Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with RealEstate

shouldn't a vacant lot be buildable?

markhu — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:51:20 -0800

Are there un-buildable lots? I have read up on a similar question but that was about how expensive the known-to-be-buildable lots are. My question is if I see a lot listed that is "virgin" vacant never had a srtucture on it, how likely is it that no one could build on it? In my case, I found a vacant lot in a location I like up in the hills in Los Angeles, California, and would like to put an offer on it. But everyone keeps asking uncomfortable questions like, "is it buildable?", "is it on a fault line?", "are there utilities nearby?", "how deep is the bedrock?", "why hasn't anyone built there before?" and other such questions that it seems would take thou$ands to investigate.

Maybe my question should be, "if I find out I can't build, can I at least use it for picnicking and camping? Or build a little storage shed on it?"

REOs--do I want to attempt this?

thisperon — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:48:47 -0800

What's it like purchasing a REO? Is this something I should attempt as a first time homebuyer? I have 20% down, good credit, and am preapproved for a decent loan. I also lack a deadline on purchasing a home--that is, there's really no hurry to move out of my current place.

I am looking for a home the conventional way, but am also wondering about REOs. Are hunting for REOs and bidding for them worth my time? How do I even start? Any stories you'd like to share? Do I even want to attempt this as a real estate newbie?

Why am I paying property tax on land when I own a condo?

ObeyScient — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:15:00 -0800

So confused! My county thinks we have a condo but we thought we have a single-family home (i.e. a free-standing house on land we own). Then why does my property tax bill show that we've been taxed for the land? Here's a confusing and somewhat obscure situation. Please bear with me; I'll try to explain all the details and what I know as clearly as I can.

We're trying to refinance our (free-standing) house and as part of the process we had an appraisal. According to the appraisal report, we have a condo, not a single-family home. Zillow also thinks we have a condo. The appraiser told me that the definition of a condo is that the owner only owns the immediate space they live in, but not the land or other common areas. So our house was assessed as a free-standing building that is part of a complex, with the land being labeled "common area", even though we don't belong to an HOA or condo association, don't pay any fees, and do the maintenance ourselves.

The county's assessor's map shows that we live on a single lot with our neighbor. Our house is on an L-shaped chunk of the lot, and our neighbor's house is on the chunk inside the L. We're separated by a fence. Our respective parcel numbers are subsections of the lot and are designated for use as "Condominium - single residential living unit". The land itself has its own parcel number, with the use is designated as "condominium common area". The map also says "common area".

However, the property tax records for both us and our neighbor show that our taxable value comprises both land and improvements! If we look up the "common area" parcel, it shows that no one has paid any taxes on it at all.

I was not involved with the original purchase of the property, as my wife bought the house before we got married. Her understanding was that she owned the L-shaped chunk of land as well as the house, but we don't have any documentation to support this.

So, I have a few questions. I'd really appreciate insight into any of them.

1. Did someone pull a fast one on my wife? That is, did she pay a single-family home price for land + house but only get the house?

2. If we actually own a condo, then why are we paying property taxes on the land *and* the improvements? (I understand that we should be paying property tax on the house itself.)

3. How can I find out who actually owns the "common area", and should that person be the one who pays property tax on the land?

4. Are we entitled to any of the back taxes we've paid based on the value of the land?

5. Lastly, if it does turn out that we own a single-family home, would this increase our appraised value? How would we go about making the legal change?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

No one wants to buy a house next to a burned out property.

leahwrenn — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:08:20 -0800

How can we sell our house, when everyone is scared off by the vacant burned house next door? in May 2008, the house next door to ours had a fire which gutted the second story. It's sat vacant since then and is a teardown at this point, probably, because in addition to the damage upstairs, rain has been pouring in through the tarps on the roof, etc., in the intervening time. There's probably animals in it, too.

The house is in litigation; it's not clear who owns it (there's a lawsuit involved, possible identity theft of a will, or maybe not, very complicated). There has been very little cleanup since the fire. We talked to the township and they sent nasty letters saying come clean up the debris or we'll fine you, and there was a little cleanup, but nothing substantial---and certainly nothing major like removing the plywood and tarps, etc.

Meanwhile, we needed to move across country and have been trying to sell our nice house since this past May. We've been getting a couple three showings a week since then. No luck. Recent reports from our realtor are that people are uncomfortable (understandably) by the situation next door....and as winter approaches, people are likely to be less likely to want to buy a house.

Any ideas about what we can do? The houses in question are in Perkiomen Twp., PA. (We're currently in Alaska.) We can't lower the price much on our house as we're already basically just trying to get enough to cover the mortgage (and the loan my parents made for the downpayment on the house).

Is there a term for this real estate strategy?

creeky — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:19:39 -0800

Is there a word for the strategy of real estate companies who buy up properties in one area and keep the buildings empty in order to force out local businesses? Not far from where I live, a real estate project management company was given the task of improving a commercial area. They did this by buying out many commercial spaces in the area and keeping them empty, forcing out other "undesirable" small businesses as the area became abandoned by customers. They then bought up all the commercial spaces and rented them out to "classier" businesses.

Is there a term that people working in real estate would use for this tactic?

Oh give me land, lots of land under LA skies above...

rileyray3000 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:48:29 -0800

Say I want to buy some cheap land in the Los Angeles area: where would I find such a listing online? Basically it's time to go from a renter to buyer. Only given that a nice two bedroom in Compton is still over 300K I think I want to go a different way.

I've been looking at some amazing pre-fab houses that are 100-150 all in and all up. Now all I need is a piece of property to put one on. So where do you look for that? Craigslist? Landhunter.com? Lotsoffun.net?

complex real estate cost benefit analysis needed

anonymous_account — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:51:46 -0800

Complex cost/benefit real estate question. We put our small, far suburban, now-overpriced house on the market two weeks ago. (Bought in '05.)

Because my wife has gotten a job, our income has doubled since buying our house, and we are saving $5k per month. However, her commute is lengthy, and we would like to move closer to the city, to lessen her commute, because now we can afford to, we know the target area better now, and we have friends in the city. Also, she may work more if we are closer, resulting in a higher income.

However, looking around at the other houses for sale in our area, I kind of doubt that our house will sell at the price which the realtor set for it, because there are nicer, bigger houses in better areas available for less or the same money. However, those are mostly foreclosures or short sales, which our realtor says takes a lot of time to buy, so maybe they are not that attractive to folks who are not real estate professionals.

We have $60k of our money in the bank and no debt except for our mortgage. We have $60k of my brother-in-law's money in the bank as seasoned assets, which he would like for us to use to buy the house. He is going to send $20k more soon. Later we could either pay him back, or he could continue to own part of our house (which I know is another big can of worms).

So what we will be faced with soon is: do we lower the price of our house (i.e., lose money on the house) in order to sell it? Although our house's price is depressed, the price of the house that we want to buy is also depressed. And I feel that we might be able to "save" more money on the purchase than we will lose on the sale...because the price of our house is only about 67% of the price of the type of house that we want to buy. We are not upside-down on the house --- our mortgage is 68% of the current asking price of our house.

Lease AFTER moving in?

2bucksplus — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:58:23 -0800

New York City apartment question: Is it normal for my broker to tell me I will receive hard copies of my lease a "couple of weeks" after moving in? I found an apartment with a November 1st move in date in New York City. Everything was going well and I received two copies of the lease to review and sign. Initially I was told one copy of the lease would be returned to me within about 48 hours, signed by the management company. Now I am being told I should move in on the 1st and wait for a copy to be mailed to me within a couple of weeks.

Is this normal? It makes me feel very uncomfortable. Both the broker company and the landlord are large well known companies in the NYC area. Is there any law I can quote on this? What else should I do, besides getting everything in writing?

How To Become A Real Estate Agent

VC Drake — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:17:20 -0800

What's required to become a real estate agent? Is it possible to do this type of work freelance and not through an agency? Or perhaps at home without having an office?

Lot Rent

VC Drake — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:07:10 -0800

Do mobile home parks always charge lot rent? Has anyone ever heard of an instance when a mobile home park doesn't charge lot rent? Are there parks that don't charge lot rent at all? Like is there ever just a one-time fee only? Are there ones that sell the lot to the owner? Any other alternatives? Thanks.

Can anyone recommend a real estate lawyer in Houston?

getupandgo — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:17:40 -0800

The wife and I are in the process of buying a home in Houston (TX). We have/had a real estate lawyer that we were working with, but she has gotten extremely non-responsive (we just found out yesterday that she has some family issues), and the deal just got a little more complicated. We were going FHA, and one of the stipulations of the deal is that the seller must own the house for 3 months before selling it. Apparently, we were told one thing, but the actual facts and paperwork say another. So we have another month and a half before we can purchase the property. We have been offered, by the seller, a 12 month lease, that can expire upon purchase of the property.

Now, that could be all well and good, and we really do need to move on this quickly, however there are two issues; first, is that we don't have a lawyer to look over the lease and to protect our interests currently, and secondly, we're going to miss out on the 8k tax credit (unless the deadline is extended).

Are there any reputable real estate lawyers in the city that anyone has dealt with and can recommend?

Homestead Exemptions to Property Taxes in TX

gemmy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:50:08 -0800

What is the definition of the phrase "qualified for" in the TX Property Tax Code (section 11.13(q)(1))? Asking for a friend:

----
Section 11.13(q) of the Texas Property Tax Code (which covers the "Under-55 Surviving Spouse" property tax exemption) reads:

(q) The surviving spouse of an individual who qualifies for an exemption under Subsection (d) for the residence homestead of a person 65 or older is entitled to an exemption for the same property from the same taxing unit in an amount equal to that of the exemption for which the deceased spouse qualified if:

(1) the deceased spouse died in a year in which the deceased spouse qualified for the exemption;
(2) the surviving spouse was 55 or older when the deceased spouse died; and
(3) the property was the residence homestead of the surviving spouse when the deceased spouse died and remains the residence homestead of the surviving spouse.

(the subsection (d) says that "an individual who is disabled or is 65 or older is entitled to an exemption from taxation")

So here's the question:

My father was born in June 1944. He turned 65 in June 2009, and died of cancer in July 2009, but had not yet applied for the "Over-65" property tax exemption. My mother (his spouse of 40+ years) is 63 years old. I had her fill out the paperwork to apply for the "Over-55 Surviving Spouse" exemption, but it was denied, citing the above section of the code (11.13(q)). She called the information line, and they told her that she was ineligible for the exemption because my father had not applied for the "Over 65 exemption" by the time he died. So in my mind, what they're essentially saying is that the word "qualified" does not mean "eligible for," but "actually receiving."

Which interpretation is correct?

Secondary question: Would filing for a retroactive "Over-65" exemption in my (deceased) father's name be an option? Presumably she could then subsequently file for the "Over-55 Surviving Spouse" exemption.

Tertiary question: Can anyone recommend a real estate attorney in the Houston area (South Belt-ish, ideally) who could provide a (free?) consultation on this matter? Seems like it's a simple yes-or-no question on whether she has grounds for an appeal.

Quaternary question: How onerous is the appeals process/hearing? While we all agree that having formal representation at an appeal hearing would be the best-case scenario, that's probably not an option for reasons of cost. We've looked into HVLP, but she's got a 30-day window to file an appeal, and we need to know ASAP whether it's worth pursuing.
----

Thanks!

Help me sell my house

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:08:40 -0800

Help me sell my house! So I'm having trouble selling my house. I have had the house listed for about 2-3 months with little success (one decent written offer but they walked, not sure how real they were).

The potential problems:

1. We are showing the house empty right now (no furniture, moved out, long story). This is probably not ideal.

2. Winter is coming and, where I am, buying activity drops way down during winter.

3. We are not getting huge amounts of interest. About 3 showings last weekend, for example.

One thing I am thinking about is taking it off the market until spring, which will involve eating something like $15k in costs (interest, insurance, taxes). I could also maybe have it "staged" in the spring with rental furniture, for an additional cost. If I wanted to really go whole hog, I could try to paint and fix it up in the spring, for yet more cost. Eventually I will spend more then I will recover, I'm sure.

I do have a few potential strengths/options that might help:

1. I could swing some seller financing, but I'm reluctant to "advertise" this for fear of seeming desperate.

2. I could try to auction the sucker. (Anyone ever done this?)

3. I could try to rent the house for a year or so. Downside here is that the place is not in the best repair and I am concerned about maintenance hassles/costs and about not being able to show the place for sale while it is rented (because it might look like a sty). I don't really want to play landlord for a year.

I'm in a big city and the house should sell somewhere between $475 to $550k, worst case to best case, depending on how lucky or desperate I get. I'm not going to go broke tomorrow, but this isn't a lot of fun either and I don't want to throw good money after bad.

Anyway, I'm in a pickle and am just looking for good thoughts, ideas, and experiences that might help. I'm especially interested in any non-traditional ways to sell, like auctions or contacting developers who might want to rehab or knock down. Thank you.

Do you have to pay taxes on money paid during a seller rent-back?

unclezeb — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:31:20 -0800

You buy a house in California. You agree that the seller can stay up to 2 months after escrow closes (a "seller rent-back") if they make your (PITI) payments. Do you need to pay income taxes on the money they pay toward your PITI? Also, what was your "seller rent-back" experience? We are buying a house in California. The sellers (who are very nice) want the option to rent the house beyond closing while they look for a house to buy (e.g., a seller rent-back or Residential Lease After Sale [RLAS] agreement) for up to 2 months. If they stay beyond escrow, they will pay our PITI, say $100/day for the sake of convenient calculations.

Suppose they stay 20 days and pay $2000 toward our PITI during that time.

Is that $2000 considered our income for tax purposes? In other words, would we (in the 25% federal and 9% state tax brackets) need to pay taxes on that $2000, effectively reducing it by one-third?

I understand we can deduct our interest and mortgage insurance payments from our taxes, does that mean this comes out in the wash?

What was your experience with a "rent-back" or a Residential Lease After Sale agreement?

Real estate: encroachment when same person owned both homes?

zippy — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:19:23 -0800

How does property line encroachment work when the two properties were owned by the same person? There are two houses in my neighborhood that recently went for sale. The homes were owned by the same person, who lived in both for 20 - 40 years. First house A was foreclosed went on auction, where it was bought. Then house B went on the market, where it remains.

Now, house B, the older of the two homes, crosses several feet over the surveyed property line of house A. The structure over the line includes part of a room and a deck. The room appears to be either original to the home (built in 1920s) or more likely an addition from at least 25 years ago.

Is property B really encroaching on A if the owner of B at the time (who happened to be the same person as the owner of A) didn't complain?

Do the owners of A or B have any guidance as to who owns what?

I'm not a party to this, I'm just curious how such an odd situation might play out.

Properties are in Berkeley, California.

Should I keep quiet about an appraisal error that's possibily in my favor?

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:47:35 -0800

I'm buying a house, and the bank appraisal came back 1-2% lower than the purchase price, so I renegotiated with the seller, and had them lower the price to the appraised value. Today I was looking over the appraisal, and found an error. What to do? The square footage on the appraisal is about the same as what the tax records say, but this 5 bedroom house has been appraised as 4 bedroom house. In the floor plan that the appraiser drew out, two bedrooms have been combined into one.

Should this make any difference in the appraised value? If all parties have a copy of this appraisal, the paperwork for the price reduction has already been signed, and the closing date is fast approaching, is there any reason for me to speak up about this error?

(email askmesecretly@gmail.com for any questions)

tips for a first time aparment building buyer

zeoslap — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:48:37 -0800

What do you wish you'd known before buying your first apartment building? We are in the early stages of thinking about purchasing an apartment building as an investment property, so just looking for some pointers from any MeFites who have gone through the same process.

Unda the sea

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:01:30 -0800

What to do about an 'under water' (financially) home? I knew my home had dropped in value since I bought it, like everyone else's, but when I called the other day to inquire about refinancing, I found out it dropped much further than I thought. It's now worth $10K less than my mortgage. Now I can't sell it without taking a beating.

So, is there anything I can do besides suck it up, keep making mortgage payments, and hope the property value picks back up again? I've heard some vague talk on the radio about stimulus relief programs for people with homes that are "under water" like this. Does that relief mostly come in the form of better refinance rates or is there something else to it?

Is there a way to speed up the construction of the house next to mine?

hellbient — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:30:34 -0800

Is there a way to speed up the construction of the house next to mine? The city-owned house next to mine (attached) has been under construction for over a year. The contracting company is apparently notorious for these long affairs, and judging from the other houses in the neighborhood that have their signage, there's no end in site. And the property is getting worse - every week there's more trash in front and on the side of it, windows are getting broken and the plywood covering some of the windows is slowly coming undone. I'm calling the company (and 311) as much as possible to complain about rats, open doors, racoons, etc. to try to set a precedent, but I'm not sure it's going anywhere. The house goes for weeks/months without ever being worked on. I need it finished before a crackhead sets it on fire (which would take my house with it), and so I can get some new awesome neighbors. Plans/schemes to get the ball rolling? I'm in Brooklyn.

This indecision's bugging me....

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:58:37 -0800

I've got some doubts about our current SoCal real estate agent. At first, there didn't seem to be a problem. But recent events have made me wonder if we're wasting his time. His typical clientele is in the $600K+ range in Pasadena, but my hubby and I max out at $300k and are looking in Granada Hills, with some fairly stringent square footage requirements. At first it didn't seem to be a problem, but a few things have stood out to me and made me believe he thinks we're wasting his time.

1. He always advises us to offer at asking price or above. This seems like poor negotiation to me, but is that what we have to do in this market? Certainly it makes it easier for him if negotiations are shorter.
2. He tends to disregard our requirements. We've been out to see properties in the wrong neighborhoods, properties that have been stripped of all their copper, and other very distressed or very wrong homes. I feel like he's being dismissive of our concerns. Is he being insensitive, or just a little forgetful of our needs?
3. He keeps bringing up a 203k loan, which is some sort of double-loan thing, one for the property and one for repairs. My husband and I are only interested in 30-year fixed rate loans. Is his tendency to hype certain loan programs a bad sign?

We brought our concerns to him last week. He basically said, "Look, I sell houses that are much more expensive than this all the time. What reason would I have to lie or push you? You can take my advice or not, and in the end I'll do what you want. But I feel like I'm acting in your best interest when I tell you these things." These statements don't sit right with me because his actions don't seem to coincide with his words.

Other than these specific concerns, we work well together, but should we continue? Are we being unreasonable with our requirements? More information available from realtorindecision101@gmail.com. I know you're not my agent.

Palm Springs VRBO

escher — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:36:39 -0800

I'm considering buying a place in Palm Springs as an investment property. I'm planning to get a property manager and put it into a VRBO type system and timeshare the place out. Is there a resource for gathering the info to research this? Specifically, I'm thinking of how to find out how often i can expect to get as income to cover the mortgage. I can find out comparative rental rates for the places i'm looking to buy, so price isn't the question really but it's more of how many nights per month (or per season) does a place in palm springs get rented? Sure, some have online booking and i can use the "available dates" to gather when things are booked, but who knows how many of those cancel. As you can see, I feel like i'm grasping at straws here, if you have any suggestions that would be great.

Why are there no new Frank Lloyd Wright buildings?

moonmilk — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:38:43 -0800

We just came out of a real estate boom where a lot of ugly buildings were built and sold for a lot of money, some by celebrity architects. Why weren't any recent buildings built from or based on Frank Lloyd Wright designs? I'm sure the estate or the foundation or whatever would charge a lot of money for licensing, but the cachet surely would've done wonders for sale prices.

How to make a housing decision?

AnnaRat — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:45:15 -0800

I feel like I am constantly swinging back and forth in how I feel about buying a house in different locations. How can I make a decision? I am looking for advice about how you weighed up where to live (and how it worked out!). I will give the details of the options I think we have, in case you have specific advice.

We seem to keep swapping roles – first one thinks that one option is the best, then goes cool on it, while the other then takes it up as the solution!

A) In the area where we currently rent or nearby, which we like – but where it will be difficult and I think impossible to find a property of the right type at the right price. Choosing to live here could delay our property purchase for a few years, or involve taking on more debt than I think we should. Neither of those are particularly conducive to starting a family (I think rent + baby is ok, but partner disagrees), or choosing to work part time, or having as much money for other things (like international travel). There are some other areas that would require various trade-offs (which we don't agree on), but for only a small discount on price.

B) In a less well off area of the city which is a similar distance from the centre of the city to where we live now – we would save 20-25% on the property, we could keep our current jobs, we would be further away from friends. It is closer to my sister and my partner’s family, but further from my parents. I have concerns about schools, public facilities (eg I use the public library a lot where we are, the ones I have visited in this area have lesser facilities and collections), general amenities, living in a more industrial area, living in a lesser socioeconomic area. It would be a longer commute for me, no difference for my partner. I feel no particular connection to living here, but recognise that in terms of price and accessibility to the city, it is worth considering. It probably will gentrify over time.

C) In a smaller regional city – we could save 25-30% on an equivalent property (actually, we would get something better for less money). This is close to my partner’s family and where he grew up. My sister has also moved to that city and I am keen to see her more often now that I have a nephew. Further from friends and my parents, but a number of our close friends have family there and visit the city often. I would need to change jobs – it would be at least a 1.5 hour commute each way for my current job. My partner would have a lesser commute to his current job, though probably still an hour+; he could find similar work in the small city, maybe a bit lower paid. There are no jobs in my industry in that city, but I think I would be able to find something (however, the job market is naturally smaller). It would offer many of the advantages of where we live now.

Renting might be a good way to try before we buy and discover we made the wrong choice. I have three concerns about it. The first is having to move a couple of times within a year (just the hassle!). Another is that the house we are in really suits us, and we would find it difficult to get another so good if we decided to move back. The last is that without changing jobs, I am not sure whether I would be able to really assess the regional city option.

Do you have any insights to the decision making process, or did you make a choice between similar options that I can learn from? Is there a practical way to assess these options, or do we just take a best guess at some point?

Does the bus stop come with the yard?

jstarlee — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:41:31 -0800

First time home buyer in Austin, TX. What should I know? I am looking to take advantage of the 8000 tax credit and buy my first home before the end of this year! However everything I know about real estate I heard from friends or co-workers and I have no idea what/whom I should listen to. What advice would you give a first time home buyer?

I also have no idea what area I should be looking for. I have heard that Westgate is a nice neighborhood and East Austin in general should be avoided due to the crime rate. I am looking for 100k~150k and public transit(UT shuttle/Metro) to downtown is a must! (light rail is out of the question due to its limited schedule) A couple blocks walking distance is fine.

I am currently searching online on websites like mslfinders.com(thru Keller William's website) and google real estate. Any advice or suggestion is much appreciated. Thanks!

Do I really owe this person my business?

i_love_squirrels — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:47:14 -0800

Months ago, a seller's agent pushed me into talking to a loan officer she knows. I didn't like the loan officer much and while she gave me some valuable advice, I never really wanted to work with her. I found her pushy and felt she spoke to me like a child. However, eventually, the financing advice she gave has led to making this deal possible for me but I still don't want to work with her. She wouldn't even know that I am buying except that the seller's agent is fully aware of my situation and feeds this information to the unwanted loan officer.

Now months later, I have signed a contract and begun to talk to other lenders and a loan officer found one who is flat-out more experienced with my particular financing need, has valuable connections and is very reputable. She can also get me to closing faster and timing is particularly important in this case.

In the meantime, the seller's agent forwarded a copy of the ratified contract to the unwanted loan officer and she began working on a loan for us. I did not realize that because she had our contract in hand and we did not object that we had "agreed" to use her product.

This unwanted loan officer has called and called. I tried to put her off but eventually disclosed that I am speaking with another lender. She immediately contacted the seller's agent who called me, yelled at me, laid a guilt trip on me and belittled my choice of lender. In the end I decided I could not possibly use this unwanted lender because she is angry with me and I can't trust someone who is angry with me to write the biggest loan of my life. Also, I felt that on principle I could not give in to the seller's agent bullying me. That sealed my decision to use the other lender.

The problem is I still feel bad. I did talk to this loan officer several times (because she kept calling me, not the other way around). I feel like I erred in ever speaking to her in the first place or at the least should have cut her off months ago. However, I did speak to her and by doing so I gave her the impression I would work with her.

I found this earlier thread and felt remorseful when I read this:
Even if they solve your problem exactly, they only get paid if you buy something from them. If you take advantage of their knowledge and then buy it elsewhere, you've really shafted them.

http://ask.metafilter.com/82105/How-to-deal-with-salespeople-who-work-on-commission

More information: I already live in the property I want to buy and am very happy here. The landlord is friends with the seller's agent and a casual conversation last fall about buying this place has gradually led to this hot mess. The deal has been on and off more times than I can count. I feel like I've been swept up in this and at the least I should get to pick my own frickin' lender. The seller's agent is NOT a dual agent and she has stated plainly that she represents the seller.

As you have probably gauged, I don't have an agent and, yes, I'm an idiot. Next time I will have an agent. This time though, how bad do I have to feel about this?