I recently made an offer on an existing TV house listed with an MLS agent. On the new buyer's agent form there was a blank for me to fill in what I thought my agent should be paid and by whom. I wanted to put in $1000 to be paid by the seller because I found the listing and went to them. She had spent no time with me and I only needed her to show me the house and handle the paperwork.
But, the agent wouldn't accept that. She declared it should be 3% but, "everything is negotiable". That was repeated several times. The point being - negotiate who pays what fees and how much they pay, negotiate house price and terms and be thinking about the commissions when doing so, etc. I decided to focus on my buy price and put the burden on the agents to figure-out how they'll get paid...left the 3% there and selected: paid by seller. I can tell you it's going to be VERY confusing to buyers and the agents seemed quite uncomfortable with the whole thing and are still trying to clearly grasp how to handle it with clients.
That deal fell thru and I have since been working with two Villages Properties agents who are far and above better than any MLS agent I have met thus far while here. And they are not subjected to any of that rigmarole so, our interactions have been much cleaner, clearer and more productive. I am hoping the right property for me is listed by VLS b/c I'd prefer to use one of their agents given my recent experience.
Now, allow me to add something else that is likely of even more importance to current and near-term buyers. That is the insurance issue. I've been reading this forum avidly for about 10 months so, I heard all about the home insurance cancellations and huge bumps in annual premiums many of you have experienced. Well, I think it's probably worse for the new buyer and the insurance issue must be a real part of why there are many more listings than is typical. (VLS agent told me that their usual inventory for pre-owned is around 300 homes but, currently, they have over 500 listed.)
Here are two fresh examples that I sourced this week related to two properties I've considered. I think you'll find this illustrative. Both are in Spanish Springs area.
1) Stick-built in 1990, 2 bed/2 bath, 1345 sq ft, has a 10 yr old rubber membrane roof, 3 yr old HVAC. Will probably transact around 250K. Current owner pays $2700 with State Farm. I talked to Villages Insurance and the only quote they could get for a new buyer was from Tower Hill for $3000. (I asked her to change the parameters and have it quote as a 5 yr old shingle roof. That was this afternoon and, interestingly, she couldn't go back into the system to do it b/c the insurers stopped quoting due to the coming hurricane/storm. How about that?) But, she estimated using those factors would only save about $200 -300 p/year. That the age of the house was the biggest factor.
2) Manufactured built 1989, 2 bed/2 bath, 1145 sq ft, new shingle roof, new HVAC in 2024, property in great condition and was basically pristine - exterior, interior and yard. Will probably transact around $235,000. Gulp, those current owners pay $4400 annually for insurance! Don't know which insurer...maybe Foremost. What would a new owner pay, IF they can even get insurance?
So, there is an illustration of why some choose to self-insure. Can you imagine paying $44,000 over 10 years for house #2? I can't.
The major point I'm making with the insurance part is that it HAS TO be a prominent factor affecting demand, and if it doesn't ease by some means, it will continue to depress sales and prices. Potential buyers will want to do a lot of homework on insurance before moving here...only to be shellshocked if they don't.
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