Question why 30 anonymous home offers were received
Q: I’ve been told by two Realtors that I need to sell my home in Portland, Oregon, “as is.”
The exterior is vinyl and still looks OK. The interior needs some work, but nothing major, and it has a new roof and was completely rewired.
I’ve received at least 30 offers from unknown buyers to buy it “outright,” no questions asked, but no money offers either.
It’s on a big corner lot so a developer could build two or three houses there.
What’s going on and what can I do? — Jim S.
A: It’s called collusion; that’s what’s going on. Your first step, in my opinion, is to immediately fire your Realtor for cause. And feel free to do so with prejudice, too.
Portland is one of the top real estate markets in the country, and those agents are conspiring to flood you with bad advice and vague offers from shady industry consorts to convince you to dump your increasingly valuable property at rockbottom price. Then they can resell or redevelop it for an enormous profit.
What 30 anonymous calls?
The fact your agent said you have received 30 anonymous offers with no monetary attachments only reinforces this. Those offers, I’m certain, are mostly from straw buyers who bird-dog properties for “buy your unsightly home for cash” businesses that tend to only pay 60 to 65 cents on the dollar.
Your agent likely brought in that second agent as a shill to reinforce the notion that your house is a piece of junk.
But you’re in luck because there are as-is investors out there who will kindly take it off your hands. How generous they are, huh?
Call the head of your Realtor’s brokerage and say you are firing the agent for failure to represent your best interests and for a conflict of interest, in which “your” agent was working behind the scenes to beat you out of tens of thousands of dollars.
You can also threaten to file a complaint with the Oregon Association of Realtors, but these types of organizations typically have little to no enforcement authority.
Regardless. I’d be stunned if the agent threatens to sue. The agent and agency haven’t a leg to stand on.
Next, do your online homework and interview several reputable agents. Tell them the problem with the previous real estate agent and ask what inexpensive things you can do to enhance the appeal and marketability of the place, and how they would market it.
Also ask if you should relist the place. While this typically sends a negative signal, the Portland market is so strong that any decent deal will be jumped on by legitimate home seekers. And of course, tell the agent to hire “no investors.”