Update - Unethical Realtor

14 years ago

To all who read & made comments to my previous post -- thanks, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Now the UPDATE: Potential buyers backed out of deal. House is back on market. My new realtor who is my friend (very honest,sincere & knows her stuff!!!) took me to look at it to give her 2 cents & said no way was it worth the price, 20,000.00 above all others in the division. Still determined to put an offer in I took my nephew who is a sub contractor to look at it with me. After he pointed out everything wrong with it he agreed it was overpriced at a minimum of 20,000.00. I realize now I fell in love with the neighborhood & the lot ... not the house.

Where I stand now...I close on my house June 25. The market I'm moving to 50% of homes already sold because of the tax break. 30% is way over my limit which leaves 20% of little to choose from. But heading back this week and am determine that I will find "my" house. I know it's just waiting for me & at least now I have a realtor who has my back.

Again, thanks for your interest & comments .... wish me luck.

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Comments (11)

clg7067
14 years ago
Good luck!
kats_meow
14 years ago
If the problem with the house is that it is overpriced by $20k why not make an offer for what you think it is worth? All they can do is counter or say no.
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Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm wondering if you have resolution to this situation yet? We had a similar situation when we bought our house. We made an offer for $1000 below asking price just after the seller dropped the price $60,000 (the house had been on the market for months). They accepted our offer. A few weeks later our realtor came back and told us the seller now wanted $5000 more for the house. We said too bad. Our realtor came back and said they at least wanted full price. Again, we said too bad. Eventually the realty company (our realtor and their's worked for the same company) agreed to accept $1000 less so the sellers could get their full price. I don't know if our sellers had seller's remorse because the house sold so quickly after a big price drop or if they got a higher offer after they had already accepted ours. I did realize that as a buyer no one is looking out for you. We stood firm because we really wanted this home, but our realtor kept trying to get us to back out. We were told that even though we had an accepted offer, we could not actually force the sellers to sell us their home. Which, I suppose is true.
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almagh: "...We then hired a certified EIFS inspector ($1500). He produced a 20 page report and identified 60-80K worth of needed repairs.... ... Believe it or not, the EIFS inspectors position is that the EIFS is in "very good" condition. He said that it was installed properly and should last as long as siding or brick when the issues are fixed. The reason for the high cost is that there are 90+ windows and dozens of places to fix the flashing...." Thanks for the clarifications. First things first; unfortunately, VA does not even require that HI's be licensed or even certified...certification is "voluntary". Therefore, my guess is that an "EIF's" inspector is not regulated in any way at all. That said, if EIF's guy actually has stated that the EIF's was installed properly...but at the same time states that due to improper flashing, repairs could amount to 80K, he is contradicting himselfÂÂthe ultimate oxymoron, with the moron being the EIFÂs inspector for even making such a ludicrous statement. Did he actually put that in writing????? His entire report is suspect in terms of credibility. As far as authorization goes...as such, if he didn't get it in writing...there is no argument...as his COE dictates confidentiality...the onus is on him to PROVE that you waived it...via a written release of some sort. You could of course report him to all of the "professional" organizations of which he is a member...but, IMOÂÂ.at most he will get a slap on the wristÂ...if at all....and he knows it...which is why he has zero motivation to behave otherwise. So...bottom line...you have a house that needs at minimum 80K in repairs...which will I assure you cost far more as Mr. EIFS has no way of knowing for sure how far the damage has spread...or, how much it will ultimately cost in total to repair...as well as remediate any and all mold that will most likely be revealed. You have a seller who is attempting to deceive you in terms of the scope of the problem. You have a house that is clad with a finishing system that has horrendous resale value...due to the problems sited with this house...and more. AndÂ..you have an EIF's inspector who is either an idiot or a con man....or both. Bottom line...run...at warp factor 10...from this house as far as you can.....NOW. See below: Here is a link that might be useful: EIFS, Mold & Michael Jordan
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I'm sure some of the realtors here will chip in. I think there's this Code of Ethics and then also actual govt law. I didn't poke around that long because its all kind of confusing. But I found this. From the Canons of Ethics for the Real Estate Industry, www.com.state.oh.us/real/documents/canonethics/pdf Article 10. A licensee should not enter into an agency relationship with a party whose interests are in conflict with those of the licensee or another client represented by the licensee without fully disclosing the ptential conflict and obtaining the informed consent of all parties. (formerly article 11) Not sure if this applies, but it certainly sounds like it could. Now I think a lot of realtors probably own property. At some point or another some of it is probably for sale. I would think that most of the time I as a client wouldn't need to be told about it unless it was in direct competition to what I was sellling. I.e. If my realtor is selling a 500,000 rental unit on the other side of the city and I'm selling a 200,000 3/1 ranch - I don't need to know. However if they are selling houses within 100,000 of my price range in my school district - yes I would want to know. Might not change my decisions but I would want to know.
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I'm a worrier. If things don't fall into place the way they are supposed to do, I worry. Had I not had my signed contract for 3 to 4 weeks, I would have gone ballistic. I really don't think you worried for nothing because if you were not able to see it with your own eyes, then what? Better to know and not second guess. Selling a house is stressful enough, you do not need something else to think and worry about. I talked to him about the realtor.com listing and he said the info is transferred from the MLS. I knew he didn't have expanded listing there, but I also didn't know the listing would show up as it has. I'm going to ask him about it again to see if he can ask around to at least get the description properly displayed. I think I left links in one of your other posts for realtor.com and the agent signing up. From what I saw he may be able to make a free account, if it's the case, he should go for it. I don't know what they allow him to do as a free account, but you never know. Maybe post a question in that realtor.com thread from a few months ago? What sites have you signed up at? Realtor.com, although I can't get email updates to work, could be my spam filter. Remax, Caldwell Banker, Century 21, Weichert, Prudential Fox & Roach, Yahoo real estate (yes my house is listed there, or was anyway; haven't pulled much email due to us thinking we may have found a house... yippee... well almost) I hear MSN has a real estate site also, although I am not signed up on it but will when I have time to breathe. Your ex-realtor wouldn't release the listing? That's awful! Contract expired the 22nd but it was still showing a week later, which really didn't bother me as I didn't finish interviews. I'd expected her to call before it expired to confirm a meeting to sign more paperwork but never heard from her. I emailed her after the interview Tuesday, she said it was expired. I looked the next day, still nothing so instead of panicking, I gave it 24 hours then sent another email. Again she said it was expired although I was still seeing it. I emailed the new agent who couldn't do anything with an active listing of course, so I emailed her back after new agent said it was active, sending me the MLS link. She then said it would expire when he listed it. I sent him what she said, he said no. I then decided I wasn't playing games and typed out a fax to her & the broker saying I wanted it released by business start the next morning. I was not going to let her keep the listing open for the holiday weekend, which I think was what she planned to do since we chose to go with a local agent. I was pretty upset that it looked like she was being vindictive towards us and am still having a hard time swallowing all that happened. It's not my fault the house did not sell. As a seller I felt I did everything I could. My guess is she was having her "assistant" do everything after the failed agents luncheon and the agent wasn't doing it correctly; which is why our open houses never showed up on the MLS like they should have.
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jane__ny
14 years ago
I agree with Kats meow. Make an offer on the house.

Jane
Billl
14 years ago
If you don't love the house, I'd stay clear. The original agent showed you this property and would likely be expecting a commission if you bought it. While you could argue to the contrary, I wouldn't volunteer for a cross country legal fight.
bethesdamadman
13 years ago
Goldensmom would not be involved in any fight concerning who is entitled to the commission. If one were to occur, it would be between the seller and the agents involved. Absent a buyer signing a contract with a buyer's agent (which goldensmom did not do), a buyer is not a party to any disagreement concerning commission.
Billl
13 years ago
"Goldensmom would not be involved in any fight concerning who is entitled to the commission. "

While ultimately that might be the case in court, as a practical matter, any big fight could derail a sale and would certainly complicate it. This agent apparently refused to present an offer to the seller before, so I also wouldn't put that past him again.
beachpea3
13 years ago
Goldensmom would not be involved in any fight concerning who is entitled to the commission. "

1. You all are correct - The dispute for commission would be between the two real estate companies and not the responsibility of the Buyer. As a general rule, at least in my area, the commission would stay in escrow or at least no money would be dispersed to either company until the dispute was settled.
2. If they are Realtors - members of the National Association of Realtors -they could enter into mediation or arbitration to determine which agent (Realtor member)was the Procuring Cause of the sale.
3. That being said - they might ask the Buyer to voluntarily attend the hearing as a witness and give testimony - or to volunteer to give written testimony. That choice would be up to the Buyer.
4. Most Realtors bend over backwards to keep the buying and selling public out of their disputes. It certainly does not give the public a good impression of the real estate profession. Also- long after that particular transaction is over - these companies will still be doing business together.
5. I did not read the original thread - so I do not know the details and cannot make a statement about the transaction - but it troubles me that it was mentioned that an agent did not present an offer. That is against the Realtor Code of Ethics and, depending on state licensing law, could be a violation.

Disclosure: I am a Realtor and I regularly teach the Code of Ethics to new members of my real estate board.
Billl
13 years ago
My point is that if she doesn't really love the house (just the neigborhood) and she has already had dealings with this realtor that showed him to be less than ethical, I would just move on. If you mess with a snake in the grass, you have a good chance of getting bit.

Unethical people don't follow codes of ethics and they have a tendency to bring down everyone who associates with them. Unless you have no other options, it is best to steer clear of them. Granted, there are laws in place and buyers have legal rights, but who wants to end up in court having to defend those rights? It is much easier to just deal with people who are above board and follow the rules and codes to begin with.
beachpea3
13 years ago
Bill - You make a good point- if she does not love the house - definitely move on! Just did not want her to get discouraged if she did want the house.

As to your second comment - it is all education. If one does not file a complaint (people from the public can certainly make a complaint to the real estate board that the real estate agent belongs to - if he/she is a Realtor),the agent who violated the Code of Ethics will keep doing it...over and over. I always cite that old saying to my students - that "We (Realtors)are only as strong as the weakest link"... and it is our responsibility to make sure that all the links strong and without any breaks...
sylviatexas1
13 years ago
beachpea-

here's a link to the original post.

Here is a link that might be useful: original post
beachpea3
13 years ago
Thank you Sylvia!

Update - Unethical Realtor

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