Real Estate Broker (Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton: hardwood floors, for sale, mortgage)

[Stpattylady]

Anyone in the Sarasota/Bradenton area know what the deal is with Bravo Brokers? We paid them an upfront lifetime listing fee for our home in Bradenton in 2008. We had the house up for sale for a few months and couldn't sell it...surprise, I know. Anyway, we rented it out this past year and now need to put it back on the market. We can't get an answer on any of the Bravo telephone numbers and the website is gone. Anybody know what the deal is? I paid these clowns upfront money because...

[SoFLGal]

I believe the brokers name is Thomas Heimann, 941-308-6810. You could check to see if he still has an active license to sell real estate: RE - FREC

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Stpattylady

Anyone in the Sarasota/Bradenton area know what the deal is with Bravo Brokers? We paid them an upfront lifetime listing fee for our home in Bradenton in 2008. We had the house up for sale for a few months and couldn't sell it...surprise, I know. Anyway, we rented it out this past year and now need to put it back on the market. We can't get an answer on any of the Bravo telephone numbers and the website is gone. Anybody know what the deal is? I paid these clowns upfront money because...

Yeah, it was his lifetime, not yours. Sorry to hear about that!

[Stpattylady]

Thanks everyone. I found Thomas Heimann on facebook, but of course, he didn't respond to my e-mail. The house down there is such an albatross We, of course, bought in the beginning of 2006 before the values plummeted. Now I can't give it away. His lifetime, yep, I guess that's how the contract should have construed lol. Normally, I would not have paid any kind of upfront listing fee, but the market wasn't as bad when we put it up for sale as it is now and I was under a lot of duress. During 2008, both my parents had passed away close together, my husband's job was eliminated, and my daughter had a very serious surgery at All Children's in St. Pete...and we were close to being able to clear the mortgage on the property, so we were desperate to save the money on the commission. This Thomas Heimann guy and some of the people he was working with at Bravo seem pretty shady, looking back on it. One of his associates walked through my home and said he had several families aggressively looking for a home specifically in our neighborhood. Of course, after I listed my house with them, the only showings I got were from other brokers. And their letters to me soliciting my business after I met with them once...what a joke! Like I said, I made a stupid decision, but just couldn't think straight at the time. Guess I'm out another several thousand dollars, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the decrease in value. Oh well, live and learn.

Hopefully, my posts will preclude some other people in the area from doing business with these clowns.

[Stpattylady]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

I believe the brokers name is Thomas Heimann, 941-308-6810. You could check to see if he still has an active license to sell real estate: RE - FREC

Thank you for the link. I'm filing a complaint because I feel they have been extremely unethical. Before they closed up shop, I left them numerous messages to please return my call regarding my contract with them...for months! They took my $2,995 and then refused to return my calls.

[Ladywithafan]

Why would someone pay to have their house listed? Never heard of Bravo or paying for a MLS listing.

[Stpattylady]

Originally Posted by Ladywithafan

Why would someone pay to have their house listed? Never heard of Bravo or paying for a MLS listing.

It's amazing what stress does to your thought process. Actually, I believe they started off in the Tampa area and then subsequently expanded into the Sarasota/Bradenton market several years ago. You pay an upfront listing fee instead of the usual 3% on the listing side; the typical 2.5% or 3% on the selling side (or whatever is negotiated) is still paid when the property is sold. Assuming the house sells, it is a significant savings. So $2,995 is a lot less than +/- $15,000 we would have paid on the listing side. Bravo actually did everything a "full service" broker would have done...problem is they are out of business. Again, we were desperate to save the money on the commission and were assured the fee was for a "lifetime", and could re-list the property at any time if it didn't sell. So it was a good deal...assuming the entity stayed in business

...and when you decided to go with them, they had been around a few years at that point and I knew several people who had successfully sold their homes with them.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Stpattylady

Thanks everyone. I found Thomas Heimann on facebook, but of course, he didn't respond to my e-mail. The house down there is such an albatross We, of course, bought in the beginning of 2006 before the values plummeted. Now I can't give it away. His lifetime, yep, I guess that's how the contract should have construed lol. Normally, I would not have paid any kind of upfront listing fee, but the market wasn't as bad when we put it up for sale as it is now and I was under a lot of duress. During 2008, both my parents had passed away close together, my husband's job was eliminated, and my daughter had a very serious surgery at All Children's in St. Pete...and we were close to being able to clear the mortgage on the property, so we were desperate to save the money on the commission. This Thomas Heimann guy and some of the people he was working with at Bravo seem pretty shady, looking back on it. One of his associates walked through my home and said he had several families aggressively looking for a home specifically in our neighborhood. Of course, after I listed my house with them, the only showings I got were from other brokers. And their letters to me soliciting my business after I met with them once...what a joke! Like I said, I made a stupid decision, but just couldn't think straight at the time. Guess I'm out another several thousand dollars, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the decrease in value. Oh well, live and learn.

Hopefully, my posts will preclude some other people in the area from doing business with these clowns.

Ok,
You want to sell your house. Maybe someone here can help you - maybe not. Can you tell us about the house?
Where is it - what address? ((close as you feel comfortable disclosing))
how many bedrooms / bathrooms? ______ sf
__stories?
does it have hurricane shutters / meet my florida safe home requirements?
Does it have a pool? Lanai? Pool heater/
Close to a beach? Golf Course? On the water?
Garages - __Cars?
Many acres?
How much are you trying to get for it?
Tell us what you can.

[Stpattylady]

Originally Posted by Big House

Ok,
You want to sell your house. Maybe someone here can help you - maybe not. Can you tell us about the house? One level with large bonus room upstairs
Where is it - what address? ((close as you feel comfortable disclosing))
how many bedrooms / bathrooms? 3,100 +/- After we bought it, we put in new carpet, and oak hardwood floors...I'm not a fan of ceramic tile being from up "north". House still has a few rooms with large upgraded tiles (formal areas).
2 stories? Manatee Co. East. Specifically, The Preserve at Panther Ridge if you are familiar with the East Manatee Co. Some sections of Panther Ridge have "acreage" properties; however, The Preserve is just like a regular subdivision, except the lots are a little larger. My lot is 1.2 acres.
does it have hurricane shutters / meet my florida safe home requirements?
Does it have a pool? Lanai? Pool heater/ built in 2004 in accordance with Manatee Co. building code at that time, not sure what has changed since then. No hurricane shutters. Large Lanai with brick pavers, but no pool. We wanted to design our own pool, had we stayed.
Close to a beach? Golf Course? On the water? The Concessions is next door, but from what I understand, ridiculously expensive to join. Not sure what the situation is now...I heard they went bankrupt. Of course, the golf courses in Lakewood Ranch Country Club and Lake Club are nearby.
Garages - 3 Cars?
Many acres? 1.2
How much are you trying to get for it? ? Whatever the lender will accept. It's going to have to be a short sale now.
Tell us what you can.

Lovely home, it is ashame it is such a bad market as we are the third owners, so the house sold quickly every other time.

It's a little far out, but has gotten much better with the Publix, post office, super Target, etc. all being built out east.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Stpattylady

Lovely home, it is ashame it is such a bad market as we are the third owners, so the house sold quickly every other time.

It's a little far out, but has gotten much better with the Publix, post office, super Target, etc. all being built out east.

Geeze,
I wish you had found a decent agent to help you sell. It sounds nice. Short Sales are really tough to deal with. No one wants to get involved with short sales usually, because the take so long, and the opening list prices are never accurate for what it takes to actually make a deal to buy the house. You lose a lot of time as a buyer. The lenders and their representatives drag the process out big time. If its a short sale no one here can actually buy from you even if they wanted - I don't think.

Maybe someone will correct me.