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Ah, so you want to know how it's going eh? Well to be honest it isn't.
We ended up finding a place two weeks before we sold our home. We found a place that had just been on the market no less than a day or so. We were the first to see it, and of course the seller who is ALSO A REALTOR, did not have ANY paperwork, packets etc out. We were also told that the seller had to have an offer close to asking price within 10 days, this was told by our realtor. When we asked why, we were told it was for personal reasons. We had some concerns about the windows/roof/septic and asked the age etc of all systems. The septic we were told was replace three years ago but they did not have any paperwork as it was done by the previous owner before the purchased the home. The roof was really bad, original 35 years old etc, and a few windows were cracked and broken. We knew this going into it but we liked it none the less. The sewer being only 3 years old was a nice selling point. We put an offer in on it, as we were told the seller was receiving "multiple offers" etc. Usual BS ploy.
Well, after haggling the price etc, 3-4 days later my wife get's a call from our realtor. (Our realtor seems to only want to correspond with my wife through this ENTIRE process, even when asked to CC/email/call etc to me as well) The house had gone into short sale. The seller/realtor did not send our offer in apparently in enough time so now we have to wait to hear back from the bank to have the "case" assigned a caseworker. The seller/realtor had to be out of the premis on the 1st anyways and the house was to be in broom clean condition etc etc and no futher damage.
Ok, now it's around Sept 1st, and we just keep on waiting, apparently the bank had to order their own appraisal. A entire week went by before we heard anything, all the while my wife was pressing our realtor for info. Ended up being that the bank had done an appraisal and never told anyone or the seller/realtor did not tell our realtor and left us entirely in the dark. This is all after 3 weeks or so.
This past Thursday I went down to the house to meet with my home inspector. Apparently the seller/realtor wanted to attend the inspection. I showed up early and met with the inspector and told him about the "short sale", how the seller/realtor seems to be not on the up and up to me, and my realtor included. He instructed me to ask for paperwork, plans etc on the new septic when the seller arrived.
Aside from that, the house was a mess, garbage outside, tires, batteries, junk etc, that was never removed. When the seller arrived, of course pulling up in some fancy big money SUV, she proceeded to walk up to me and say "you must be the buyer" and that was the end of that. No handshake, no hello etc. Nothing, just plain rude. So I returned the favor and began to inquire about the septic system's age and plans etc. She started to backpedal immediately stating it was just a pipe that was replaced, she never said the septic was 3 years old. I had my pda with me with a saved email of the correspondance she sent my wife and our realtor stating just that, septic was replaced 3 years ago! I just let it go at that and went on with the rest of the house inspection. Come to find out the seller never vacated the premis on the 1st as I was told by my realtor, items were still in the house, and a squirrel had entered the premis through a broken window downstairs and proceeded to CHEW every window casing to the point of no salvagable condition. There was a foosball table left in the basement along with numerous paint cans, odds and ends of electronics etc.
The seller told us that she was going to have someone come by and mow the lawn and finish cleaning out the house. By this time I was about to really just go off on her but kept my cool and said great. The inspector showed me numerous issues with the home, including termites, damage, and evidence of where someone tried to cover up the damage.
It get's so much better. Apparently the seller did not service the boiler all the time they were there and the boilder ended up shutting down and falling to pieces. The room it was in was covered in black soot everywhere.
After the end of the inspection I thought to myself, what else are they not telling me, and why is my realtor not representing me? My realtor showed up late to my inspection as well, how's that for representation. Apparently not very high on her list of clients.
When I asked my realtor about the email regarding the sewer, she said, oh no, I never got anything like that, when in fact she did, and talked with us about it! She even backpedaled on the sewer... It was the original sewer and leachfield to which was over 35 years old!!!
So my realtor asked me when she would hear from us, to which I replied, I'd talk it over with my wife and contact her in a day. To which I got a "great, thanks" answer in a really snide tone. She got in her car and left.
I talked it over with my wife and after everything we've been put through, all the work we've done, research on finding homes to look at, hounding our agent to get us a showing, I told her flat out, no more, this realtor is horrible and unprofessional and we should stop working with her, to which she agreed.
The home inspection showed us that the seller/realtor was a liar. Our realtor did not fair better either, having not researched the shortsale issues, kept us in the dark for a month while waiting for all this to come down to a home inspection. I'm not even going to go down the road of having to follow her everywhere all the while exceeding the speedlimit's by ridiculous numbers all the time, and almost purposely trying to "loose us" while we were trying to follow her to see a home every single time.
Never addressing our needs or even talking with us one on one. She was/is a glorified paper pusher and not a good one at that, as her paperwork snaffu from her other agent caused us to have to sell our home which started this nightmare in the first place.
In the end we requested our deposit back and we withdrew our offer from the house. We were then asked why, from our realtor. It was obvious, the seller/realtor lied about the septic age, excessive inside damage, and numerous other things that were covered up or tried to be hidden. WE then told our realtor we're going with someone else. She had the nerve to ask why...
The real kick in the teeth here was when we went to sign papers to sell our home. We showed up a few min's early and started signing, all the while sweating to death in the upper portion of ROXO realty's office. No A/C, drinks, etc aside from water in the back of some dimly lit office. Our realtor did not show for the signing but someone else did who was also showing our home at the time. She and the buyers and buyers realestate agent showed up late. It was like it was all a BIG joke played on us.
After we were done signing it was like we were expected to sit there for an hour while the buyers signed their portion of the paperwork. The realtor from our branch had the nerve to ask the buyers if they had any questions for us, and proceeded to give them ideas/questions to ask!!! I was thinking to myself, WHO is she susposed to represent here? After the grilling session, we finally got our check and left!
I have to say now I have a extremely bad taste left in my mouth from all of this. Our realestate agent(s) clearly cater to higher priced clients and if your not in the 400k+ bracket for a home, do NOT expect them do do anything for you other than unlock a door and let you in. They won't help with price negotiations or offer advice.
I am writing to the NH board of realtors regarding this and more issues I have had with our realtor and this seller/realtor.
I haven't posted names/companies as im sure someone here, probably more realtors will complain about slander/misrepresentation etc.
So that's what happened in the past two months. We're still looking, however, we are EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS of realtors now.
Wow! Sounds like a real nightmare! Sorry to hear you had to go thru all that. There are still very nice and well-maintained homes in the area that are priced less than the 400s.
That is terrible and no wonder you have a bad taste in your mouth. Definately follow through with your complaints because a lot of times people are so sick of the whole situation that they just want to be done with it. They never file a formal complaint so no action is ever taken against the wrong-doer. This leaves them unaccountable and free to do it to another, and not just in the case of Realtors. They are not ALL bad, but I can see where you would be leary! Maybe there is a website that rates realtors by customers (like rate my professor for college professors)? Perhaps Val knows if this exists? I really hope you can find someone you strike up a repoir with. Maybe next time you can refuse to sign any contracts with them without experiencing firsthand how they handle your viewings. It is a contract after all and aren't all contracts negotiable??
Holy cow!!! That's nightmarish! Sometimes we all fall under a spell when it comes to buying or selling. You need to be objective and look for warning signs; look beyond what's in front of you. It's a shame it went that far. Sounds like you made the best choice after all.
Find a new realtor. Who said you can't interview them for a job concidering that you will be paying them what some people make in a year. Ask for references, get testimonials and check past listings. Let them work for you, not the other way around. Set provisos at the onset, verbal or contractual, and explain to them what you need in terms of communication. Stress all the hot button items in detail. They intend to make a nice penny off of you, so make sure you get your money's worth. Good luck next time!
Another update. We went to see another house, this time in Bow. Stretching the commute for the both of us but I figure'd what do we have to loose at this point
The flag was risen the minute I found out "Owner is Realestate Agent". That immediately made me want to start running for the hills. Ok, sarcasm aside. We showed up on a 4 acre lot that had an easement on it for PSNH, ok I knew that, but the pics did not show AGAIN, the broken phone poles and wire fence that was there as YOUR driveway.
House was nice, which was a total shame because the location, behind a huge hill which had a sandpit/industrialpark behind and around it, just killed it. When I started asking the realtor who again is the seller, about the septic she said they've lived there for 4 years and never had it pumped. I asked about the location of the septic and leachfield. She said the septic is in the driveway and the leachfield is somewhere out there. "It has excellent sandy soil, we've never had a problem". HA! I said to myself. Asked for plans, last time it was cleaned, inspection company, SOMETHING to show proof.... Of course there was nothing. It's laughable that a agent can't provide you with answers to seemingly common questions. The good ol' septic questions I call them now.
So we said thanks and left. It truely was a shame because the house had some decent work done to it, however the lack of knowledge on the main systems, easement issue, and no yard to speak of, aside from 4 acres of sand, led us to say no thanks.
So on to the next one...but if it says "Owner is broker, or Owner is Realestate Agent" I'm sure as hell not interested.
It sounds like you've had a real bad time over this and I can feel for you. It also sounds like the home inspector was the only person on your side, which isn't unusual unless you have a buyers agent. Good luck with your house hunting and, if there is anything I can help you with in my neck of the woods, just drop me an e-mail.
jthibodeau, the sad thing is that he DID have a supposed "buyer's agent" working for him. What I'd like to know is WHAT did the property disclosures say about all of these issues? And why the extended time for a home inspection? I urge my Buyer's to schedule the home inspection 2-3 days after having an accepted offer. That way, within just a couple of days, we're either negotiating the issues OR requesting the return of deposit if the Buyer choses to walk, BEFORE an appraisal is done (saving the Buyer $300 or so).
kaotic, did you get my PM with the contact info for RE commission, not the realtor board as I posted here several days ago? That's who you should be calling, since they are the ones with the power to revoke a license or fine a licensee. There are many layers to the issues you've dealt with, both on the sale of your property and the purchase of the next.
I'm probably the last person you want to hear from, being an agent myself, but you are free to use my site to search, no strings attached, to get property addresses, and drive/check out places on your own if that's what you chose...
No don't think that I can't stand all realtors but it's certainlyl leaving me with a general distrust and concern when I come across one.
Well, this just in. I inquired to my wife if we got our deposit back yet. To which I was told "it was being handled".... After I pryed a lil, I found out that the seller/realtor was refusing to give us back our deposit! My wife probably did not want to get me any more frustrated than I already am. So now we have to fight apparently to get our money back. The home inspection report came back, wow, that was money well spent!
Thank you for the info Valerie.
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