experience with it. Which saved me a lot of time of filtering what's good or not.

[headhunt3r]

It's probably best to review your past experience holistically rather than get caught up over a couple specific items. If you had a great experience overall but you're hung up on a few points, it's hard to tell if it's the realtor or you to blame for that.

If the listing age mattered so much to you, perhaps you should have discussed it with your realtor even if it was after the fact so you can get some closure. You're now left to speculate, and the brain is naturally 80% negative.

[Alpine]

Clear, open communication is key. They should be willing to go over and beyond and be able to present listings & data to you in a very thorough manner. I've seen plenty of realtors who read items off of the fricken feature sheet while they walk their clients through a house. You hire a realtor so they can present information that you might not otherwise have access to or have knowledge of.
If you know more about the listing than they do, that's a pretty strong sign. Watch out for realtors that are pushy - that's the telltale sign that they just want to get in & get out. Should be no pressure vs. selling you on a future shop extended warranty.
Beware of "popular" realtors since it's likely you will end up working with their assistants. Don't sign these 6-month exclusivity forms. At most, sign a separate form for each house you offer on if you are a buyer, or if you are a seller, only sign for a much shorter timeframe.

[trd2343]

Thanks to everyone for their input.

I just want to say I was looking for general advice on how to look for realtor, and sharing my story was just explaining my concern. My side of the story will probably look and sound quite different from how the agent saw it.

Ultimately, I do not think the agent was shady. The fact that my close friend still have a good relationship with this agent makes me question was it something I did wrong or it was a personal issue with me. I tried to be upfront and clear on what I was looking for, and what my expectations are. Maybe I could've done a better job.

I did lean on the agent a bit too much based on the fact it was a referral. I should've reviewed the strata documents more diligently myself, ask more questions, and more importantly, say no when I really feel uncomfortable with it.

In the end, I was left with a feeling that there were some stuff I thought I should've known about, and left wondering, was it something the agent should've disclosed, or I didn't do my own diligence and research a lot more.

But I couldn't agree more, for one of the bigger decision in my life, I should not have left it to "I trust them because someone else I knew used them" and "I don't want to do the work of interviewing the agent", and instead, do my own homework, and be in control of my purchase a lot more.

[Teriyaki]

Sounds like you hit it bang on with the tinge of regret not putting in the effort during the process and used the realtor a little too heavy as a crutch. You live and learn. Chances are this won't be the one and only place you'll buy so you'll know a lot better next time around what aspects you'd want to pay attention to so you can be comfortable.

Sounds like the realtor wasn't really a "problem" persay, and if you hadn't found out about the listing time afterwards you overall had a decent experience and found value with their services. Could be a LOT LOT worse. I'd reach back out to the realtor to have a honest discussion, just to get the story straight. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 though and we're all only human so head in knowing that. I'd be more concerned about how they react to the question and reasoning, than the actual truth of if they knew or not and use that as a gauge of if i'd use them again.

[Ch28]

Originally Posted by trd2343

How do you guys go about looking for an agent (for buying a property)? I had an unpleasant experience with the one that was referred to me by a friend. I found out the hard way that at the end of the day, I'm the only person I can trust, so I'm not sure how I should look for a new one. Or do you guys meet them always through other people's referral?

We had a realtor we met while viewing a place last year. We didn’t have a realtor at the time so I left my contact info for her cause she seemed to have the personality that jived with us. She’s keep in touch by sending periodic emails and updates on how places are selling for in our area and how the overall market outlook was like. At no point did we ever say we’d be using her, but her persistence and the continued dialogue she kept with us was a good sign.

We ended up interviewing 4 realtors when it came to selling our place. One was recommended by a friend but he said his primary role is a buying agent and he doesn’t do much selling so we wrote him off fairly quickly. Another was recommended by a mortgage broker we were talking to at a presale townhome development. He’s an acquaintance of mine but we didn’t want to do business with him because he kept pushing for a certain development and his opinions seemed skewed towards it. The third realtor we dealt with was highly recommended from a lot of Facebook and Google reviews and she had a very impressive online and social media presence. However, her main area is the Tri-Cities so we felt that might be an issue selling our place when it came to buyers having questions about the area.

We ended up going with the realtor we met last year. She checked all our boxes and her communication with us (while we weren’t her client) was impressive.

You’re going to be making the biggest purchase of your life, so it’s absolutely fine vetting people to see who you jive with the most and if you’ll have a good working relationship with them. It also gives your potential realtor an idea of what your expectations are before you hire them and if they feel they’ll be able to meet those expectations. Last thing you want to do is randomly sign a client contract with a realtor and find out they fucking suck and are an absolute waste of your time and money.

[PeanutButter]

I guess this is news to a lot of people, but since I have known realtors since college, I always knew the majority of realtors are so trash.

It's one of those professionals that need bare minimum qualifications, but the salaries have the potential to go well north of six figures, so this attracts a lot of garbage people who are only doing it for the money.

I have been involved in seven real estate transactions in my lifetime and I've met some horrible shady realtors. The biggest problem with most realtors is that they really don't know that much about personal real estate or finance. The other problem with Vancouver real estate is that it has created lazy realtors because real estate sells itself here, so there is little incentive for agents to stand out and do a good job.

Also, from my experience, the average person in non-confrontational, so that's usually the bigger problem. It's not easy for people to ask or interview realtors because most people have no experience and they don't feel comfortable asking the "hard" questions.


++++

In regards to time on market, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. After a certain waiting period, the stigma of being on the market for a long time can play a lot of psychological games with your head, you presume there is something wrong with the place, but if there is, the sellers need to disclose it. So as long as you do your DD and homework, it's fine.

[bcedhk]

Realtors are no better than a car or electronics salesman. Easy entry and lots of people either have little to no clue about what they are getting into or like to bullshit their way into making it to the top.

One realtor I talked with could not tell me the difference between a carport and a garage. No clue how she got her license.....

[sonick]

+1 on that. Considering some of the ppl I remember from high school who I see on FB who are now Realtors, the bar is pretty low to get designated as a Realtor.

No offense to the actual good Realtors out there, it's specifically an issue of the designations body itself.

[donk.]

Forum OGs, if you had a rental condo, and owed 260k on it, and todays value was 520k
Lets say 30k realtor/legal fees to sell
Walk away with 230k

Would you sell, buy another 400k place @ 80K down, rent it out
Blow 100k on your dream car

Or just keep it rented

[corollagtSr5]

When my parents were shopping in October 2020 with their realtor they got zero counter offers. I was like fuck this guy, use my realtor and the first house they bid on there was action. Managed to get the place for $100k under asking price close to bc accessement. Everyone was happy. I did all the homework looking for the home on rew and point2homes. The realtor did non of that, all he did was negotiate a better price and finalize it, he even took less commission. So yea it's your own fault if you didn't do your homework before buying into the market.

[westopher]

Originally Posted by donk.

Forum OGs, if you had a rental condo, and owed 260k on it, and todays value was 520k
Lets say 30k realtor/legal fees to sell
Walk away with 230k

Would you sell, buy another 400k place @ 80K down, rent it out
Blow 100k on your dream car

Or just keep it rented

HELOC for the dream car. Saves you the 30k on the fees, more potential for returns, as the gaps between entry level/higher end widens. If I packed in 230k from a sale and were going to invest in real estate I’d be looking other places if I got out of something here though. Or I’d maybe just take a couple years of work lol.

[JDMDreams]

Yea I don't think it's worth the hassle to sell and rebuy, just heloc and finance the car. Or take it from the heloc, since rates are dirt cheap anyways. Or just lease the car if it's not a keeper. ??? Profit