Imagine deciding that you’re ready to buy a home. The first step would probably be to finding a real estate agent that works in the area where you want to live.

What would you do if your real estate agent didn’t respond to your calls, refused to pay attention to what you were actually looking for in a home, and only sent you info about homes that didn’t fit your budget?

That’s just a few of the problems the couple in this story faced, and they went through a lot of drama trying to get out of the contract they signed with this agent.

Keep reading for all the details.

Called our bad realtor’s bluff.

My better half and I are in the market for a home. We’ve been casually searching for 4 years, and this year we really kicked it into gear.

We nailed down where we wanted to live, our price range, got approved, and actually found a house we wanted to put an offer on. We contacted an agent my husband found and said he though he wanted to work with (due to the guy’s other interests and the niche he’d built himself in that area-right up our alley).

Against my better judgement, we signed with the guy as our buyer’s agent. I’ll call him Agent Dork, for the purposes of this story.

Her bad feeling about this agent only got worse.

So, Agent Dork was our exclusive buyer’s agent. I personally thought he was a “yes man” but my husband didn’t see it.

He knew we would be buying sight-unseen (cannot be helped, yes it’s unwise). He went to this property, and had ONLY glowing reviews.

We asked if he saw any signs of water damage (husband has mold sickness, have to be careful), and he emphatically said there was none, whatsoever. It was “pristine”. He kept telling us how amazing it was, how it wouldn’t last, how we’d better offer a decent chunk over asking if we want to have a chance at it.

We did not feel that was a good idea. Against his advice, we offered below asking, and it was readily accepted.

First red flag for me is an agent forcefully urging me to offer above asking with no other offers on the table.

The inspection revealed a huge problem.

So we get the inspection, a guy Agent Dork recommended personally, and ended up paying twice what it should have cost ($875).

I’ll give the inspector credit though, that report was exceedingly thorough, and we got it back within a day. A cursory glance at the inspection report, though, showed a large area of wood floor under a window in the living room, in plain sight to Agent Dork, was BLACK from water seeping in.

The guy says he’s got 15 years of experience, he should have seen that. But, he isn’t an inspector, and that’s not necessarily his “job”. But still, another sign he’s playing “yes man” to get us to buy ANYTHING at the highest cost.

The agent asked an odd question.

Anyhow, we immediately back out of that deal, and tell him why.

He asks “Are you mad at me”?

I was taken aback by this question coming from a grown man who says he’s an ex marine, but whatever. I tell him it’s fine, and that we must move on to another property.

He seems quite upset by this, but agrees.

The agent messed up again.

I get an email from the inspector two days later saying that he’s gotten an email from the seller of that home, asking for “another” copy of our inspection, and that he will not send it to them without our consent, as we own it.

I immediately ask Agent Dork if he sent our inspection to the seller after we backed out, and he says he did, and says “I’m sorry I should have asked”.

I tell the inspector that we do not want our inspection shared without our consent, and that if the man wants another inspection (the seller was loaded) he can pay for his own.

He sounds worthless.

Over the next few weeks, Agent Dork sends us a handful of properties we had already excluded as out of our price range.

Let me say, our price range is pretty high. If I can’t find a home for under half a mil, I don’t want one. I repeatedly tell him these are too expensive. There ARE homes within our range.

Eventually he relents and sends one or two within our range. He’s still not sending us anything that fits our criteria, though, like not even a little, and we’re actually doing all the leg-work. I keep sending him homes we’ve found online.

He comes up with one excuse or another as to why it won’t work, but I tell him I want to see information on it. He’s definitely irritated at this point, but sends me bits and pieces of information over the course of days.

He’s giving them really bad advice….when he responds at all.

After pulling out of the offer on the first home, Agent Dork has become increasingly difficult to reach. He’s told my husband he’s so busy that he must start turning people away.

It becomes a running joke in our house: “Have you heard from Agent Dork about that house we sent him?” “HAHA yeah right”.

Homes hitting the market at this point were going under contract within 24 hours, due to low supply. So, him taking 2,3,4 days to get us basic information like whether or not there’s an HOA, or what it uses for heat, are a detriment.

He repeatedly urges us to make offers above asking on homes he hasn’t even pulled info on, let alone set foot in. He says this is necessary because things are moving so quickly.

I’m too uncomfortable to do this. He’s playing around with $5,000 in Earnest Money, and just no.

She realized what happened.

I realized pretty quickly that he took us as clients only because we’d found the home already, and he thought it would be quick money for him.

Can’t say I blame him on that, but when it became clear that it was not the right property, if he did not have time for us, he should have sent us on our way.

We tell him we’re feeling neglected, and it’s taking too long to get answers on basic questions.

He keeps saying “It’s no big deal”, like that somehow makes me feel better about not buying a home because he’s too busy for us.

We ask him if there is someone else at his brokerage we can work with who has time, but he owns it, so there’s not.

It started to look hopeful.

We send him another home, and he actually went out and took a few 15 second videos there. We ended up making an offer.

Again, he urges us to offer well over asking.

I tell him that’s not happening, and offer 30k under. Sellers countered at 25 under, and this is accepted by us.

Two days into contract, I have to ask him if we are actually under contract. NO contact from him one way or another, so no idea.

But they need to have an inspection.

He eventually responds and says we are.

Ok great. 4 days into our 10 day inspection period, and still haven’t heard word one from him.

I finally ask him if we’re planning to schedule any inspections.

He says “I’ll connect you tonight!” and then doesn’t.

But time is ticking.

The next day, 5 days into this inspection period, I tell him we’d like to cancel the contract, and cancel our contract with him (again). The mold test we need will take 5-7 days, so we literally can’t get it inspected in the time left.

He immediately calls me, and it does not go well.

I tell him we’re unhappy, he calls me unreasonable, again says “It’s no big deal”, blah blah blah, but he begs for another chance. Literally he begged me. So, fine, whatever. One more chance.

Now, they really want to buy.

We find the PERFECT property, and immediately email it to him.

He says he’s set an appointment to view it the next morning.

Two days later, he finally sends us a totally different (MUCH more expensive) property.

I tell him my husband has left to go there already, and MAY choose to see it when he’s there, but that we are really interested in the other one we sent him, and ask if he ever make it out to see it.

But he avoided the question.

He responds with “You should make an offer on this one asap!!!”

Like wtat dude? So again, I ask him point blank “Did you go see the other home at XYZ, or not” and he finally admits he didn’t bother going to see it.

And now, since it’s been 2 more days, there’s an accepted offer.

He will not go see it so we might put a backup offer in.

The next day I receive videos of the more expensive property, that I never asked for, nor wanted.

Her husband wanted to meet the agent in person.

My husband then arrives, having 30 hours to go to this area to look at the area, and some properties, and meet Agent Dork. Husband texts updates on his trip to Agent Dork along the way, but never gets a response.

I speak to Agent Dork the night before, telling him my husband will be there in the morning. I tell him to please call and coordinate with him, that he’s available now to speak.

He told me he would, when we ended our call, but didn’t.

The next day my husband arrives, he texts to say he’s arrived, and Agent Dork has no response. He waits, and waits, but still nothing. Tries to call, no response.

The agent FINALLY responded.

After another 7ish hours, it’s now dark, and our “agent” has ghosted him all day.

Husband texts him to say we want out, that he’s driven all the way here, and been ghosted.

Agent Dork flips his script. Like instantly. He says he didn’t ghost anyone, and that we never told him what day he was arriving, or that he got there (obvious and provable lies) and he “figured” he’d want to rest the whole first day.

With 30 hours each way, and a full week taken off work for this, losing income, we did NOT want that, which he would have known had he asked, or coordinated at all.

She wants out.

Things fully collapse at this point, and become outright hostile.

He says immediately that we are in a contract with him, and there’s nothing we can do. We have to work with him, OR we can agree to pay him 3% or get a new agent to agree to pay him a referral fee. “These are the ONLY terms I’ll agree to. It’s your best option, you should take it”

I think this would be reasonable, if our reason for cancellation were not his own negligence.

I tell him there is NO way in HELL I will allow him to profit for messing us around.

He literally laughs at me, and says I have no choice.

Bad idea.

Time to call an attorney.

I have an attorney look over the contract, and yes, we’re in a tough place contractually.

Funnily enough, the attorney tells me he is VERY aware of this guy, and he does this all the time. Apologizes that we’re in this mess, but says there’s nothing he can do about it.

I ask him about posting reviews of our experience, that I’m worried about a defamation suit.

He says that as long as it’s true, and I have proof, I cannot be sued for defamation.

The real estate commission knows about this guy too.

I call the real estate commission and speak with an investigator for the entire state. He asks where in the state this occurred, and I tell him.

He says “is it Agent Dork?”, and my jaw dropped. He says he gets a lot of calls about this guy, that there’s lots of problems, but that he hides behind pretty ironclad contracts, so he continues to do this legally. He’s been doing it for years, apparently. He tells us that if we try to circumvent the contract, we will almost certainly be sued by this man- he’s done it before.

I tell Agent Dork that the least he could do if he doesn’t have time to do his job, is release us.

Again, he laughs.

She warned him.

I tell him I will report these actions to the real estate commission.

“HAHAHAHAJA” is his response.

I tell him fine, then he can expect people to hear about what’s happened to us online.

He says “I will sue you”.

I tell him that I will only be posting a true account of events, with written proof, and therefore it is not libelous, and he can sue me, but will not win.

He replies, “You two are psychopaths”

Now I really start to get angry.

She puts him to work (or tries to).

I emailed Agent Dork and told him point blank that if his terms for cancellation were not acceptable to me, and mine were not acceptable to him, then we are still legally bound. As such, I FULLY expect him to do his job.

I sent a list of houses we would never otherwise consider. He did nothing for 2 days, and for 2 days I asked him probably 10 times a day to send me documentation on them.

He asked if I even meant to send those to him, and I said “of course, you’re my agent, ARE YOU NOT?”.

He sweetly replies that he is, and that he’ll send the information that evening.

I send him like 8 more listings, all in a different geographical area (the contract was for the entire state), and all WELL below our price limit. Like some were under 100k, and all were reallllly rough.

The agent tries another approach to get out of actually doing his job.

That evening, Agent Dork starts to try to ‘team up’ with my husband against me. For some reason he thinks this tactic will work because my husband avoids confrontation whenever possible.

He emails my husband. He forwards the listings I’ve sent, and asks my husband if I am “mentally unstable”, and says he thinks he should “get me some help”.

It does not go well, and husband tell him to “Pump his brakes” and that he has “no right” to talk about me that way.

Agent Dork doesn’t respond. Instead he writes me, telling ME he thinks I’m unstable. His logic is that I’m not happy with him, and don’t want to work with him, and now I’m sending him properties, so I must be mentally incompetent.

Now, the agent is getting desperate.

I tell him again that we have 4 months left on our contract, and I am under no obligation to accept his terms for cancellation if they do not benefit me, just like he is not obligated to accept mine.

He emails my husband again, saying that he’s got some agents who will “Be Reeeeaaallllyyyy nice to Vmizzle” and husband just says “we don’t need your referrals dude”.

Next day another agent calls me. Agent Dork wants me to sign with them instead, and they’ve already agreed to accept less commission so he will be paid.

I have a lovely chat with the nice couple on the phone, and then tell them flatly that under no circumstances will I allow him to profit financially for doing this to us. He’s become openly hostile, rude, and calls us names.

I feel bad for this couple being associated with the agent at all.

They didn’t really know what to say, so we amicably ended the call.

They call me back a bit later (I suppose after talking to Agent Dork) and ask again if I’ll consider signing with them just to be done with the situation, that buyers don’t even pay the commission, and that they will even pay for my inspection!

Wow. Once more I tell them no, that is not their responsibility and I won’t allow them to go out of pocket for this clown. I tell them in no uncertain terms, that I would choose to wait out this contract before signing with anyone else. That I might consider signing with them (I never would because of their affiliation with him), but only if we were released fully from the contract beforehand.

I told them that if we somehow decided to purchase one of the two homes he ‘showed’ us, that I would feel obligated to pay him, but short of that, there is no way.

She gathers more evidence.

Agent Dork emails and texts more, calling me more names for refusing to sign his cancellation terms, even though he’s done the same to me.

I again send him a handful of crappy listings, and very valid reasons I might want each property.

He says nothing, and I ask him every 2-3 hours to send me documentation on them. That if he’s still our agent, he’s obligated to do SOMETHING. That he cannot legally refuse to fulfill his contractual duties, and still keep us in the contract. He must choose.

At this point I’m building a pretty solid paper trail of begging him to do what his is contractually obligated to do, and evidence of his refusal.

They’re finally done.

Agent Dork has started to realize that I am NOT going to go away. I keep sending him properties, and keep at him to send me info, which he never does.

Finally, mercifully, Agent Dork texts me that he is terminating us as clients, and that we are free to work with whoever we want.

Two days later, he finally sends me the contract cancellation.

We are elated, and sign quickly as it all is in order. After, though, I take a very close look at his actual signature on the page. He signed the cancellation “Backoff” instead of Agent Dork. Guy’s a real class act.

But the cancellation was still legit.

Luckily, our attorney said through his laughs, that the cancellation is still binding, and if he did try to take us to court, he’d obviously have to explain to a judge that he signed a legal document with an expletive. He assured us that we finally were done with him!

The real estate commission investigator had actually asked me to keep him updated on the outcome of the situation. So, after hearing back from the lawyer that we were indeed done, I called him back to tell him. I told him exactly what happened, and that I just forced him to work with us until he realized he’d have 4 more months of me still not going away, so he cancelled.

Mr. Nice Investigator could not stop laughing.

He told me Agent Dork calls him regularly, and uses him as a point of contact because none of the other investigators will speak to him. He tells me the guy “Has a few screws loose”.

She wants to pay it forward.

I tell him I hope he will tell anyone else in our position what worked, and to feel free to pass my info along if necessary.

He readily accepts that offer, and we jovially end the call.

In the end I’m very glad I stood up to this jerk, and I have zero regrets.

We called his bluff, and I can pretty well bet that no one had done that to him before. He was absolutely used to bullying people into getting his way.

That was a lot of drama! Buying a home can certainly be stressful, but a good real estate agent should make the process less stressful not be the source of the stress!

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

One person suggests suing.

Yes, their budget would get you NOTHING in California.

Wouldn’t this be nice!

A good realtor can make a huge difference. I’ve been lucky in this area as well.

Buying a home can be stressful, but it shouldn’t be THIS stressful!

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.