Buying your first home

[Freezer-TPF-]

It might be cheesy ( or overkill for anyone with even basic skills), but I've found this book to be quite useful for small stuff around the house, mostly because of the excellent pictures. It won't replace a specialist, but I think it does a decent job with at least getting you to the point where you can make an educated decision as to whether or not you're capable of doing it yourself. As my buddy that works in home improvement has repeatedly told me, about half of his business comes from homeowners that start a project thinking they can just do it themselves. It's only after they damage something or screw up that his phone rings. Know what you don't know!

Thanks for the tip. Our home inspector gave us a giant binder with how-to/maintenance info, but I haven't really looked at it yet.

[malchior]

This particular house has been on the market for a little over a month; didn't they think ahead about what would happen when someone actually did submit an offer? I mean it is the logical consequence of listing it. They are basically getting hung up on whether they'll have a place to live on the other side. What I'm hearing is, you don't think you'll be able to find a house in 3 months. That seems a little silly to me. I even sent over a message that I'm willing to give them more time to close and they STILL need a week to decide?

Last week we were told they needed a week to think. This is after we had agreed to their price and the only thing we differed on was a seller's contingency. We offered them a range of dates for closing that gives them between 3 and 4 months from now to find a new home. That is how we left it a week ago.

I asked my agent to get a response today. The other agent and my agent talked over the weekend so we thought there might be movement but it was just agent to agent communication that seemed to just be about keeping us on the hook. "They are looking at a house today that I know they want..." Consequently I have instructed my agent that if they don't sign by Saturday we are withdrawing our offer. I am leaving it up to her to decide when to give them the ultimatum but my gut says walk away anyway. They take days to come back with terms that always leave me with the impression they don't really want to sell. It is as close to negotiating with a wall as I figure you can come.

[Carpet_pissr]

I asked my agent to get a response today. The other agent and my agent talked over the weekend so we thought there might be movement but it was just agent to agent communication that seemed to just be about keeping us on the hook. "They are looking at a house today that I know they want..." Consequently I have instructed my agent that if they don't sign by Saturday we are withdrawing our offer.

More than reasonable IMO. Esp. given that you gave them dates 3-4 months out. I guess it depends a lot on the market, but that seems well above the average amount of time given (most buyers would not be that patient). OTOH you could offer to close immediately and rent their own (now yours) house to them for 3-4 months while they get their shiat together. Not as common, but it does happen (they may be hesitant to close because they are thinking WTF do we do now?! Where do we go?)

[malchior]

More than reasonable IMO. Esp. given that you gave them dates 3-4 months out. I guess it depends a lot on the market, but that seems well above the average amount of time given (most buyers would not be that patient). OTOH you could offer to close immediately and rent their own (now yours) house to them for 3-4 months while they get their shiat together. Not as common, but it does happen (they may be hesitant to close because they are thinking WTF do we do now?! Where do we go?)

I have an apartment to the end of September so that factors in but I am a patient person in general. I just don't want buyers piling in a months time while I waited around for them to find a house. I believe that their unwillingness to sign is the backdoor way to get their contingency anyway. I'm not playing that game; why should I wait around and bear all the risks while they take all the potential gain?

[Carpet_pissr]

More than reasonable IMO. Esp. given that you gave them dates 3-4 months out. I guess it depends a lot on the market, but that seems well above the average amount of time given (most buyers would not be that patient). OTOH you could offer to close immediately and rent their own (now yours) house to them for 3-4 months while they get their shiat together. Not as common, but it does happen (they may be hesitant to close because they are thinking WTF do we do now?! Where do we go?)

I have an apartment to the end of September so that factors in but I am a patient person in general. I just don't want buyers piling in a months time while I waited around for them to find a house. I believe that their unwillingness to sign is the backdoor way to get their contingency anyway. I'm not playing that game; why should I wait around and bear all the risks while they take all the potential gain?

You shouldn't IMO, unless your market there is very slow. If you have lots of new houses showing up on the market every week, and/or lots of existing inventory to choose from, you shouldn't have to make those kind of concessions.

[malchior]

You shouldn't IMO, unless your market there is very slow. If you have lots of new houses showing up on the market every week, and/or lots of existing inventory to choose from, you shouldn't have to make those kind of concessions.

There are. We have several backups to choose from. The market seemingly should be great for us but we just keep running into people who don't want to sell. We are a little over 2% under the listing price. I actually am concerned it won't appraise and they want to keep dragging their feet?

On the drive into work I thought over why I am pursuing it any longer and the only pro in my mind is that the house is nice and in a good spot; the cons are seller isn't actually selling their house, i feel like i am paying too much and it has a good chance of not appraising which will lead to future drama. Not a good balance really.

[LordMortis]

You shouldn't IMO, unless your market there is very slow. If you have lots of new houses showing up on the market every week, and/or lots of existing inventory to choose from, you shouldn't have to make those kind of concessions.

There are. We have several backups to choose from. The market seemingly should be great for us but we just keep running into people who don't want to sell. We are a little over 2% under the listing price. I actually am concerned it won't appraise and they want to keep dragging their feet?

On the drive into work I thought over why I am pursuing it any longer and the only pro in my mind is that the house is nice and in a good spot; the cons are seller isn't actually selling their house, i feel like i am paying too much and it has a good chance of not appraising which will lead to future drama. Not a good balance really.

If I had the house inspected I'd be pissed at the money I spent inspecting the house. Beyond that I'd be pissed at my realtor for not finding out they intended to live in the house for months on end. And beyond that there's usually something in place that says if I agree to buy the house now and you agree to sell and you aren't moving out then you pay me rent and are liable for damages that may be incurred while you are there. If you can't come to that sort of agreement right away and they can't figure out when they want close then there's a problem with the process you are involved in. You're being screwed by the sellers, their realtor, and your realtor for a process that is designed to be easy on the buyer (right up until you spend four hours signing contracts you never actually read).

In short I'd not only walk away from the house but I'd walk away from the agent. You should still be in a buyer's market. There's no reason to put up with this waste of your time and money from anyone.

[Carpet_pissr]

There are. We have several backups to choose from. The market seemingly should be great for us but we just keep running into people who don't want to sell. We are a little over 2% under the listing price. I actually am concerned it won't appraise and they want to keep dragging their feet?

On the drive into work I thought over why I am pursuing it any longer and the only pro in my mind is that the house is nice and in a good spot; the cons are seller isn't actually selling their house, i feel like i am paying too much and it has a good chance of not appraising which will lead to future drama. Not a good balance really.

Funny how time works against a seller like that.

I had full intentions on building, had tons of emails and several meetings with builder, had already discussed financing with the bank, had a floor plan, etc. All I needed was a lot wide enough, and when I found it, the process was so slow on the seller's side (I think due to a very crappy agent), even to the point of them not even responding to an offer I made, that I found other options and have now scrapped the whole building idea. Had they not been so slow to communicate and act, we probably would have gone ahead and bought it. As it is, the lot is still sitting on the market.

I don't think a lot of sellers appreciate how vital it is to be really READY to sell as soon as your property goes on the market, because that is typically when you will get most of your inquiries and (better) offers, in that first 3-4 weeks. It's a crazy, dynamic business, that's for sure, with few hard and fast rules, but I think that should be a top fiver when selling.

Edit: another issue COULD be that the house is involved in a divorce process. There is a house near us that has been "on the market" for....years, and the price has not moved. When we asked our agent to show it to us, she said that the owner was known to be uncooperative, and would always make excuses as to why he couldn't make the house available for showing. Agent had tried to show it to other people as well, with same result, and mentioned that she suspected that the house is part of a settlement - the (ex) wife wants to sell it, but the husband doesn't, and so he is acting accordingly. ::shrug::

[LordMortis]

I don't think a lot of sellers appreciate how vital it is to be really READY to sell as soon as your property goes on the market, because that is typically when you will get most of your inquiries and (better) offers, in that first 3-4 weeks. It's a crazy, dynamic business, that's for sure, with few hard and fast rules.

Concurred. This doesn't necessarily mean you need to be ready to move out as soon as your property goes on the market but you need to have a plan in place to close on the house. And personally, after getting burned once, I'd make sure my buyer's agent understands that the seller needs to be prepared to close with a plan for vacating... Admittedly, I'd probably get burned once because I'd assume the my agent knows that I want to move in and I wouldn't spell it out either.

[malchior]

If I had the house inspected I'd be pissed at the money I spent inspecting the house.

We didn't inspect yet. They haven't agreed to a contract yet.

You're being screwed by the sellers, their realtor, and your realtor for a process that is designed to be easy on the buyer (right up until you spend four hours signing contracts you never actually read).

I'm only being screwed in "opportunity risk" really. I could withdraw at any time and move onto another. I was willing to give them some time to think about it even though it was clearly a stall. That time is past. They have to decide or I'm out.

In short I'd not only walk away from the house but I'd walk away from the agent. You should still be in a buyer's market. There's no reason to put up with this waste of your time and money from anyone.

My agent might be part of the problem but I sort of doubt it. She warned us at the beginning that it was a weird market and it is if you think of the dynamic. Prices are finally stabilizing, sellers have to accept that they are going to take a big loss on the house, loan guidelines are opening up a little bit and tons of other little factors. The lesson I'm taking away if this falls apart is we are setting deadlines on our offers. I'm not going to play around with people who don't want to really sell. I will put them on the spot. It doesn't mean that we won't take time to consider factors that necessitate caution and careful consideration but I am not going to tolerate feet dragging of any sort going forward.

edit:

Edit: another issue COULD be that the house is involved in a divorce process. There is a house near us that has been "on the market" for....years, and the price has not moved. When we asked our agent to show it to us, she said that the owner was known to be uncooperative, and would always make excuses as to why he couldn't make the house available for showing. Agent had tried to show it to other people as well, with same result, and mentioned that she suspected that the house is part of a settlement - the (ex) wife wants to sell it, but the husband doesn't, and so he is acting accordingly. ::shrug::

It definitely isn't a divorce. That much is certain. Their clear hang up is they want to have a guarantee of a home in 4 months because they have young twins. They don't NEED to sell. The husband has a very long commute and wants to move and I feel that they are looking for the "perfect" house. I've been indirectly told that several offers might have fallen through already. I don't honestly care at this point. If you can't find a place to live, even temporarily in 4 months, there is a good chance that they are neurotic messes who I shouldn't do business with.

[Smoove_B]

If they're acting like this during your offer, they're going to have a meltdown after the home inspector's report.

Go with your gut. When we didn't in dealing with buyers it probably cost us ~$10,000k -- money that I had to pay out of my pocket to the bank when I sold the house to square the debt.

[Carpet_pissr]

I've been indirectly told that several offers might have fallen through already.

Red flag.

Walk, IMO.

[malchior]

I've been indirectly told that several offers might have fallen through already.

Red flag.

Walk, IMO.

I should clarify - that they put in on other houses. They apparently keep walking into bidding wars. Considering their non-responsiveness...they'll never win one.

[LordMortis]

I've been indirectly told that several offers might have fallen through already.

Red flag.

Walk, IMO.

This. And if you new this, then I take back what I said about your realtor. It's sort of on you take this a lesson learned.

It doesn't mean that we won't take time to consider factors that necessitate caution and careful consideration but I am not going to tolerate feet dragging of any sort going forward.

As it should be. Investing years worth or your labor into a purchase shouldn't be an impulse purchase. And if reasonable, it would be wise to give the sellers some leeway. However, they should already have a plan in place for how much leeway they are going to ask for.

[malchior]

This. And if you new this, then I take back what I said about your realtor. It's sort of on you take this a lesson learned.

No we are the one and only offer they've gotten (if they have other offers they definitely haven't lorded it over us as I expect they would). They just seem to be totally unmotivated.

[Freezer-TPF-]

If they're acting like this during your offer, they're going to have a meltdown after the home inspector's report.

Yep, always fun to be had there.

[Roman]

easy for me to say but I would walk now based on what I read.
Price - you have stated that you feel like you are paying too much
House - you have stated that the house is not THAT nice
Seller - shit or get off the pot

Sure sellers can be pricks (as in this case) but the 1st 2 items I list are causing you stress that you don't need. If there are other houses than focus on them now. You are giving way too much power to the seller here - you countered and then upped your counter to make them happier and also keep coming back to the table with more 'help' in their favour.

Walk and find something else.

[$iljanus]

There's a little bit of gamemanship that's involved in house negotiations but after a certain point would you really want to enter into a financial transaction involving a large sum of cash with these somewhat flaky sounding people? In the end if you're (the sellers) there to do business then do business, not play these coy games.

[malchior]

There's a little bit of gamemanship that's involved in house negotiations but after a certain point would you really want to enter into a financial transaction involving a large sum of cash with these somewhat flaky sounding people? In the end if you're (the sellers) there to do business then do business, not play these coy games.

This is my chief concern. While I'm not happy with the price, it is within the range I priced the house at when I did my research. It is just towards the top of the range. The difference between what I want and the top amounts to around $25 a month. Not really worth walking over.

If they are playing games then I clearly need to walk post-haste. My read is that they want a perfect transaction with no risk to themselves. While that does bother me, I think it'll be manageable if we can get going. If we get to attorney review, I intend to stress to my attorney that we need to make sure there isn't wiggle room in the language to allow them to play games. We'll set hard deadlines in the contract for performance, etc.

[Smoove_B]

I think you're severely underestimating their ability to wiggle within the law, particularly if they're not motivated to leave. At one point they were probably expecting a significant payday on their home and as such, figured when the deal came in they could take the money and run. Now that they're more than likely way below what they originally wanted, they have to carefully consider each offer as it will likely impact exactly where they are going to end up next.

After you get the home inspection and make your demands (which I'm sure will seem reasonable), they'll be able to counter, hire another inspector, delay the closing, etc...

I'm telling you -- if they aren't JUMPING on someone that wants to buy their house in this market, they're not motivated to sell.

I don't even want to move and if someone offered to pay me what I purchased my home for nearly 5 years ago, I'd have the family moved out of here within 60 days.

[LordMortis]

I'm telling you -- if they aren't JUMPING on someone that wants to buy their house in this market, they're not motivated to sell.

I can't speak for malchior (you're jersey, right?) but that's the case here. Most homes non new construction around here are going for aboout 1/4 of what they did in 2003 and that's just life. Take it or leave it as a seller. If you leave it then you're likely to leave your house on the market.

Zillow, says so too


http://www.zillow.com/

You can see values pretty clearly for it and it ain't pretty, except property taxes.

[malchior]

I'm telling you -- if they aren't JUMPING on someone that wants to buy their house in this market, they're not motivated to sell.

I totally agree that they aren't motivated. The question is why. If they are playing games then the faster I get away the better. If they are seeking the perfect transaction, well I'm rattling the cage to see if they realize that isn't likely to happen.

[Carpet_pissr]

Here's an interesting wrinkle on the other end of the spectrum (seller).

We spoke with our new agent this past weekend after he did a walkthrough of our house. No papers or agreements signed at all.

I plan to use him both for selling our house and buying the new one, but maybe I should reconsider:

Without even having our house on the market, we have had a few inquiries (months ago) through friends if we were amenable to selling (they want to get into the school district). So my wife mentions this to the agent, and he doesn't say much. Coincidentally the next day, one of those inquiries came back again, with more seriousness this time. So we are set to show the house to this lady on Friday, before the house is even on the market.

I am just wondering IF something happens, they like it enough to make an offer, what do we do about Mr. Agent? I would still want to use him to buy the new house, so not sure his feelings should be hurt too much if we tell him we will handle the selling.

1. I have NO idea what is involved in terms of work/time/costs, to process a sale (except the obvious things like lawyer fees) Obviously people do FSBO all the time, so it's apparently not too hard for a non pro to do it.
2. Morally, are we screwing the agent here? Should we offer anything to him? 1.5% maybe to cover the closing work? I think he would only have gotten 3% normally, so maybe 1% is more appropriate, if anything.

I would THINK that most of the cost associated with the commission fees paid to the selling agent would be in marketing, finding potential buyers, etc., as well as consulting about how to fix up the home to sell (which he did already), and not post-offer...work?

Anyone have feedback?

[LordMortis]

I am just wondering IF something happens, they like it enough to make an offer, what do we do about Mr. Agent? I would still want to use him to buy the new house, so not sure his feelings should be hurt too much if we tell him we will handle the selling.

Has he done any actual work for you, selling the house? Or did you just walk him through the house?

1. I have NO idea what is involved in terms of work/time/costs, to process a sale (except the obvious things like lawyer fees) Obviously people do FSBO all the time, so it's apparently not too hard for a non pro to do it.
2. Morally, are we screwing the agent here? Should we offer anything to him? 1.5% maybe to cover the closing work? I think he would only have gotten 3% normally, so maybe 1% is more appropriate, if anything.

All of the paperwork stuff is in your court. If I did a FSBO, I'd want to get a real estate lawyer involved. Personally, I think the main point of having a seller's agent and paying them a commission is to deal with the hassle of the paperwork and working with the purchasing agents.

If the agent hasn't done any work for you (other than a walk through), I would feel no remorse in not providing him with a commission. On The Other Hand, I wouldn't think twice about saying that you've got a buyer, is there something that can be arranged to get use is realtor services to complete the transaction, letting him no you still also intend to use him a purchasing agent. Of course if he is offended or seems unscrupulous about the whole thing then you can take your motivated buyer status somewhere else.

[malchior]

And....that deal is officially dead. They would not commit to the contract. We didn't agree to the contingency and they created a functional equivalent with their stall so in my mind they weren't negotiating in good faith. I told my realtor we will not deal with them even if they come back to us after they find a home. So moving on.

[Smoove_B]

I told my realtor we will not deal with them even if they come back to us after they find a home.

Now, now -- no need to be hasty. If they come back, you get to lower your offer by $15K. As the person that was on the business end of that conversation it sucked but we had to take it -- so pay it forward.

[malchior]

Now, now -- no need to be hasty. If they come back, you get to lower your offer by $15K. As the person that was on the business end of that conversation it sucked but we had to take it -- so pay it forward.

Fair enough. These people have their heads so far up their ass though that I doubt it'd come to that.

The positive to all this is we found out they were jackasses before we had real problems.

[KKBlue]

We are having a realtor do a walk through tomorrow. Selling to downsize and other stuff. The goal is to become even smarter financially and create more opportunity for travel.

I'm treating the whole ordeal like the house is going to sell by the end of the month. The rooms cleaned out WILL STAY clean and organized. Going to still host my annual woman's night later this month but will pack the dishes away instead of putting them back into the hutch. If we need to move out before we have found another home, not a problem, we will stay in a hotel and put stuff in storage. The main thing is getting a new homeowner for this magnificent house.

To be wiser then we were as a first time buyer is working in our favor so far. Because there are so many different types of people out there along with the banking situation, we will be more savvy than in 2001. The buying/selling thing seems to happen fast then slow down, speed up, linger for days, blast off... such a fuckin yo-yo of emotions. I want to be as prepared as I can be and keeping to my self inflicted schedule at about 85% achievement.

[malchior]

I was talking with my Realtor last night and one of the areas we covered was timing considering when we would like to close (July/August/September time frame). She said normally I would be a little too early right now but that we are doing this right because she is seeing a lot of what we just went through. Totally unmotivated sellers. Houses sitting on the market for long periods of time without price movement, etc. She has another couple that has had three offers now fail in similar ways to mine.

My co-worker had his "lowball" offer as he called it get (10% under list) rejected flat out by a buyer whose house has been on the market 8 months last night. No counter. This is one wacky market.

[Carpet_pissr]

On The Other Hand, I wouldn't think twice about saying that you've got a buyer, is there something that can be arranged to get use is realtor services to complete the transaction, letting him no you still also intend to use him a purchasing agent.

Just the walkthrough so far since again, house is not even listed yet.

Can you clarify that part above? Are suggesting that he help us with the buying process for only the future potential buying agent's commission? I don't think that will fly, since I already told him we planned to "use" him as both a buying and selling agent. Maybe I misunderstood though.

If IF this works out, I am tempted to use the $12K(!) we would have paid in commission (potential buyer does not have an agent either I think) to use as negotiation room, as we started a little high when the potential asked how much.

[LordMortis]

On The Other Hand, I wouldn't think twice about saying that you've got a buyer, is there something that can be arranged to get use is realtor services to complete the transaction, letting him no you still also intend to use him a purchasing agent.

Just the walkthrough so far since again, house is not even listed yet.

Can you clarify that part above? Are suggesting that he help us with the buying process for only the future potential buying agent's commission? I don't think that will fly, since I already told him we planned to "use" him as both a buying and selling agent. Maybe I misunderstood though.

If IF this works out, I am tempted to use the $12K(!) we would have paid in commission (potential buyer does not have an agent either I think) to use as negotiation room, as we started a little high when the potential asked how much.

If you could use his services without all of the bells and whistles of listing your house and organizing the sale and finding a buyer then I'd see what's up with the legal end of things and how much it would cost to get him take care of the closing of the house and organizing all of the paperwork. I know I would happily pay someone to take care of all of the ugliness of signing over deeds and filing deeds and setting up a mortgage and God knows what else it is we do when transfer a house. I have a small book of papers I signed and I have no idea what they were. I would hate to have to figure what's really involved in selling a house by myself.

I'd also be frank that I'd still intend to use him a purchasing agent.

[malchior]

So I moved on from that other deal and asked my agent to put in an offer on a backup house that we had our eye on. I talked to her about it Friday and here we are Sunday night and I still don't have the paperwork. I shot over a question about when we would get moving on this today in the morning and she eventually sent over the seller's disclosure but I am still waiting for her to write up the offer.

About 10 minutes ago she shot over one of her own listings that was way out of our range and asked me what I thought. I told her it wasn't even close to our budget and she asked what my max would be. WTF? I'll finish off the current offer with her but she is fired. Does anyone else think this warrants me meeting with the broker?

There has been other instances of unprofessional behavior (never has cards, runs late to every appointment) but this is straight out unethical in my mind now.

*Edit: NJ allows dual agency but I am not playing that. Dual agency is the close to not having an agent IMO.

[Smoove_B]

You can try meeting with the broker, but in our experience the broker and agent were in cahoots. After we requested a reassignment, the new agent sold our house within 60 days; as you can imagine we were quite happy. However after everything went through a few months later she contacted us and indicated that the broker took a cut from our new agent's commission to pay the first agent. She wanted to let us know she left the group and wanted to provide us with her new contact info.

My advice for anyone is that if you're not happy with your agent, speak up sooner than later. We probably gave our original one 90-120 more days than our gut was telling us to. It would have saved us so much stress to just dump her sooner. The fact that she still made a commission on the sale of our house makes me want to spit nails, particularly that it was done on the work someone else actually did. If an agent isn't motivated to find you a place in this market, there are probably half a dozen more waiting to try.

[Zaxxon]

Definitely time to fire the agent. When you're ready to put in an offer, the time to measure the realtor's write-up time is in hours, not days. If it's days, they're not doing their job.

Also:

The lesson I'm taking away if this falls apart is we are setting deadlines on our offers.

Uh, yeah. I've never heard of a purchase offer that didn't have a deadline--usually 24 hours. You don't want to put in an offer and have your hands tied as far as your ability to jump on something else you may find while waiting to hear.

[malchior]

Uh, yeah. I've never heard of a purchase offer that didn't have a deadline--usually 24 hours. You don't want to put in an offer and have your hands tied as far as your ability to jump on something else you may find while waiting to hear.

My agent said they weren't necessary in NJ because you can back out at any time before the end of attorney review. NJ is a little weird in that respect. Anyway, she is definitely fired. I just don't know what it will mean about going forward with respect to other properties we saw with her.

[Smoove_B]

IIRC, there was some language in our original contract with the first agent that indicated if we successfully closed on a house that she was involved in finding there was a period of time for 30 or 60 days after the contract ended that she was still entitled to a cut. That needs a Fret level grammar edit, but my brain is fried right now.

[malchior]

IIRC, there was some language in our original contract with the first agent that indicated if we successfully closed on a house that she was involved in finding there was a period of time for 30 or 60 days after the contract ended that she was still entitled to a cut. That needs a Fret level grammar edit, but my brain is fried right now.

Oh yeah, you just reminded me. We don't have a contract. We might be in the clear. Problem is another agent might not want to get involved considering it is a murky situation. We will have to see.

[Zaxxon]

Uh, yeah. I've never heard of a purchase offer that didn't have a deadline--usually 24 hours. You don't want to put in an offer and have your hands tied as far as your ability to jump on something else you may find while waiting to hear.

My agent said they weren't necessary in NJ because you can back out at any time before the end of attorney review. NJ is a little weird in that respect. Anyway, she is definitely fired. I just don't know what it will mean about going forward with respect to other properties we saw with her.

That's true. Still, I've never heard of a contract w/o a deadline. That's just weird. Your intention was to just leave it out there until you felt like pulling it? All the transactions I've been involved in / witnessed gave 24-48 hours' notice. If a seller's not serious, you'll know quickly.

[malchior]

That's true. Still, I've never heard of a contract w/o a deadline. That's just weird. Your intention was to just leave it out there until you felt like pulling it? All the transactions I've been involved in / witnessed gave 24-48 hours' notice. If a seller's not serious, you'll know quickly.

Essentially. I am new to this game; she came recommended by a friend as someone who was good with first time buyers but the more I read, the more I find out that she is either a crappy or overburdened or both. Top that with her new tactic of pushing her listings/mortgage broker and I feel like she doesn't see enough $$ from me to give me adequate service. Or whatever the deal is.

[Zaxxon]

Yep. Good luck with a new agent. They really do make or break the experience.