Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Dealing with a realtor?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Jan 26, 2015, at 8:30 AM, Jerry McIntire <jerry.mcintire [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:

> Leah, I have stayed in the house when realtors brought a prospect, walked
> around with them and answered questions. Once the buyer sees that you know
> more (of course), they appreciate it and you can open conversations you
> want to have about the rest of the community.
> 
> This is new for the realtor, but he/she will catch on quickly.

Most realtors (if not all) believe that the owner can only screw the deal by 
talking too much. They want to sell the house. They say only what they need to 
say to sell it. They discuss options and clients' wants/needs in comparison 
with each other, etc.

For example, we had one realtor who said she legally couldn't tell us the name 
of the person who put down a contract. The contract was between the buyer and 
the seller and it would be a violation if she exposed the negotiations to 
anyone else. The owner was not one of our most communicative and had moved out 
2-3 years before. She wanted to sell her unit no matter what. It was a very odd 
situation that the realtor thought was perfectly normal. 

It was like living in a family compound with a stranger buying one of the 
houses. We didn't even know their name.

> You can offer helpful information about the community, but real estate law
> doesn't allow you to decide who is the best fit. If you have any thoughts
> about that, keep them under your hat.

This is a misconception. You can choose as long as  you don't choose based on 
race, religion, number of children, etc. 

To decide that this person will be more interested in the community is not 
illegal. It isn't illegal to sell to one person because they can pay cash, or 
to another because they are able to close sooner or later. Or because they have 
experience and interest in cooking for groups. No one has to sell to any 
specific person. 

Sharon
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Sharon Villines, Washington DC
The story of history is the story of organization.