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Wondering what others might think of this scenario...
I tried to buy a shortsale home last Oct/Nov. I was wishy washy on the whole thing, and changed my mind a couple of times. I finally decided to go for it and gave the realtor a check for $1000 deposit. I had the home inspected, paying another $340, where there was a slight delay over a septic issue. I gave the bank an offer anyway and about a week later changed my mind, after my check had been cashed. The bank never accepted my offer, and probably had not even looked at it yet. My agent told me I had 'signed off' on my deposit and there was nothing she could do. Considering that I was never sure about the deal to begin with, I would think she would not have had me sign a form where I couldn't get my deposit back. Yes, dumb on my part for being so trusting. But that's what I hired her for, and she was supposed to look out for my best interests. She was mad that I backed out and I have not heard from her since.
I also have a 3 acre parcel to sell, as I am moving out of state. I found a guy who had sold other parcels in my area. He also works for Coldwell Banker. It took him a couple weeks to list my property, and when I finally saw it online it was listed under the incorrect town. I emailed him and asked him to fix it. 2 weeks went by and I heard nothing so I called him. He said he had got my email but was 'on vacation' and would fix it when he got back. (It's not that complicated, I would think it would take 2 seconds to fix?). Another week goes by and I hear nothing and it's still not fixed. It was important to me for it to be listed in the right town, as the town he has it listed under is a different county. He also did not mention how many acres it was. I wanted this done before I moved. I found another real estate guy, and wanted to be done with him. I asked him to release me from my contract which he refused, and says I can just wait until my contract expires in April. Plus, the listing is still not correct. Why is it so hard to fix a listing?
So now I have to talk to his broker today and see if he will release me from the contract. I am disgusted by this company. If they don't release me it's not that big of a deal, I'll just use the other guy in April when it expires. It's vacant land and I'm not expecting much to happen in the dead of winter.
Escrow/Deposit checks are deposited in a bank with an established time frame upon acceptance by both the buyer and seller. That is normal. If the transaction does not complete, the realtor gets nothing. It is not in their interest for the transaction to fall apart.
In the event that a buyer wants to back out of the contract in a sale, the seller has to sign a release of funds.
Inspection costs are yours and the realtor gets nothing out of the cost and should not offer to reimburse you.
While your expectations of a realtor are high, I think you had some some misconceptions about the process. While you don't have to like the particular office/realtors that you dealt with, it is unfair to blame Coldwell Banker the corporation as a whole.
My agent told me I had 'signed off' on my deposit and there was nothing she could do.
Since you didn't have an accepted contract, I find this odd that you cannot get your money back. Ask for a copy of the "signed off" paperwork. You should have copies of everything you sign anyway.
In real estate, the service you are provided has nothing to do with the company sign on the building. Everyone works on commission. Your just dealing with crappy agents.
So the first agent was a buyer's agent...you say you hired her. Not the agent who represented the seller, right?
I have to say if I didn't read the contract with the first agent and on the purchase the first time around, I'd read the listing contract with the second agent.
Is there nothing in there about what the second one promised and what he did not provide? He is not supposed to exist in a vacuum. He is supposed to have a broker, secretary or partner at his office for emergencies.
Re the first contract. Don't know the whole story and what your agreement was but it can be if you have not received your funds, you have a contract on that house with a deposit. Usually it behooves the seller of a home to not tie up their home for other buyers. If this is the case the home should even be listed as pending or contingent or whatever.
You need to put in writing what you want to happen since you don't want the house. You should send this to the agent, broker, local real estate commission and state commission.
The first offer was on a short sale. While out here our standard practice is to have refundable earnest money, there are a couple of agents that have you sign an addendum where the earnest money is non-refundable for 60 days. Sounds like that is what happened to you. You need to read what you sign or have the agent explain the forms to you. I don't know why people blindly sign legal documents.
As for the second, the principal/managing broker can get that data changed for you.
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