Buying and selling houses are two very different, but equally stressful, life events.
Having a good realtor can really make all the difference in coming out both happy and unscathed.
OP and her husband were super excited about being able to buy a house.
My husband and I met with the “top realtor” that a very popular agency had to offer. We saved for two years and we ready for a home. He was confident, encouraging, and made us feel like he could get us into our dream home!
We reviewed financials with him and he saw we each had Tier 1 credit (both scores over 800) plus we had enough saved for a conventional loan. He was clearly SO happy because he could SMELL that commission check…. He brought out the contract.
We discuss the buyer/agency contract which didn’t seem like a big deal because we were very serious about buying. We also knew most relator’s did this, so it wasn’t alarming.
In case you don’t know, this contract is standardly a 3-month contract stating that you will not buy/rent/lease any property without the realtor getting their fair commission and if you go behind their back with someone else, they will be entitled to a percentage of whatever property you purchase.
The wrong realtor really took the wind out of their sails.
The clause he failed to mention/we missed: This was a ONE YEAR contract.
We weren’t worried at first, because again, we were sure to be buying a property. Let me tell you, when we told him the price range we were looking (about $150K under what the bank approved us for) he became COMPLETELY upset and defensive.
“Why are you dropping your standards?”
“Don’t you have any dying relatives who could cosign, so you can get the house paid off quicker?”
“I don’t wanna show you houses in THAT area….” etc;
He saw that large commission check vanish before his eyes.
We continued to stay in touch because what option did we have? We were contractually committed to buying a home through him and ONLY him for the next year.
We sent him links to MANY houses, asking when we can see them. He would take a week or two to respond back and when my “dream home” slipped through my fingers due to his delays, I had enough.
I politely asked if he would relinquish us from the contract, as we clearly had different goals. I apologized for being upset, but I told him why. I said I didn’t feel like he was making us a priority and I would rather hire someone private.
His response? “Well, I’ll be running your financials for the next year to see if you buy/lease/rent anything. I’d reread that contract you signed and find a lawyer.” Then he cut communication.
There was nothing to do but wait him out.
I complained to the agency and they said “Try and work it out with the realtor himself.”
When I told them I already tried, they brought up the contract. I said I was going to speak to a lawyer about the contract, they laughed and said good luck.
The lawyer informed me it could drain our account going against the agency and we made the painful decision to wait him out the full year……
The good news was, they were also in an even better position, financially.
Saving A LOT more money in the mean time.
The contract ends and we find our perfect first home, above the original price we were approved for, AND with the most amazing realtors we have ever met.
During closing day at the realtors office (the sellers of our home used the popular agency we just escaped from) our previous realtor watched in the hallway as we signed for a house almost $150K more than we would’ve bought from him….
Exactly one month after our contract was up. He scrambled to find the now-expired contract because he was SURE that he was about to “win”.
A position they used to really push him over the edge.
I know a lot of people at the office were talking about it and our realtors let us know what had happened after we left. It made me feel good to watch the horror on his face through the conference room windows as his superior told him to go home due to his frantic behavior.
Apparently, he had been using company time and expenses to check on our financials WEEKLY throughout the year in order to catch an ‘easy check’ through a broken contract.
There was no confrontation between us directly, but I definitely feel like we won that one.
I looked on their company website and his name has been removed from their listed agents.
These contracts should be more beneficial to both parties.
A lot of realtors don’t care, though.
Lots of sketchy folks out there.
And this guy was definitely doing it on purpose.
Capitalism, but not for the win.
I feel like this probably works for him pretty often.
Not everyone is in the position to wait a year to move.
If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.