Buying a home is a huge deal! It’s what many of us aspire to do one day. Although the entire process can be long and arduous, it’s usually worth it in the end. You’d assume that your biggest worries would be your funds or the properties available. But sometimes, it’s the realtor who’s the issue. Especially if they’re trying to play everyone for more cash.
Redditor u/Mysterious_Peas delighted the r/pettyrevenge subreddit with a story about how she put a greedy California realtor, representing the seller, in his place. The man kept delaying the OP’s purchase of a house for no good reason until she finally snapped. Read on for the full story, as well as the internet’s reactions. Bored Panda has reached out to the author via Reddit, and we’ll update the article as soon as we hear back from her.
You can run into some completely unexpected challenges when trying to buy a home
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One woman went viral after she shared how the realtor, on the seller’s side, kept dragging out the buying process on purpose
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Image credits: Mysterious_Peas
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Currently, home prices have reached record heights, but sales are very low in the US
The real estate market is in an odd spot in the United States at the time of writing. Sales have been falling due to rising interest rates and low inventory. Meanwhile, the prices of the homes themselves are soaring.
CNN reports that the median home sale price was $389,800 in 2023. This was the highest on record, around 1% more than in 2022. In the meantime, US home sales dropped to 4.09 million, down 19% from 2022 and a further 18% down from 2022 to 2021. This is the lowest ever level of sales since all the way back in 1995.
This is potentially a pretty good situation for anyone who’s locked in at a lower mortgage rate or potentially already in the middle of the property sale process.
However, far from everyone is loving what’s happening. The current situation is leaving many new homebuyers in a very frustrating position. Many people feel like they’re priced out in this seller’s market. It’s a real headache for families who want a place to call their own.
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Many new would-be homeowners feel frustrated with ther options
It’s hard to feel optimistic if you’ve been saving and investing for years and years, but prices are only rising, and competition is incredibly fierce for quality homes. It’s like running a marathon in the fog with an uncertain finish line and unknown competitors.
Meanwhile, even if you have some decent funds available, someone might outbid you by paying far more than the asking price. Not everyone has enough cash to get in a bidding war over a place to live.
“The demand for housing—and homeownership, in particular—has remained high despite higher rates. Prospective homebuyers have been shut out of the market by a lack of inventory. If there had been more listings on the market in 2023, we would have had more home sales,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright Multiple Listing Service, explained.
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One major red flag for any realtor is if they’re bad at communication
A good realtor has a duty to either the buyer or the seller to get them the best deal available. However, they still have to abide by a code of ethics, especially when there’s so much money involved.
For example, it’s slightly morally dubious to drag out the entire sale on purpose. Now, this doesn’t mean that realtors should take the first offer the moment it comes in. They can and should still look at all the other offers and counteroffers on the table.
However, they’ve definitely crossed the line if they’re pushing the buyers away. Case in point, redditor u/Mysterious_Peas shared how she simply decided to purchase a different property after she was exhausted from all the delays.
Good realtors naturally have to be great at communication. They have to like engaging with people, and they have to be skilled at it. The real estate industry is incredibly competitive, so your reputation and your results matter a ton.
If you make a bad first impression (and then keep making those same mistakes time and time again), you might soon find that nobody wants to do business with you. In this line of work, you have to communicate well and respond to queries quickly. If you’re not available, unfortunately, you might lose clients and deals.
The author inspired many internet users to share their own real-estate stories
