Most of the changes were not really about wording, more about the timeline on which certain contingencies were supposed to be met and which boxes should have been checked, which were just mostly blanks on printed forms. The biggest one though and the one that bothered me was a wording change to a contingency involving financing that everyone that had seen the document except for the broker had told me was just not something I could do as-written. I wanted it changed. If he had been upfront about his reluctance to change it because he was trying to cover his ass, that would have been great. If he had just let me change it like I did eventually because I wasn't going to sign anything otherwise, that would have been great. It's really the 'condescending ass' part and that we took (in all, over) 4 hours arguing over a single line that really annoyed me because it was not necessary...or at least, he couldn't explain why he didn't want it changed at all.
Anyway, I'm in southern california. I've found plenty of loopnet-ish sites, but none that are like redfin for commercial property or businesses...
One of the issues with having a commercial or business broker acting like Redfin is that there are different laws about compensation for commercial real estate than there are for residential real estate. (Commercial agents and brokers have more rights regarding how long, how much, and under what circumstances they are to be paid, for example. This is, for the most part, to protect brokers since these deals are much more complicated and they can potentially invest months of their time and hundreds of thousands of dollars marketing a property or doing due diligence, only to have the deal fall through at the last minute.) In any case, there is more legislation you would have to get around to do a commercial Redfin. I know of a few companies that have tried, but they all went out of business because of expenses or legal issues.
BTW, most consumers don't realize it, but there are roughly a dozen states that have made it illegal for brokers to offer rebates to consumers AT ALL, whether residential or commercial. Sometimes it isn't the real estate companies themselves that are stifling competition and innovation.
Heh, thanks again. I had no idea that was actually the case with regard to legislation... a commercial Redfin was just one of my random ideas where I was wondering why nobody was doing anything given the kind of interest there might be in such a service. Now I know the possibly unfortunate answer :(
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Thanks for the interesting response.
Most of the changes were not really about wording, more about the timeline on which certain contingencies were supposed to be met and which boxes should have been checked, which were just mostly blanks on printed forms. The biggest one though and the one that bothered me was a wording change to a contingency involving financing that everyone that had seen the document except for the broker had told me was just not something I could do as-written. I wanted it changed. If he had been upfront about his reluctance to change it because he was trying to cover his ass, that would have been great. If he had just let me change it like I did eventually because I wasn't going to sign anything otherwise, that would have been great. It's really the 'condescending ass' part and that we took (in all, over) 4 hours arguing over a single line that really annoyed me because it was not necessary...or at least, he couldn't explain why he didn't want it changed at all.
Anyway, I'm in southern california. I've found plenty of loopnet-ish sites, but none that are like redfin for commercial property or businesses...
Ah..understood. He was in the wrong.
One of the issues with having a commercial or business broker acting like Redfin is that there are different laws about compensation for commercial real estate than there are for residential real estate. (Commercial agents and brokers have more rights regarding how long, how much, and under what circumstances they are to be paid, for example. This is, for the most part, to protect brokers since these deals are much more complicated and they can potentially invest months of their time and hundreds of thousands of dollars marketing a property or doing due diligence, only to have the deal fall through at the last minute.) In any case, there is more legislation you would have to get around to do a commercial Redfin. I know of a few companies that have tried, but they all went out of business because of expenses or legal issues.
BTW, most consumers don't realize it, but there are roughly a dozen states that have made it illegal for brokers to offer rebates to consumers AT ALL, whether residential or commercial. Sometimes it isn't the real estate companies themselves that are stifling competition and innovation.
Heh, thanks again. I had no idea that was actually the case with regard to legislation... a commercial Redfin was just one of my random ideas where I was wondering why nobody was doing anything given the kind of interest there might be in such a service. Now I know the possibly unfortunate answer :(