Over the years, I have bought several and sold a few properties in the Brazos and surrounding counties with few problems as my attorney and I handled the details on most without going through a realtor on my end. I did let a local guy handle the sale of a commercial piece and was very pleased with him.

Over the past year, I have been interested in 2 pieces of rural and semi-rural acreage.

One, in Grimes County, was represented by an independent, as far as I could tell, broker who showed me a 125 acre tract that had just been cut out of a 250 acre piece. There was an access easement to the other 125 acre piece but not to the one I was interested in. This access problem was never brought up in 2 visits to the property by her. When I discovered the problem and brought it up, the broker said it really shouldn't be a problem getting the easement but the current owner wasn't going to pursue it. I know the guy who holds the property across whose land the easement would have to be granted and he is a horse's ass and isn't benefitting from this. Should the broker freely reveal this info without a potential buyer having to find it out on their own? I can see signing a contract and then, when it is exposed, losing my earnest money from backing out or at least getting into dispute over such.

The second property is a 12 acre piece in Brazos, actually barely in CS city limits and does not have sewer. Asking price is outrageous but it has potential. Agent, when I asked if it has sewer, said no but it should be no problem to run a line to the trunk. Problem is I found out in doing my own sleuthing, the trunk is 2 properties away and they haven't granted any of the surrounding properties access across their land since the trunk is well onto their property. Not to mention going across the property in between. I passed on the deal but am repeatedly contacted by him and he insists that "it shouldn't be a big deal getting sewer." To me, this is the same as saying it is available. Am I way off base in thinking that, ethically, I am dealing with some hard up real estate reps and that as long as they don't give guarantees, they are OK in their statements? Is it also buyer beware when dealing with them? Am I expecting too much? Just wondering as I have nearly always done my own deals and the corresponding research. If I messed up, it was on me. Thanks.

Your comments are fair and there is not much I would contradict. Buyer beware......

I think you're dealing with a combination of poor ethics and lack of expertise in the matters at hand. Depending on the agent it's weighted more on one than the other but usually a combination of the two.

Understanding infrastructure costing is WAY beyond most real estate agents. As is a basic understanding of easements.

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Understanding infrastructure costing is WAY beyond most real estate agents. As is a basic understanding of easements.

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This. Realtors as a whole are pretty ignorant on any issues that aren't related to a house. They are also apt to give you an answer rather than say "I don't know." I don't know if its pride or just fear that they might lose a commission. I've waived the flag more than once that TREC needs to split up licenses into categories to keep agents from getting out to their expertise. Residential, Commercial, and Land should each have its own license. It will never happen because the Realtor lobby is too strong, and residential agents don't want to limit their ability to make a commission on a deal they don't understand.

Also, if they're rep'ing the seller, then they aren't your agent and you shouldn't trust anything they say without independent verification.

Due diligence is on the buyer in these types of deals. I wouldn't listen to a thing the agent says without verifying independently, even if you think they're competent.

Thanks for the replies and reinforcement. I think both of those involved were somewhat new to the industry and the issues might have been beyond their current level.