Scandalous, sneaky, and down right dirty (Houston, Post: rental car, real estate, rentals) - City-Data Forum

DSTcrna03 · 10-29-2009, 11:12 PM

I came to Houston this past weekend to find a home. I sent my agent (weeks in advance) a list of 18 homes I was interested in and asked him to speak to the listing agents upfront about negotiating terms. He did nothing. He tried to convince me to love a home that was above my budget. He told so many lies about various homes, agents, and situations that by the end of the weekend, I could not believe a word he said. I think I was scammed. That house has been on the market for over a year. The listing agent supposedly does not return calls but she takes applications (rentals) and application fees but obviously never approves any of them. Is stuff like this typical business? I mean, we are not talking about $500 rentals. This is $2300 and up. Are the agents that scandalous and sneaky? Or did I just get the worst of the worst? Who do I report this to?

P.S. I still didn't find a house since he drug the process out over 4 days and it was too late for me to do anything else.

Kgirl4273 · 10-29-2009, 11:19 PM

DST, I feel really bad about what happened to you. But this is not typical behavior for real estate agents in Houston. The majority of us aren't this way. Yes, there are a few bad apples in the bunch, though.

Hopefully, you were able to move on and find something to your liking.

City Love · 10-30-2009, 10:11 AM

Not all agents are the same. The agent should of known you had a time limit and needed to get something wrapped up quickly.

But to be honest, it is a little much to expect the agent to pre-negotiate terms on 18 homes so you can then pick. It's much because many listing agents don't want to waste time negotiating unless they have a signed contract. Plus 18 homes is too many to negotiate with at any given time, maybe 3 or 4.

In the end, it shouldn't of been a problem for your agent to get in contact with the listing agent.

Thaskateguy · 10-30-2009, 10:24 AM

Post that jokers name--I hate crooks, and would love to pay him a visit at drunk thirty, at 3 in the morning. Break that sucker of suckin eggs.

tstone · 10-30-2009, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSTcrna03

I came to Houston this past weekend to find a home. I sent my agent (weeks in advance) a list of 18 homes I was interested in and asked him to speak to the listing agents upfront about negotiating terms. He did nothing. He tried to convince me to love a home that was above my budget.

That's called upselling. If you've ever been to a big box retailer, they tend to do the same thing.

Many real estate agents and the like are scandalous, slimy, sneaky; no doubt about it. And that especially goes for rental property management agents. That's about as slimy as it gets around this town. But if no money changed hands here, and all you did was deal with an incompetent person, you really can't say you got scammed.

So if that is really the case, move on with life and find someone else. Life is full of BS you have to ignore.

ShelbyGirl1 · 10-30-2009, 12:28 PM

Been there many a time. We are transferred all around the country quite often. We soon learned...glance over the list...not what you want..I tell the Agent right up front. I don't have the time to waste. If we drive up to the house and there is no curb appeal...We're moving on. I've had agents furious with us because we refused to make her appt. Agents tend to try and sell what they have on their lists..and for go what you actually asked for.
In saying that...we have also had some excellent agents..the most recent who helped us find what we were looking for her. I'd use her again in a heart beat!

DSTcrna03 · 10-30-2009, 01:31 PM

Unfortunately, I did submit two applications with applications fees and took 5 days (airfare, hotel, rental car, plus time) to get things done. 18 homes is alot but he said he would narrow them down by how they looked. He got rid of 10 and then of the other 8, he showed me the best ones. I told him what my concern was as far as staying within a certain budget but he promised me he knew the agents personally and could get the price negotiated within my budget. Otherwise, I would not have even bothered looking at the homes. He kept saying "The ahrdest part will be for you to pick which home you want. After that, I can promise you you will get it within your price point." Never trust a a man with a lime green feather in his brown suede fedora (hat cocked to the side). LMAO.

Oildog · 10-30-2009, 01:34 PM

look on www.har.com for properties and agents as well. Ive moved a lot and when in Houston I'd pick 15 properties in my location and priice range and asked the agent to show them to me. No need to negotiate if you dont like a property.

chris_ut · 10-30-2009, 08:34 PM

If you search on har.com then the listing agent info is there on the left. Just call them yourself to negotiate terms. Thats what we did to buy our last house. Most buyers agents are useless unless maybe your a first time buyer and have no idea what your doing.

Amazing90 · 10-30-2009, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSTcrna03

I came to Houston this past weekend to find a home. I sent my agent (weeks in advance) a list of 18 homes I was interested in and asked him to speak to the listing agents upfront about negotiating terms. He did nothing. He tried to convince me to love a home that was above my budget. He told so many lies about various homes, agents, and situations that by the end of the weekend, I could not believe a word he said. I think I was scammed. That house has been on the market for over a year. The listing agent supposedly does not return calls but she takes applications (rentals) and application fees but obviously never approves any of them. Is stuff like this typical business? I mean, we are not talking about $500 rentals. This is $2300 and up. Are the agents that scandalous and sneaky? Or did I just get the worst of the worst? Who do I report this to?

P.S. I still didn't find a house since he drug the process out over 4 days and it was too late for me to do anything else.

When you said "Scandalous, sneaky, and down right dirty," I thought you were talking about this guy who wears certain rings on certain body parts of his and who pretends to have a "wife."

What's the big deal. You didn't sign anything, right? Just fire him and try to hire someone else.