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The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

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Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#131

Post by poulsbohemian »

chasil wrote: post #106
pkphilip wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine property being so cheap - that too in the US. Here in India where I reside, you wouldn't be able to get even a 100sq.ft of open land for that price.

Rock Island, Illinois was listed on Salary.com several times as one of the five least expensive places to live in the U.S. Our winters are not very pleasant, but if you like to ski, there is plenty to indulge within a two hour drive.

> if you like to ski, there is plenty to indulge within a two hour drive.

I've been to Davenport several times, my ex was from CR, and I went to school about two hours north of there... and I don't recall anywhere that you could actually ski without driving far north into MN or WI. What am I missing?

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#132

Post by seattle_spring »

bmarquez wrote: post #49

I've seen those signs before. They were posted in rapidly gentrifying Hispanic areas, probably targeting those with weak English or financial literacy. The interesting things is that the signs appeared to be handwritten with a black marker but all of them looked exactly the same. There were commercially produced but they took the effort to hide it.

The jankiness is intentional. Apparently it helps weed out people that'd catch on to the scam. Someone dumb or desperate enough to call a hand-written sign is more likely to follow through to the end without getting suspicious. It's the same reason lots of spam and email scams are full of typos and bad grammar.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#133

Post by conductr »

gnicholas wrote: post #122
poulsbohemian wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real estate agent here...While there are many agents that hold themselves to the standard that the National Association of Realtors has documented in their code, one of the root problems is that state agencies are negligent in enforcing rules and investigating fraud. For example, I know a fellow agent who had documented proof of another agent committing a fraud that did approx $400K in damage to a client - and the st…

What is it you anticipate happening that will trigger the change you describe in coming years? We were grossed out by our agent a decade ago, and when we went with a different agent (who came highly recommended by a neighbor whose house she sold) in a more recent transaction we were met with even more dishonesty than before.

Less volume will push the underperformers/hobbyists out of the RE agent business. Word of mouth is not a great way to hire, there a lot of incompetent but charismatic people in this industry. I interview a handful of them and then I basically do all the negotiating myself. In my opinion, they’re just there to unlock the door so I can view the home/or put my listing on the MLS. Once an offer is being made, they just care about the transaction closing. For this reason, never take their recommendation on inspector either. Find people that work for you and are not concerned with a ruining a relationship with your agent (their referral source). Also, never sign a buyer representation contract. It’s unnecessary and no agent worth their salt cares about locking you in (if you’re a serious and capable buyer). Never engage with an agent at an open house, this is usually agents without much work trying to drum up business.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#134

Post by mindslight »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #130
tmm84 wrote: post #33

I wish more older Americans understood how these people really work. My parents live in a neighborhood that has gone down hill through the years. They called up a company who did this kind of home buying. Usual visual inspections and the like went on with a quote being issued. They saw the amount was a little over the remaining mortgage which was less than the market value of the house. They decided to ahead of time…

>I wish more older Americans understood how these people really work. I wish more Americans overall understood how real estate works. I see people get screwed all the time because of bad information. Here's an example: several times a year I will talk with a member of the public who will say something like "we want to work with the listing agent because then we won't have to pay as much commission" not understanding…

Listing Realtors (TM) rely on people's misunderstandings to get them to sign those lopsided agency agreements in the first place (3% of a capital asset for setting up a key box, taking mediocre pictures, and writing a description of the property!), so those less critical misunderstandings are just part and parcel of their market. You should never skimp hiring a real estate attorney, as they will actually go to bat for you. But realtors' primary motivation is volume, and they'll often "represent" your interests by encouraging you to go along with buyers' nonsense lest you lose them.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#135

Post by poulsbohemian »

conductr wrote: post #128
poulsbohemian wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real estate agent here...While there are many agents that hold themselves to the standard that the National Association of Realtors has documented in their code, one of the root problems is that state agencies are negligent in enforcing rules and investigating fraud. For example, I know a fellow agent who had documented proof of another agent committing a fraud that did approx $400K in damage to a client - and the st…

Also would add, RE just isn’t that complex. It’s mostly standardized contracts in use. The contract to rent an apartment is usually more complex than the average RE sales contract. Read them ahead. Study the market to form your own opinions. Learn about what’s actually happening (agent can be helpful here) and what negotiating techniques you can deploy in the process. For most people, it’s worth your time.

I'd agree in general... that said, those standardized contracts change regularly, often because someone sued someone else leading to updating those contracts. So a real estate agent who stays up-to-date on contract issues can make a difference. As you point out - where an agent will really shine is market information and negotiating. I saved a client a ton of money last night because I out-negotiated the other side. That's why I'm worth the money - because what I saved them is more than I will make on the deal.

Agreed too that my office lease is about the same number of pages as a typical residential contract, but far more dense. My landlord added some of the most ridiculous clauses I've ever seen in any contract - and prior to real estate, I regularly wrote business contracts from scratch.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#136

Post by jokethrowaway »

danielmarkbruce wrote: post #87
bhouston wrote: post #75

They are a discount buyer, so it is generally a bad deal to use them and you basically shouldn't unless you have no other option. It is similar to getting a pay day loan, or selling stuff to pawn shop or keeping a balance on your VISA. You are going to get a bad deal. I don't really know what to do about it. How can you ensure people are educated enough to know that a discount buyer is a buyer who will under pay for…

In the cases mentioned specifically, the buyer has broken a law already (at least two are fraud) or the contract is invalid (lack of mental capacity). This isn't really a story per se. People are doing illegal stuff or stuff that won't hold up in court if challenged. We have a system for it - it works ok, not fantastically. We don't need new regulation for cases like this, we just need better execution on the existin…

More taxes won't make judges faster or reduce bureaucracy which exist just so some government drones can sit and do bs all day.

A private justice system, competition and a reputation system will help

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#137

Post by 55555 »

stanleydrew wrote: post #98
danielmarkbruce wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the cases mentioned specifically, the buyer has broken a law already (at least two are fraud) or the contract is invalid (lack of mental capacity). This isn't really a story per se. People are doing illegal stuff or stuff that won't hold up in court if challenged. We have a system for it - it works ok, not fantastically. We don't need new regulation for cases like this, we just need better execution on the existin…

This is a reasonable take, but I think it's also reasonable to suggest that if current system execution is too expensive then perhaps a new regulation could make it cheaper. Of course there are perhaps unintended side effects from new regulation, but "this is already a crime, we don't need anything new" isn't prima facie a sufficient argument. If a lot of a similar type of crime is going unpunished, there may be a re…

They are essentially a market maker for housing. You can sell your house to them _today_. It's necessary that they pay you substantially under market. If you want a good price, it'll take you 6 months to sell your house. You're paying a premium for immediate execution.

Once you punish the fraud and crime, there's no problem left IMO. There's multiple of these companies competing and you should price shop before selling to one.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#138

Post by Nursie »

logicchains wrote: post #127
Nursie wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People desperate enough to use payday lenders have no other options. Not always true, some folks misuse them for a variety of reasons. Take the option away in the UK and a friend’s boyfriend wouldn’t have been able to use an app to take out a bunch of short term loans in her name for Xbox games… So I think sometimes these facilities are used frivolously. You’re right that a portion of users in real hardship would t…

>Take the option away in the UK and a friend’s boyfriend wouldn’t have been able to use an app to take out a bunch of short term loans in her name for Xbox games… There's already a solution there, she could take him to court to recover the money. Your argument is basically "ban X because X can be used in an illegal way".

No, my argument is that not every use of x constitutes immediate, severe need, so the consequences of banning x would not necessarily be to drive all service users of x straight into the arms of loan sharks.

Further to that, my argument is that for people who are in such severe need that they would then turn to loan sharks, there is probably a better solution out there that we as a society should be looking into, than usurious payday lenders.

At no point was my argument anything close to “ban X because X can be used in an illegal way"

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#139

Post by 55555 »

dmbche wrote: post #79

Exchanges of over some amount of money should be supervised by a third party just to check it's not a scam - how hard could it be? I can't believe there are no safeguards for people...I can't believe it wouldn't be worth it socially

Okay now define scam.

Re: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

#140

Post by poulsbohemian »

gnicholas wrote: post #122
poulsbohemian wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real estate agent here...While there are many agents that hold themselves to the standard that the National Association of Realtors has documented in their code, one of the root problems is that state agencies are negligent in enforcing rules and investigating fraud. For example, I know a fellow agent who had documented proof of another agent committing a fraud that did approx $400K in damage to a client - and the st…

What is it you anticipate happening that will trigger the change you describe in coming years? We were grossed out by our agent a decade ago, and when we went with a different agent (who came highly recommended by a neighbor whose house she sold) in a more recent transaction we were met with even more dishonesty than before.

Yeah, I think conductr and I are on the same page here... basically I see real estate ripe for the same kind of transformation as financial services has experienced... once upon a time if you wanted to buy and sell stocks or other assets, you went to a stockbroker / financial advisor. Today, sure there is still a need for those professionals, but many more people trade on Schwab / Fidelity (as examples) and the standard of practice for the remaining financial advisors has improved as expectations have increased.

Essentially - I expect some combination of technology / low-cost brokerages to take over a lot of the business, while some demographics of buyers / sellers or types of properties will continue to rely on the services of brokers who will be forced to up their game in order to compete. I fully expect a bloodbath among some of the larger national / international brokerages, as many of them have abusive, unsustainable business models.

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