Hello. I am working w/Cartus to relocate from Fayette County (city of TYRONE) to BG, KY. Tryone is a small community just outside of Peachtree City. Same great Fayette County schools.....CLOSER to the INTERSTATE. Check out my house on Trulia. 410 Wicklow Street, Tyrone, GA 30290. Thanks!

Cartus is a fine company. I have worked with them and find them to be professional, responsive, and eager to what's best for the seller. As with most corporate entities now, there seems to be lots of personnel turnover. The people today are not there next week. Creates a little confusion, but have been very good with reassignments.

I had a really bad relocation experience with Cartus. I would absolutely request to use one's own realtor (which I did - she was the good part of my relocation). Unfortunately, you still need to submit receipts and bills to Cartus where it goes to their accounting department. At that point in time you become a person who will be treated like a common criminal. I had the price of a pizza challenged if you can believe it. I have submitted receipts for agreed upon property management services that then were challenged since I did not include the contract (this even though this part of the relocation accounting is reported to the IRS so if I did not pay out to the property manager and claimed my expenses it would be tax fraud). I have submitted receipts and contracts with very well known realty firms and had them demand a copy of my check. When I pointed out the fees came out of the price paid before I got a check from the realtor and that I never was billed directly, I was told I would have to wait for a year while they dribbled my own money back to me. I suspect they would literally ask to sniff your knickers if you submit a bill for dry cleaning.

I frankly have no idea why any company would put a new employee through the hell of dealing with this relo company. I do know why the government uses them - they like to rip off our brave men and women in the military at every chance.

Dealing with Cartus took hours of my time when I was trying to learn a new job and perform in a new environment. I would have been less stressed if they had just given me a check and told me to handle it all myself. In fact two years later I am still fighting to get agreed upon services paid for. I can say that anything you can do to avoid working with them would be well advised. That includes using your own realtor, getting your own appraisals and structuring your own loan.

P.S. the realtors who work with Cartus have a vested interest in telling you that Cartus provides a good service. Spend some time looking for any one who does not have such a vested interest in Cartus. See if you can find a good word about Cartus - that will also be a great way to waste even more of your time

Meg

Home buyer and Cartus relocation victim

Do not try to do business with Cartus. It is impossible to business with these people. Even if you want to make an offer on one of their houses, they insist on a great deal of unnecessary paperwork ( that requires you to consult with an attorney) just to make an offer. The proper way to do a cash deal is: proof of funds; negotiate the price; sign a contract (drawn up by the attorneys); house inspection; close. It is amazing that these people stay in business.

While Cartus is very large and it does work for the government (THAT SHOULD SCARE YOU AWAY) they are extremely slow to respond. We had a very bad experience with Cartus and would never ever recommend them. Please note we were the buyers not the sellers. Any company that refuses to provide a contact telephone number on thier website should and must be suspect.

Tom, the first mistake you are making is in thinking that you're giving your home away. Cartus has NO financial stake in the sale of your house, but you do. So now is the time to stop being stubborn and realize one of the MOST important things in real estate: You do not determine the value of your property...the BUYER does. Just as you will determine the value of a property you are buying, so too will your buyer. If you can't get your home to move, it is priced too high. Being over priced in this market is terrible for you...ask yourself these questions: Are you getting any offers? Are you getting a lot of showings and no offers? For other agents, it is fantastic that you are over priced, it means they can use your home to sell another one similar to it down the street for less. Your listing agent and Cartus are trying to get you in a position where you get your home sold. But...if you don't want to listen, you can keep the house on the market as the value contiues to depreciate.

As a former Relocation Coordinator for a real estate company that does a GREAT deal of business for Cartus, I would like to correct the incorrect post of Mr. Joshua Jarvis. Cartus is not JUST a relocation company, it is the largest relocation company in the world. Did you know that they are the company used for all US Military and Government relocations? As well as hundreds of well known corporate companies? They didn't get to this status by hiring "any" agent "with no real market knowledge of the area". In fact, they do not hire individual agents, but rather companies that meet certain standards. These companies then select top-notch agents within their company that meet high performance standards set by Cartus. The companies selected to be part of the Cartus network are not chosen based on "favortism". Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, and Sotheby's International Realty are all sister companies under the Cartus/Realogy umbrella and there are some third party real estate companies that are a part of the network. Just like Prudential, Re/Max, Weichert, etc. have their own relocation business, so do these companies. Not every single CB, C21, or ERA make it into the Cartus Relocation Network - only those chosen by Cartus, and there are a select few per market area.

Now to answer the question about flexibility with Cartus listings - as with all listings, there are many things that factor into the flexibility of an offer price. There is no standard answer to this question. It really just depends on how long the property has been on the market and if there is any urgency to get it sold. There are many reports that the agent must compile and Cartus looks at reports from multiple agents, not just from the listing agent. It has been my observation and experience that Cartus is normally really great to work with.

Not all listings through Cartus are "corporate owned" - as you know by Tom's posting, there are some considered "pre-marketing" which is where the seller still owns the home and a Cartus agent is trying to sell it before the buyout (not all Cartus sellers are offered a buyout - it just depends on the program). Should they not sell, then the seller is offered a buyout. In this market, I have seen many sellers come out with nice buyouts, better than what the market would have brought them for their home. Agents who do these type of listings are truly top notch and have a great deal of experience. Trust me - if they weren't, Cartus would be all over them.

Short Answer is Yes. I've had great luck with them and all other corporate entities. They would rather sell it then rent it.

In regards to Tom - If you aren't getting showings then you aren't competitive in this market. You're not giving it away, you're buying it back.

As for Cartus - Cartus is just a relocation company. They charge agents 35% to handle the transaction, most often it's an agent with no real market knowledge of the area. ANY agent can get on their list, but obviously there is some favortism to the "employee realtor" brands of C21, ERA, Coldwell, ect.

Tom knows less than he thinks he knows. The pricing of his house is driven by the company he works for. Cartus has no financial stake in his house.

Tom doesn't know very much. First of all, Cartus works with the agent he is listing with, so the comparable listings and sales in his area is where Cartus is getting their information and recommendations from. RECOMMENDATION is the key word- Guess what Tom- you don't have to do anything you don't want to, so don't reduce, and carry your home month over month at your competitive list price, and loose your money in the carrying costs instead of lowering your price and getting a sale now. In oder to get a buzz going on your home all common sense people know you have to reduce, and guess what in this market you will most likely need to be one of the lowest to genreate an offer. The new method of thinking is price low, create an urgency from the buyer pools nad you will get bidders and ultimately you will get what the real value of your home is, instead of pricing high, and making several reductions over a period of time. REALITY is the markets aren't good- real estate is a commodoty not a product. If you aren't open to thinking about reductuctions, you aren't going to sell. Oh yeah, one question if your home is so competatively priced, why hasen't it sold, because although the market is depressed there are still buyers. I think I know the answer- YOU'RE OVER PRICED- take the emotion out of it, and wake up and see the REALITY!!!

Cartus is a nightmare. I am a seller and cartus only wants to reduce the price and will call every two weeks or so telling all of the sellers across the country the same thing. My home is competitively priced, and I am not going to give it away. They compare my home with one that is not even in the ballpark. They have no real estate experience, and are known for the "lower the pirce" phone call. I ignore their repeated requests to lower, lower, lower the price. Give me a reason and show me the comps--they can't.

Hi Michigan,
While my office handles Cartus and other relo companies, I personally do NOT. My opinion is that, much like a bank owned foreclosure, Relo Companies are anxious to sell IF they have too much on their books. Especially true in the upper end of the market (say, homes over $600,000). I just closed a deal where I represented a buyer of a relo-owned home. They were originally priced around $825K but by the time we worked things out, my buyers paid in the mid $600's. So grab a good agent & do your homework - there are definately deals to be had!

As a Cartus relocation professional I can't discuss much of their policy and strategy. What I can tell you is that as a listing agent for Cartus extensive detail goes into pricing homes based on the current market, condition of the home, local competition, and sales history data for the property. When I say great detail I mean it because I fill out the paperwork!

Homes that have been obtained by Cartus through a buyout are priced to sell and you most likely would never pay too much or too little for a home. Cartus is the largest relocation company in the world don't expect them to take just anything for a listing, but odds are you may get a little equity when purchasing a buyout home that has been on the market for a while. This would most likely be the case with many homes in today's market.

If a great deal is what you are looking for consider HUD homes, foreclosures, or bank owned properties.

If I knew what Cartus was I could give you an answer. However, Everythig in Real Estate is based on accepting offers. If you have a good Realtor they will advise you on the value of the property, current market conditions, what they think you should offer and ask for (closing cost, ect), and waht is the max you should pay. Currently it is a definite buyers market and there are some real good deals to be had. One thing you should do first is to get prequalified by a reputable mortgage company. Any questions I can help with feel free to give me a call. 404-405-6713 Curtis