Zip Realty (Ziprealty.com) Sucks

Too bad for your experience. How much under the asking cost were you on your initial offer? If it was an insult, I wouldn't expect any agent to push for it. Bottom line is the agent wants you in the house. For that matter, why would any agent regardless of whether they give you a kickback not want to get the most for a house. This is how all agents get paid.

From the inspection aspect, Zip does not have "big" relations with inspectors. The specific agent is the one with this relationship as well as closing company preferences, lenders, etc. Unfortunately the Real Estate business in general is prone to Agents work with shoddy or suspect inspectors in order to get the deal done with the banks. If you received a faulty inspection, sue the inspection company and report the agent.

My original offer was less than 10% below the asking price which I hear any where between 6%-10% is quite the norm these days. I understand that any agent wants you to buy a house so they get paid but I also think that since you basically hire them to be your agent ("Buyer's agent") that they should work for your interest and not the sellers which I did not get that feeling when working with Zip Realty. The feeling I got is they would do anything in the power to make the house sale go quickly and smoothly as possible with out any issues for them, not necessarily without issues for me.

My realtor gave me a list of three inspectors to use. He recommended the first one on the list because the inspector "had just been to their office and is a great guy" but I chose another one on the list based results of an internet search (and I also found it a little weird for an home inspector to be a real estate office).

My feeling is I would have been better off had I not hired a Buyer's agent. Zip Realty didn't really do anything for me that I couldn't do myself. I thought you used a buyer's agent because they were good at negotiation, good with setting up all the appointments.. but in the end those are the points that really went wrong with the sale. So my question to any one, why even use a buyer's agent? The only reason I can see is during the searching phase. You have the potential to see more houses in less time because the agent should have access to any house on the market. However I don't think that's good enough.

Next time, I am doing the searching myself, calling up the selling agent to set up appointments to see the house, and then repeat for how many houses I'm interested in. Then when we get to negotiating I'm going to point out that I'm saving them by not having my own agent and hopefully can get the price down by what a buyers agent would receive (have I had one) which is usually 2%-3.5%. Then once you get an accepted offer you find a bank, an inspector, am I missing something?

Some agents at Zip Realty are just plain lazy and rude. I've had very bad experience with them recently a, dn I do not recommand ZipRealty. You are better off with some other company other than Zip Realty. Terrible terrible reator.

You said it yourself; they are going to try get you the highest purchase price because they have to make their money some how. This includes agents on both sides.

The seller's agent is going to be even less inclined to give you a good deal as are likely in your cost cutting technique to be directly cutting their commission as well. No to mention you now have them letting you into the house, therefore possibly introducing some double duty.

As you are going into the transaction looking to cut the base price, you need to know the seller agent will most likely not cut their commission at an proportionate amount. Say they would make 3% or 9,000 on a house at 300,000. You cut say that same 9,000 on the buyers side to reduce your offer to 291,000. They are still going to be looking to recoup that 900 built in to the base price. Factoring in also the buyers commission comes out of the purchase price, the sellers might be reluctant to reduce the full price and give you any additional closing costs you might be desiring.

Are you an agent, tbone?

Are you saying the sellers agent would rather a buyer who has their own buyers agent?

And are you saying the agent will be afraid of letting of me in the house if I don't have an agent? I expect the agent would want to be there to let me see the place but I didn't think they would be afraid to show it to me without a buyers agent.

I think I'm missing the logic here.

If I were to forgo a buyers agent who would usually get $9,000 commission I would be happy with just getting $5,000 off my purchase and giving an extra $1000 to the sellers agent for showing me around the place. That way I still save, the sellers agent gets more, and the seller doesn't lose any money. Basically I want to split the buyers commission between me, the seller, and the sellers agent because I don't think they are needed in a sale.

No I am not an agent, but I have dealt with enough Realtors on the buyer side to know how I can benefit from their services. For instance if you are looking at one house your plan would probably work, but try that on a Saturday when you want to see 10.

If you want to truly take it on, why not cut out the Seller side as well and only look for a FSBO?

Remember, fault on the sales price could also rest with the sellers agent not presenting the situation clearly, or the fact that you still are dealing with an emotional transaction with a seller who might refuse to understand that homes are going 5-10% below the asking price. Again, I'm not counting out Zip as any other realty company could have its fair share of bad agents. I just don't completely blame the company when you made the decision to go with them to save money in the first place.

You could have had the same experience with a full price agency.

You're right I could have had the same problem with other places. However, I also think that people will find my experience with Zip Realty helpful so that is why I posted it. They can read it and take it for its worth to them. If Zip is like the rest of the agents then that is all the more reason not use a buyer’s agent because I don't think they made a satisfactory effort with me. I chose Zip Realty because I liked their online interface and their method that you get to choose what houses to see, not to save money. I find it unfortunate that they really didn't put my interest first, and at some points were deceptive, and that is the point I want to make, end of story. Going for a FSBO is completely different league, I think, and contains a lot of uncertainties that I wouldn't be interested in.

I didnt know a seller would be able to get the buyers agents commission if they did not have one. I have been buying houses with only one agent for years and never got the missing agents commission. Wow!

It is not going to help all you the time. It's just something you can use in your favor during price negotiations. I haven't tried it myself yet, however. I have read about people who successfully have gotten their price down.

Zip is zipping out of business. Look at the stock price. It won't be long till they are put out of their misery.

I'm not so sure they are going any where soon. With the housing market in turmoil you can't expect pretty earnings however I think they have enough to stay in it. They just announced at the end of Dec 2008 they are expanding into Oregon.

If anyone thinks it is a piece of cake being a Realtor, they should get a license and learn the business. The commission is an agreed amount to be paid by the seller to the listing Broker, not the agent. The listing Broker makes the determination as to how much is offered to the selling broker. It is against the law to pay a commission to someone who is not licensed in our state. And any agent worth their salt will have a "buyer" qualified by a lender first and have them sign a Buyer Broker Agreement before they ever show them a home.

I don't think being a realtor is an easy job at all. The uncertain income and today's economy makes it real hard to make a comfortable living.

If it's against the law to pay a commission to a some who is not licensed how does Zip Realty pay out a rebate at close to the buyer/seller who hired them? This is the same thing I'm asking for from the sellers agent... a percent off the purchase price... I don't care if it's the seller who lowers the price or their agent who reimburses me.

When I bought my first and only home I was prequalified before I even started looking for a house or agent. I think it's a waste of everyone's time to not do so but that has nothing to do with this does it?

Hi TJ, being in the business myself both in new homes and general, I can tell you that it all truely depends on the individual agent. Usually if there is an office that is just as bad as some of its worst agents, then they're probably not a well known name as in this business, we survive greatly in part to referral business. I would say to anyone buying a home that it would be a benefit to have someone represent you in the process. Just do your part and do some research into the office and the agent before you make your selection. You will find that people who have had a great experiance with an agent will be glad to share that persons name and there experience with that agent or office with you.

TJ,
The amount you save (if you save it, which is doubtful) is not worth the trade of not having a buyer's agent. I've bought a lotta houses in my day, and still wouldn't buy a house without a buyer's agent who knows the area. And PS, no seller's agent is going to run out and show you the house at your convenience (they'll rely on buyer's agents to show the house - except for open houses, of course), if you look at enough houses to make a good decision, it will take you months to get those appointments together. It just ain't worth it. That being said, a bad buyer's agent isn't worth a dime - the issue is to get a good buyer's agent - they're invaluable.

Yeah I guess I was just expecting too much of the agent. What I learned you should really only use the agent for the home searching phase and you can't really depend on them for support or for other parts of the home buying process. You can't expect them to get you the best deal on a house or recommend a good inspector because it's not in their interest. So if I needed to find a house quick and don't know the area I'm purchasing well then maybe I'll need to use one.

1. How about reading the rebate details? You get 20% of what the broker gets, and the broker gets between 2.5% and 3% in this market - not YOU! I'd rather have $1000 bucks back than a basket of chocolate and bad wine!

2. The difference in the money they get would be so small, so you'd have to say that for any agent. All agents work on commission, so I guess all agents will have poor negotiation skills to make more money for themselves? The only problem with Zip is that they're employees, so you can't get rid of incredibly stupid buyers like you.

3. You don't have to use anyone's inspectors, not a Century 21 agent's inspectors, Prudential, it's the same thing you idiot! Why wouldn't an inspector recommended by any brokerage give a fair report if they're afraid of losing business? Get off your butt and make your own calls then!

There are sucky agents everywhere, some of the worst I worked with were Coldwell Banker and RE/MAX. I was with Zip for two years but I got to the point where I couldn't take one more phone call to explain things to new know-it-all buyers. My broker used to give me the 'difficult' buyers because I was strong. And that strength carries into negotiation, if you take time to really know the business. I now work with investors where I belong. ;)

Every agent is different, so call several!

RE: CL

I am not sure where you are misunderstanding my post. So uh.. how about reading this page before going on a pointless tirade? I appreciate comments from anybody but when you speak so arrogantly and don't read the WHOLE post before you respond it makes your post less credible.

I said I was upset because Zip Realty list the broker as getting anywhere between 2.5% -3% but in reality (at least in my case) they only got 2%. Because they only got 2% and I get 20% of the agents commission that made the "estimated rebate" listed on the site completely overinflated since they use 2.5% as a low mark.

In fact everything in your post was brought up before so I there no reason to respond to your points. My post was to inform people of my experience with Zip Realty. I am not saying everyone will have the same experience. In fact I would love to hear people who have good experiences with Zip but I have not heard any yet.

Maybe if you weren't so dumb and could spell properly you'd get a better agent.

RE: Candy

Oh man you called me dumb!! Man that really hit home . Is that really the best comments you can leave? Why even waste your time, internet tough girl?