[Music]
Hello everyone and Welcome to another
episode of Selling Greenville your
favorite real estate podcast here in
Greenville South Carolina I'm your host
Stan McCune realtor as you guys should by
this point already know here in the
upstate of South Carolina and you can
find as always all of my contact
information in the show notes if you
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episodes jumping right in today I
want to discuss the 10 least helpful
questions to ask when looking at
purchasing real estate and I'm
mentioning these 10 questions because
they are very common questions they're
questions I get literally every single
week and let's just let me just cut to
the chase here okay if it's a question
that I haven't already asked then it's
probably not a useful question to ask if
that makes sense when I see a property
and when I have a client that's
interested in a property I'm already
thinking through okay what are the
potential issues here what are the
potential things that we need to get
out in front of usually if if my
clients are wanting me to ask a
question particularly if it's one of
these 10 questions it's probably not
worth asking now that being said I'm
still going to ask it because that's my
duty that's my responsibility for my
buyer clients but that's just
something that I just want to say on the
front end and I also want to say on the
front end not to be snoody about this
I never have a problem with people
asking questions I never have a problem
with my buyers wanting me to to go to
the listing agent and to ask you know
specific questions even if they fit
into one of these top 10 least helpful
questions I never have a problem with
that I get paid to do what my clients
want me to do right and I do follow
the philosophy for the most part that
the customer or to use the legal South
Carolina terminology the client my
client that they are always right
there are times when I will disagree
with them but at the end of the day it's
my responsibility to represent them and
their their desires usually if we have a
disagreement I have found more often
than not later down the road my clients
come back and say yeah you were actually
right and and I'm again I'm not
trying to brag or or any of that but
this is what I do for a Liv living right
so I should be right more often than not
if I'm not then maybe I should be doing
something else but I don't actually
believe that there are dumb questions so
I don't want to pose any of these if
you're listening to this you're like oh
man that's a question I ask all the time
and I'm I must be an idiot no I'm not
saying that there are dumb questions and
I'm not suggesting that any of these 10
least helpful questions are in are dumb
or you know the product of a lack of
intelligence or anything like that but
what I am saying is that these
questions tend to not yield helpful
answers or as you'll see multiple times
with multiple of these questions a lot
of them are an attempt to shortcut the
process real estate purchasing real
estate is a process and you cannot
shortcut it like it that simply can't be
done the process has to play itself out
that is exactly why I have a job as a
realtor is because if it was just really
simple and you could just shortcut the
process and just go about it you know
real simply there wouldn't be a need
for Real Estate
professionals but the fact that there
are aspects to this that there's
multiple steps to it that there's a lot
that goes into it that's exactly what
real estate professionals are here for
okay so with all of that to be said
let's dive right into the 10 not not
stupid questions but the 10 questions
that tend that I get the most often that
tend to be the least helpful questions
to ask when you're looking to buy real
estate and these are not in any
particular order these are just in the
order that I came up with them in my
head question number one why is the
seller selling oh man I wish I had a a
dollar for every time I get this
question why is the seller selling in
all of my years of real estate I have
never had a seller answer this in a way
that either wasn't already obvious or in
a way that just didn't really directly
answer the question what what do you
expect the seller to say oh this
property is just garbage that's why
that's why the seller is selling the
property is just garbage no they're
not going to say that do can you
expect them to say let's say that
they're an investor they're selling off
an investment property they're not going
to say well I'm selling this one off
because I can do a lot better elsewhere
there's a lot better stuff on the
market than this so I'm I'm dumping this
off no they're not going to say that
do you expect them to say I'm about to
foreclose and I'm super motivated and
we'll take the first offer I can get no
they're they're not going to say that
and and this is what I just alluded to
before this is a shortcut question
asking why the seller is selling is an
attempt to shortcut doing your own
research into a property I would say
rather than focusing on why a seller is
selling selling focus on why you should
or shouldn't buy the property it is your
job to do that research it is not the
seller's job to do the research for the
buyers it's not the sell's job to reveal
the obvious things or the not obvious
things to the buyers except for material
facts about the property itself the
seller does not need to reveal their
motives and they will not even if it
sounds like they're telling you their
motives they're not telling you
everything usually sellers have a lot of
motives for selling a property and
they're just going to tell you the one
that is the least you know quote unquote
incriminating to them the one that that
sounds the best so asking the seller or
asking listing agent why is a seller
selling you're not usually going to get
I mean very rarely again I don't think
one time in my career have I gotten a
helpful answer from that so you have to
do your own research and obviously as a
buyer agent that's something that that I
help with and and usually it becomes
readily apparent
why a seller is selling as you do your
research as you look at the property and
all of that kind of stuff and sometimes
sometimes it's not apparent some
maybe the seller doesn't know what
they're doing I have seen that I have
seen times where a seller is selling
because they don't realized that they're
sitting on a gold mine I had a situation
one time a few years ago where a client
of mine was going was looking to
purchase a property the seller had no
idea they they underpriced it they had
no idea what it was worth we gave them
an offer and my client unfortunately
backed out but what ended up
happening is in the process of being
under contract they ended up having
to do some work to some things that we
revealed and while they were do during
our inspections while they were doing
work to the property they got so much
interest from people wanting to rent it
that they realized well my goodness I'm
sitting on a gold mine here and then
that seller ended up after my client
backed out which they then immediately
regretted and that was something I
discouraged them from doing I didn't
think it was a wise decision they backed
out immediately regretted it and then
the seller decided I ain't even going to
sell this property now and so that
was just an example of a seller selling
they didn't even know what the
property was worth and so again not
usually a helpful question all right
question number two is there anything
wrong with the house they aren't telling
me yes yes there are things wrong with
the house they aren't telling you there
isn't a single house anywhere in the US
where the homeowner discloses every
single detail that they know that's
wrong with the house the seller's
disclosure itself is a in South
Carolina it's a 5 to six page document
and it's very basic some of the things
that it asks it's mostly yes no
questions there's not a whole lot of
room in there to to fill out everything
do you think that the seller is going to
tell you every single outlet that
doesn't work every single faucet that
has low water pressure do you think that
they're aware of of every single thing
going on in the crawl space no and if
they are odds are that they are not
going to list out every single thing
they might not even remember every
single thing that's what I have run into
many many times where where clients
that are selling a house they don't
disclose everything that that is
wrong with the house because they forget
they've gotten used to just living with
you know with this or or that or the
other thing and it just becomes one
of those you know it's easy to forget
and again this is a shortcut question is
there anything wrong with the house they
aren't telling me you can't shortcut
this you have to do your due diligence
now that's not to say you should go
crazy with your due diligence an
experienced investor if you're looking
at investment properties doesn't need a
ton of due diligence to identify a good
deal but you should do what you need to
do to properly assess a deal based on
what you're doing what your criteria is
and for some for I have a a several
clients several investor clients that
their
assessment of the property at least
their initial assessment involves just
me looking at it in some cases without
even my buyer client available I because
I know generally speaking what I'm
looking for now again that's not a
shortcut you still need to do your
inspections by and large but that's
just something to keep in mind mind
there are things wrong with the house
that the listing agent isn't telling you
or doesn't know and that the seller
isn't telling you or doesn't know that
is always the case it's not a question
that that you need to ask question
number three I I'm getting this one a
lot because this is such a common thing
that we're seeing in this market why are
they selling as is let me tell you
what a seller isn't going to say in
response to this question I'm not going
to say we're selling as is because
there's a ton of problems that make it
not worth it for you or for
me they're not going to say that again
another shortcut question the vast
majority of cases where sellers are
selling Asis are when okay a there are
clear and obvious issues that they don't
have the money to address themselves you
can see that very easily you don't need
to ask the seller that question you can
see it usually in the photos but for
sure in person you can see that maybe
even the seller's disclosure reveals
some of that B they never lived in
the house such as you know an estate
sale or something like that and don't
know what might be wrong with the
property and they just want to dump it
off that's a very common reason why
sellers are selling as is again that's
very obvious you can see it usually
in the photos you can see it perhaps on
public records often times in the
listing it'll it'll say if it's an
estate sale or something to that effect
and I still get clients that are like
why are they saying that they're selling
as is because it's an estate sale people
that are selling in an estate sale
situation they don't want to have to to
go through all these inspections and
repairs and all of that they just want
to get under contract for an an
agreeable price and then just get to
closing and not have to to worry about
fixing all sorts of plumbing and
electrical stuff and whatnot you have to
factor that into your price and again
you have to do your your own due
diligence to make sure you know what
you're getting into before closing
and and see the last reason and this is
right now I'm recording this in April of
2022 and this is a really common reason
why people are selling as is because
they can right now we're it's such an
insane sellers Market that a lot of
sellers are just saying you know what I
don't I hate having to deal with repairs
and all that this house it's in good
condition I've kept up with it I've done
everything I need to do I just want to
sell it to someone that I know isn't
going to nickel and dime me for all
these Ticky Tac little repairs and so
that we're seeing that very commonly
right now very commonly situations
where the sellers are just are are not
wanting to have to to mess around with
that and the house isn't necessarily in
bad condition they are just wanting to
not have to to deal with with going
back and forth than a mid transaction
negotiation over repairs next
question why don't they answer any
questions in the seller's disclosure
what this question is really asking is
is the seller hiding something right you
I see a lot of this I mean most sellers
disclosures they don't say hardly
anything and again there is no way to
know whether they're hiding something
most sellers don't take the sellers
disclosure very seriously and as a buyer
and a buyer's agent I don't put a whole
lot of stock into the sellers disclosure
I constantly find mistakes in there I
looked at a property recently with some
clients of mine it said on the sell
disclosure AC unit 2022 brand new right
well part of what I do as an agent is I
always look at the AC unit because you
you don't know what you're going to find
I went to the AC unit guess what year it
was it was a
2004 and they had on the S disclosure
that it was a 2022 unit I went back to
the listing agent and was like hey
what's going on here why do they
disclose it was brand new when you know
it's like 18 years old he went back to
the to the seller the seller is out an
outof State seller and the outof state
seller didn't realize that they had
hired an AC guy to replace the unit and
he had gone to some like scratch and
dent place and had installed an
18-year-old AC unit that I guess was in
good shape in his mind and and that
was what he used in order to save
everyone costs so you cannot trust
a seller's disclosure and as I already
said there are times when when
sellers don't even remember there's no
way for a seller to remember every
single thing that's that's wrong with a
property so you can't expect that you
cannot shortcut the process you have to
do all the research yourself again this
is a major part of my role is to make
sure that my clients that my buyer
clients actually purchase what they want
to purchase actually get the property
that they that they want to get all
right next question actually I don't
know do I have 10 questions here let's
see here one 2 3 4 five 6 seven eight
nine I've got nine questions here I
don't even have 10 wow I I need to come
up with with one more on the Fly here I
don't I don't think I'm going to do it
all right regardless question number
five this is for a new listing
specifically okay cuz this can be a good
question for a home that's been on the
market for a while but if a home has
just come on the
market to ask the question do you think
they have some wiggle room on the price
okay again this is as of April 2022 if
you're listening to this three years
from now this might be a very different
answer that I would give but right now
in these market conditions there the
answer to this question for a new
listing is always the same it's always
the word no no do I think they have
wiggle room on the price for a new
listing no no I do not it doesn't matter
if they clearly demonstrably overpriced
it you know how many times I talked to
to listing agents when they've listed a
new house and it's overpriced and come
back to them and and and and discuss
with them I'm just like you know this
you know I I might give feedback or I
might talk to them and be like you know
I'm not really seeing how this fits this
price and they always just come back you
know I had one that was sassy with me
lately that was just like you know if
you look at the comps you'll see that
it's not overpriced and and what was
ironic about that is that I had looked
at the comps and it was overpriced and
that house is is still languishing on
the market as of today which only
happens in this market if it's
overpriced in a sell's market it is a
complete waste of time to ask if a
seller has wiggle room on the price they
do not have wiggle room on the price in
their mind
they all they are seeing is these prices
going crazy all their neighbors selling
their homes in in two days and
they're just you know jacking up the
price and there and there you go they're
expecting to get that and it's not until
they start to lower the price that
reality starts to come to come in now
if a home has been on the market for a
week or two maybe at that point they do
have some legal room although less so
than in the past I'm still seeing
homes that have been on the market for
one two 3 weeks that go under contract
and it's still a full price contract
just again because of how insane the
market is but even in these situations
it's usually not worth my time to ask
the listing agent you know does the
seller have wiggle room because Realtors
are fiduciaries and there's very limited
information that we can give you know
with regard to whether our clients have
wiggle room or or not just like me as a
buyer agent if the seller comes to me
and it's just like you think they can
come up on the price you know there's
only so much that I can say in that
situation without completely giving
up you know what I'm supposed to be
doing as a fiduciary for my client
and so the the better way to ask the
question is not to ask it it's just to
make the offer and obviously I prefer
my clients talk to me first like hey is
this offer even worth it I'm I'm just
going to shoot you straight and there's
a lot of ways that I can assess whether
an offer is worth it or not but at
the end of the day if the seller does
have wiggle room if it's a property
that's been on the market for a while
and it and it might be a candidate
for having some wiggle room the best way
to assess that is simply to make an
offer all right question number six
is the property overpriced okay this
is the question again that I get a lot
is this is this property
overpriced the is issue with this
question is a lack of precision what you
got to we've got to determine what
you're really asking are you wanting to
buy a home with Instant Equity I mean
good luck right now that that there was
a time when when you could do that and
that time will return at some point it's
just not right now are you wanting to
make sure your appraisal comes back at
Value that you don't end up in a
situation where where you have a low
appraisal and then are are in the middle
of the transaction having to renegotiate
things that that can be a good question
to ask that and and so that's really the
you know if that's really what you're
asking just ask it don't ask it is it
overpriced ask would this house
actually
appraise and and even you know if
you're wanting to buy a house with
Instant Equity that's fine too ask that
question often a better question to
ask though than any of these what a lot
of people are are asking is they don't
want to to buy something more than it's
worth but that that's a that's
subjective in so many ways even what
appraisers value properties at is very
subjective which I've talked about many
times better question ask often what is
this house worth to me it might be worth
less than it's listed for it might be
worth more than it's listed for but that
is the question that you need to ask and
and be realistic compare that house to
the other homes that are on the market
and go from there if if that house is a
a great value compared to everything
else you've been seeing on the market
then it might be worth more to you than
it would be to someone else all right
question number seven why hasn't this
home sold yet again there are certain
questions where certain situations
rather where this question could make
sense if you see a home priced correctly
in an area that normally sells quickly
and without any discernable issues with
it it's a great question you know that
that at that point it comes okay is this
maybe a diamond in the rough here but
99% of the time the answer is really
simple it's either a a house hasn't sold
yet because it's overpriced and or B the
house is in bad condition easy to see
and or C is in an undesirable location
one of those three things is the
answer
99.9% of the time for a house in a
seller's market that is isn't selling
that's it and so and and those are all
things that can be identified pretty
quickly and now if you're not from
Greenville and you don't understand the
areas and and all of that I completely
understand asking this question that's a
great question if you're not from around
here from my out ofate investors or
people moving here from out of state
great question to ask but for those
of you that live in this market that
understand the market that understand
the different neighborhoods and the
school districts and all of that you
can rule out whether it's in an
undesirable location or not and you
can pretty quickly identify whether it's
overpriced or in or in bad shape that
said again like with all of these
questions I'm happy to entertain them
it's just the answers are usually pretty
obvious and most of the time I feel like
when I get asked that question in
particular usually it it it's something
that just common sense I don't even need
to to do any Research into it I can just
look at it on my phone and and just
immediately tell you what what the
reason is and probably a lot of my
experienced clients could could figure
that out too without me even needing to
do that but I'm still happy to do it
because that's again what I get paid for
question number eight is this a rough
neighborhood okay as a realtor I simply
cannot answer that question I've
actually gotten worse variations of this
question I got a question is this an all
blank with question with fill in the
blank was a skin color is this an all
blank skin color neighborhood and I just
said to the
guy I absolutely cannot answer that
question that is a violation of real
estate law in so many ways but
specifically it's it's it's steering
that is what it is me answering
questions about whether a neighborhood
is rough or not again I have to be
extremely careful with with with what I
say and those are are not good questions
to ask it's also a very subjective
question are you wanting to know how
much crime there is well there are
objective ways to look that up and me as
a realtor my office has told me not to
look that up because that's them become
something that I can potentially be
liable for so I don't look up any crime
statistics but you can you can look up
registered sex offenders online you can
get crime stats from the sheriff's
department etc etc do you want to
know how what percent of homes in the
area have been updated well Google
street view or doing a driveby is a
great way to do this and and you
could also you know ask me how many you
know generally speaking how many homes
in this area have been remodeled what
kind of what kind of rates are we
seeing of of people coming in and
flipping houses I can't answer that
question to the best of of my
knowledge but don't ask me if it's a
rough neighborhood I can't really answer
that question number nine which I guess
is the question we're going to end at
why aren't you buying this house
question that investors will ask me
because they know that I invest in real
estate and usually there are 10 15 20
reasons why I'm not looking to purchase
a property that's available I'll remind
you guys my primary job is being a
realtor and that's what I spend 90% of
my time on most people that are realtors
and investors primarily focus on the
investment side of things and don't do
much on the the retail real estate side
of things I'm the opposite because I
enjoy the retail real estate side of
things the so the Investments take take
a a distant second place from in
comparison to my normal real estate
business and my investments are very
selective I only buy a very narrow
profile of rental properties I only flip
usually a couple of houses a year
typically and I could make a more
money if I focus on the investing side
of things but I'm more focused on a
lifestyle that I prefer and flipping
houses and all of that it's a very for
me it's very stressful I don't enjoy it
and so I I don't do it as much as
as perhaps I could and you know as
you can see I consider a lot more than
just the money in all of this I also
factor in the business side of this as
well if I bought every property that had
potential for my clients and but
bought it for s then my clients would
just go somewhere else so I have to
keep that in mind too and and there are
times when I will present a property
to a client that I'm interested in and
when they decide that they want to
purchase it I let them have it rather
than me focusing on it because I I'm
looking at it from a broader picture so
the long story short for me to buy a
property has to fit a very specific
profile I have to have money in the time
to buy it I have to have time to focus
on it and it has to be the kind of
thing where I don't have any clients
that want it more than I do and that
type of thing only happens a few times a
year and I guess I I'll throw in one
more question just to make it 10
questions right because this is one
it's kind of similar to some of the
other questions but as a buyer do
will the seller pay my closing costs
most
often pretty much all the time in a
seller's market no again if it's a new
listing the seller is not going to pay
for the buyer's closing cost I've seen
listings where it says the the seller
wants the buyer to pay the seller's
closing costs I have seen that multiple
times the past year at some point
this will flip right at some point the
market will correct and it will become
more of the norm like it was 5 years ago
for sellers to pay for some of the buyer
closing costs but right now the way
things are sellers are not paying for
any buyer closing cost each party has to
pay their own closing costs and that's
something I can I can give you an idea
of what your closing costs will be
depending on the deal that we're looking
at so there you go I gave you the 10th
question to make it so that I can say
that I asked an answered 10 questions
on here I hope you guys enjoyed the show
all of my contact information is in the
show notes if you need to reach me for
any reason that is where you can go
please subscribe rate review and I hope
you guys have a wonderful rest of the
week
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