"TractorPillow" (tractorpillow)
08/11/2015 at 15:18 • Filed to: None
6
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"TractorPillow" (tractorpillow)
08/11/2015 at 15:18 • Filed to: None | 6
| 38 |
I am not the best negotiator in the world, but I have bought and sold a handful of cars and always walk away with the feeling that I “won” the deal. I am a pretty tough haggler and actually really enjoy the one-on-one negotiation. It’s somewhat of an adrenaline rush to throw out numbers or politely demand they include the brand new set of tires in the garage with the car purchase. It’s always been me and another person (sold/bought from males and females) just conducting a negotiation for something we both want - money or a vehicle.
*
not the house I am bidding on
I am in the process of trying to purchase my first house. I am in the Army and move around a lot but just found out that we are going to be at my current duty station longer than I thought so my wife and I decided to buy a home.
We’ve found some homes we liked quite a bit and the process of putting an offer in on one is infuriating. I have to fill out tons of forms and write my requests (like include the fridge, paint the puke green bathroom a neutral color, etc.). Then my realtor sends it to the seller’s realtor and then the seller sends a counter offer back to his realtor and then to my realtor and then back to me. It’s the childhood game of “telephone” but with lots of money.
I don’t get to look the seller in the eye, size him/her up, and utilize my personality-based negotiating skills. I just write crap down on paper and wait for it to circle the realtor globe back to me.
Not writing this for advice or anything like that, just a rant and statement that buying a car is way more fun than a house. I like interacting with people and middlemen do a great job of ruining that for me.
End.
OPPOsaurus WRX
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 15:24 |
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when I went thru that it was write a number down, go to the realtor give it to the other realtor who represented a bank, wait two weeks, get a response repeat. It took from july to october to finally close that shit. We show up at the closing and find out the fucktard still had a $400 water bill left on the house. He takes care of it we sign and its over we get our first water bill for $400. Turns out shitstick only paid the minimum. Good luck.
R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 15:28 |
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edit, someone just yelled themselves out of honey with breakfast.....
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TractorPillow
> R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
08/11/2015 at 15:30 |
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edit. was mean and want honey for breakfast.
Roundbadge
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 15:32 |
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My dad was a fairly successful real estate agent when I was growing up. He was always out running and meeting with buyers and sellers, but that was in the days before email and affordable cell phones. I usually didn’t see him in the morning, sometimes he was home for dinner, and arriving home at 10PM wasn’t uncommon. He worked hard for his clients.
When we bought our house in ‘07, I was ready to choke our agent. His idea of working for us was picking up his phone, making a call, then turning to us and saying, “he says no.” Then he’d leave and go do something else. I finally got mad enough at him that I stopped responding to all communication for several days (he called me 4 times, let them go to voicemail)...then picked up the phone and calmly and quietly explained that the seller was at the beginning of a market decline and had a willing buyer with good credit, so they (the agent and the seller) had better come around to my way of thinking or I was done with both of them. The next day the offer that had been declined was accepted.
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R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 15:32 |
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........wow.......so asshole much?
This is shit they don’t tell most military folks, but fine if’n you insist on being a staff nco about it I will delete my comment.
\themissioncontinues
Tripper
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 15:34 |
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I feel your pain man, I posted on here last winter when I was looking to buy my first house. I also enjoy negotiating a new car purchase, and I thought the house thing would be just as fun if not more because let’s face it houses appreciate, cars do not (for the most part). It sucked, to the point that I was happy to pay asking price when we finally found something that we wanted. The whole process is extremely stressful and overly complex. Working with an agent is also a huge pain and makes the bidding process so much longer. Then you get these sellers who “aren’t sure” or want to marinate on it for a week. “do you want to sell a house or not!?” I’m getting worked up just remembering how I felt haha. Best of luck to you.
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TractorPillow
> R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
08/11/2015 at 15:38 |
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I have researched everything very thoroughly which is why I asked for no advice. Don’t want to start a fight, honestly, sorry for coming across blunt.
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TractorPillow
> Roundbadge
08/11/2015 at 15:40 |
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Exactly. My real estate agent is nice enough, but doesn’t seem to really want to fight for me or do anything above and beyond. Thanks for the response, helps put things in perspective.
CalzoneGolem
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 15:41 |
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utilize my personality-based negotiating skills
aka intimidation
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TractorPillow
> Tripper
08/11/2015 at 15:41 |
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haha glad you empathize, don’t get too angry thinking about it and enjoy your home!
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TractorPillow
> CalzoneGolem
08/11/2015 at 15:42 |
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confidence; im not really an intimidating guy, pretty average. but also not a pushover
Buckner
> OPPOsaurus WRX
08/11/2015 at 15:44 |
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Soliciting advice? Here is my advice:
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TractorPillow
> Buckner
08/11/2015 at 15:46 |
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literally taking care of that now :) but I am on a tito’s vodka kick lately which is weird because I used to hate vodka in general
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TractorPillow
> OPPOsaurus WRX
08/11/2015 at 15:48 |
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damn, that sucks. that’s another thing, when I am talking to a person one on one I get a feel for them, how they took care of the car, can ask to see receipts/service history...with a new house I don’t know if I’m buying it from someone that took care of the house well or not. a home inspection can help, but only goes so far.
ttyymmnn
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 15:48 |
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I’ve only ever bought one house in my life (well, to be honest, the bank bought it, and is letting pay rent in their house for the next 30 years), but we bought directly from the owner so no agents were involved. He gave me a better price because of that, and I hired a lawyer to read the papers for me (I think he cost $700). It’s unfortunate that buying big-tickets items is such a hassle. I’m not much of a negotiator, and I’m not looking forward to repalcing my aging ‘01 Golf. Hang in there.
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TractorPillow
> ttyymmnn
08/11/2015 at 15:50 |
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thanks and good luck when you sell the car. thats a fun car to have to replace
BigBlock440
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 15:55 |
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There are quite a few homes in my area that are for sale by owner, you speak and negotiate with them directly. I almost bought a house that way, but the lawyer they used was an asshole (or an idiot) and on the board of the local bank so he didn’t want to use my bank. So the deal fell through and I signed on a different house a few days later.
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Roundbadge
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 15:56 |
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I had the benefit of timing. The recession of 2007 relating to the subprime mortage crisis was just beginning to rear its ugly head, so we did have that going for us. I don’t know how well those tactics would’ve worked in the current market, but it never hurts to remind your agent that he doesn’t get paid until you buy the place.
Good luck!
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TractorPillow
> BigBlock440
08/11/2015 at 15:59 |
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there are only a handful for sale by owner here and they are laughably overpriced. I’ve talked to some of the owners with decent houses and they are in no hurry to sell. I’m talking $50k overpriced on a 200k house.
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TractorPillow
> Roundbadge
08/11/2015 at 16:01 |
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Yep, I have been really polite with her so far. The text that upset me and was a big part of why I wrote this was the following “sent u counter for ur review.” Seriously?
MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:06 |
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Man when I bought my first house (I’ve since sold that one and bought a new one last year). I was losing my mind. Everytime I put an offer in they would “call for highest and best”. Basically there were multiple offers on the house (seriously we offered on TEN houses before we got ours, housing market went insane that year for cheap houses). so basically they were asking everyone to blindly raise.
Fuck no.
What if I’m the highest bidder? Tell me what the other guy offered and I’ll see if I can beat it. “nope, we can’t do that”. OK then my offer stands take it or leave it, I’m not blindly giving you thousands more dollars.
I lost a lot of houses that way but I refused to compromise on it, and at least I didn’t feel ripped off at the end.
Ross Kraz
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:07 |
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AMEN. I'm buying my first home right now as well. The looking is fun. The paperwork is bearable. The loan application is tedious. The haggling sucks. Getting the seller to pay for updating the incorrect "done-it-himself" plumbing and wiring is the worst.
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ttyymmnn
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:07 |
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It is, but ever since I became a stay-home dad (almost 13 years ago), and my wife wrecked her ‘96 Stratus, the Golf has been her DD. She considers it her car now. I get the Odyssey (which is really a very good vehicle). But when we do replace it, I’m going to push for another manual. I don’t know if she’s going to go for that. I’d hate not to have one, especially since my soon-to-be 13-year-old will be driving in three years (EEK!!) and I want him to know how to drive stick.
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ttyymmnn
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:08 |
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Sounds like they are charging what they would expect to charge if the agent were getting his/her cut. When we bought from an owner, they gave us a nice break on the price since no agents were involved.
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TractorPillow
> ttyymmnn
08/11/2015 at 16:15 |
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No way; the agent charges 6% then splits that 6% with the buyers agent. 50k is much more than 6%.
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TractorPillow
> ttyymmnn
08/11/2015 at 16:15 |
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that’s what I learned to drive on. Never looked back!
Meatcoma
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:16 |
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was this an addon? Looks like it was an afterthought.
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ttyymmnn
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:17 |
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It’s definitely a life skill.
Tekamul
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:17 |
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I just went through both the selling and buying process in June.
Houses are more complicated, because there are way more parties and money involved. Everyone has an interest. The buyer, the seller, the buyer’s agent, the seller’s agent, the lending company, even the damn town/city has their nose in it.
It could be simpler if you found a
for sale by owner
, and went without an agent yourself, but it’s rare.
ETA : For the sale of my house, we went back and forth for at least a dozen different offers. For my purchase, just two. They were ready to get out.
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TractorPillow
> Meatcoma
08/11/2015 at 16:21 |
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beats the hell out of me, that’s just a picture of a house, not any house I am looking to buy
Saracen
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:29 |
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Selling and buying are both a pain in the ass. I did both within the last few months. I dont’ want to do either again for a long time.
Textured Soy Protein
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:50 |
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Every time someone talks about some home ownership-related hassle, I feel thankful for my comfortable, cheap, slightly crappy rental townhouse.
KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 16:57 |
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I’d tell you to consider the flipside, but since you don’t want advice...I’ll make a statement.
You (likely) have a crap agent. This can be anything from “They are objectively crap” to “You two don’t get along very well”. Either way, it’s not in your best interest to continue working with them.
I don’t get to look the seller in the eye, size him/her up, and utilize my personality-based negotiating skills
However, the seller doesn’t *WANT* to look you in the eye, size you up, and use their personality-based negotiating skills. That’s why they have a selling agent.
And besides, they have something that you want: the property.
I didn’t even see the people selling my house prior to closing, and I’m very happy that I didn’t. They had some incredibly dumb crap done to things on their house (Who the hell uses a flex gas line into a furnace, really...), and having my agent do the correspondence meant that my emotions could be put in check somewhat, which is very important (and you know that when you are doing high-stakes negotiations).
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KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
> Tripper
08/11/2015 at 17:01 |
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Then you get these sellers who “aren’t sure” or want to marinate on it for a week. “do you want to sell a house or not!?”
This is why you have your agent put an expiration clause in your offer. If you do not get a response (yea/nay/counter) in 72 hours, your offer is void.
When I was looking, I was ready to buy, and I had expiration clauses in every offer, because if they weren’t serious in negotiating (accept or counter), then I was ready to move on to another property.
I was also a cash buyer, so I had additional leverage.
Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 17:16 |
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Real estate agents don’t give a shit about who got a good deal and who got screwed. All they care about is making a deal so they get a commission.
Treat the agent like a contractor that helps you with the paperwork and provides you with info.
TheChafing
> TractorPillow
08/11/2015 at 17:30 |
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What’s wrong with that? Presumably she emailed a document to you?
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Tripper
> KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
08/11/2015 at 17:53 |
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All of our offers were only good for the same day, gets us off the hook legally. However that does not mean that the seller does not want to negotiate/it does not mean that we wont budge on our offer. Getting a straight answer from someone was the hardest part on 2 of the properties that we looked at.
TheNeonDriver - Now with More BMW!
> Saracen
08/11/2015 at 19:10 |
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Currently trying to sell and move to a new city. Selling is Such a pain in the ass..