Tuesday, February 16, 2016

In which Ted is laughing Primo out of the room because Ted, in addition to being an expert on brain surgery, is also an expert on selling houses, even though he has lived in the same house since before I met Primo and I think for over 20 years



Primo
You saw my email to Ted and Jack, right? The one where I told them I had sold the car, sold the rest of the furniture, gotten the a/c repaired, upgraded my mom's computer for Jack, and listed the house with an agent?
Me
jes
it was very nice

Primo
Ted responded. It was not an angry/asshole response, but he said that he hoped I'd negotiated a lower commission rate with the realtor. (I did not. I suppose I could have tried, but he could have brought that up earlier if he had not been so busy being an asshole.)
Me
WTF???
Again, you have disappointed Ted
Seriously - this from the man who wanted to be paid to go to his own father's funeral
and wanted $875 for a FF ticket
the only costs he is worried about are the ones that don't affect him
Man. Every time I think he can no longer surprise me

Primo
I think 1% is not worth fighting over. And I'm getting more for "our" money with this guy, who is going to take care of a lot of the small tasks himself.

Primo
He wrote "I hope you got the real estate agent down to a 5% commission. Six-percenters get laughed out of the room these days."
Me
Oh sheesh
He had to find a way to insult you
I hope you are ignoring him 
his email does not deserve an answer
not to mention, he knows this how?
from his vast experience selling houses?

Primo
If we were to sell our house (with [the guy who found our house who is now our friend] listing it, of course), would it occur to you to ask him to take less than 6% commission?
Me
no
I would do that only if we planned to do a ton of the work ourselves
and the agent were not our friend
would it occur to you?

Primo
OK, then I don't feel bad. There is lots of stuff on the Internet about negotiating commissions, but in this case I am trusting someone with the house while I am away!
Me
it
s one damn perfect
percent

Primo
I know. I don't care.
Me
and frankly, there is only so much emotional investment

Primo
He had to find some way to criticize.
Me
that you should be expected to make in this
yes he did
I mean, it is $3,000-
but a good realtor is worth it
mine sold my house in three days
which dramatically reduced my stress

Primo
And that person got 6%, right?
Me
Yes
it is not worth thinking about
and Ted is being a jerk

Primo
The seller chooses the rate, and I assume that you signed for the standard 6%.
Me
he just had to pick at you
I sighed the standard

Primo
OK, then I don't feel bad about doing it.
Me
I had heard of negotiating the rate
but it didn't occur to me

Primo
And you are picky about saving money!
Me
yes
I just wanted a good agent and I wanted to sell
and I got my money's worth

Primo
Maybe this is Ted not being a good liberal.

Primo
This is Jason's livelihood. I don't want to cut his pay. He is going to go the extra mile for me. He is probably there working right now.
Me
what is his deal?

Primo
Ted?
Me
yep

Primo
As [Stephanie's boyfriend] said last night, Ted is "a piece of work."
Me
amen

Primo
I do feel bad for him. He is the oldest of his father's four children but is not in charge of any estate matters. He is the oldest of his mother's four children, but [Ted's other half brother by his mother] and his mother are co-trustees and I assume that [other half brother] will be in charge when she dies. But Ted has given people reasons not to trust him!
Me
Exactly
It's OK to feel bad for him
but that does not give him license to treat you badly

Primo
Exactly.
Me
and it is not your fault that he is being treated that way

Me
he has brought it on himself

Primo
Yes.


4 comments:

  1. Ted is sadness, rolled into anger.

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  2. Would never have occurred to me to negotiate the rate unless the house was going to generate a significant commission or was going to be super easy to sell. I suspect that neither of these applies to the house. And 6% has been pretty standard for years now. It's just nice to know that the push to get it up to 7% never really panned out.

    For estates you really do need to pick the right person for executor. I'm the oldest of 5 but my sister (#2) was absolutely the best choice for a number of reasons.

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  3. I actually felt dread for a second, thinking this was going to be a printed exchange with Ted that you had included (rather than Primo and you). If a stranger on the interweb, who has never had to deal with Ted in person, feels that way - how bad must it be for you guys?! Jx

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  4. In my experience, it's still possible to negotiate with the realtor's commission, TED. When you get an offer and you're trying to make it work, realtors can throw in some of their commission to make the numbers closer, TED. You might know that if you'd participated in the housing market in the last couple of decades, TED.

    ReplyDelete