Comments on: Taking a Buyer’s Agent to Court

By: Realtor Prevails in Nationally Watched Lawsuit | Redfin Los Angeles Sweet Digs

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:07:33 +0000

[...] A few months ago, I blogged about a lawsuit involving a Carlsbad couple who were suing their buyer’s agent, claiming he failed to tell them about nearby homes that sold for up to $175,000 less than the one they ended up buying. At issue was how much responsibility agents bear for the decisions of their clients. Here’s the original post. [...]

By: Cindy Allen

Cindy Allen — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:38:00 +0000

Anthony, I agree that the Ummels are not the most sympathetic of characters. It will be interesting to see how this turns out, since the Ummels are alleging fraud, saying their agent withheld the info about the lower appraisals. The fact that the case is being allowed to proceed must mean the judge thinks there’s something to it. We’ll just have to see.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:54:12 +0000

The final selling price of a home is determined by the SELLER and the BUYER only. Not the agent. In fact the definition of “value” is the price agreed between the BUYER and SELLER. An appraisal is an “opinion” of value. It is not scientific. Many appraisals are made based upon the appraiser’s opinion, which may have been formed without the appraiser wver seeing the interior of the comparable sale properties.

Notwithstanding the above, the Ummels are sophisticated buyers. The story says they canceled two contracts and fired an agent before they chose to purchase the one in question. Vern Ummel is no slouch. His own resume states: Vern managed a $70 million endowment campaign for the University of the Pacific where the goal was exceeded.

They knew what they wanted, agreed on a price and bought it.

Coincidentally, the real estate cycle (a natural occurance) started to decline shortly after they purchased their home. That’s life! If their agent could have predicted it he would be among the smartest people in the world. The press had been projecting the burst of the real estate bubble for years. It occurred later than they predicted.

Have the Ummels been damaged? Of course not. They have not sold their home and have not been damaged and have not suffered any loss at all. If they hold on to their property for the typical ownership term they will likely feel their home purchase was a bargain.

By: Julie Lance

Julie Lance — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:35:56 +0000

You have to blame the buyer’s a little here. You have do some homework yourself. Of course agents like to see a higher sales prices (higher the commission).

When we bought through an agent, it was like pulling teeth trying to get her to go lower than what was being asked. There were six identical units all on the market… you’d think at least one of them would go down on their price (and one did, by $30k!). However, if we didn’t push our agent to call around, I don’t think we would’ve gotten that price.