About 9 years ago, I was referred to and received a great listing that offered a fantastic view of Lake Travis.  I knew this would be a "hot" listing....but what I didn't know at the time was just how low a veteran broker would stoop to keep her client in the running for this home.

The house was vacant and was located about 35 minutes from my office and my Seller asked me to check on it once a week.  It had only been on the market a one day when I started receiving calls off the sign.  The next day (Friday) I decided to visit the house as the weekend was nearing and I wanted to make sure the home was ready for the traffic that was sure to come. 

When I arrived, I noticed my sign was missing.  I eventually found it had been tossed under a low hanging tree.  I was none to happy, but what could I do.  I went inside the house and noticed all the blinds had been closed which prevented potential buyers from seeing through the house and realizing the beautiful lake view if offered (my seller requested I leave the blinds open for this very reason).

I knew it was probably an agent who threw my sign under the tree and closed the blinds, but all I could do was put the sign back up and open the blinds.  When I arrived back home, I found an offer had been faxed to me from a long-time broker who worked exclusively in that area.  I called to tell her I received the offer and would let her know once my client had a chance to review it, but that it is was a multi-generational fax and was mostly illegible.  Unfortunately, I also told her I'd just returned from the listed house.  Something told me to go back to the house the that day, which I did about 2 hours later. 

As you might have guessed, upon my arrival the second time, the sign was missing again and the blinds were closed.  This time I was certain the broker was behind it.  Later that evening, the broker called and I confronted her about it.  Her response, "Oh no, I'd never do anything like that.....but my client may have have pulled your sign up."  I could not believe my ears.  She was scapegoating her client!   

My seller ultimately countered the offer which he faxed to me and which was now completely illegible.  I asked the broker to meet me half-way to exchange a legible version of the offer and she refused.  I told her I would pick it up at the house the following day if she would leave it there for me.  She was agreeable to that since she wouldn't have to put forth any effort.  My seller was not too happy with the broker's behavior either and as a retired military pilot, I was fairly sure he'd tell her his feelings.  As it turned out, my client decided to drive into town and meet me to discuss this offer, but by the time arrived early Saturday morning we had received two more offers including one for $7,000 more than our asking price, which my seller later accepted. 

I advised the broker and she was terribly angry, and even had an attorney call me late that evening to tell me we could not sell the house to our buyer because he had been "advised" that my clients were already under contract with the broker's client.  RRRiiiiiigggghhhhhtttttt.  This broker called me all weekend trying to convince me that we had a contract with her client.  She adamant and I knew she wouldn't give up.  On Monday morning, I called the title company I used and had them do an email blast to all their offices in case this broker attempted to receipt an illegible copy of her offer.  Yep, at 10am Monday she tried receipt her copy so she could tie up the property.  The title company respectfully refused to accept it. 

Things got considerably worse....well actually better.  The broker's client eventually called me and told me he fired the broker for being untruthful and that he would probably sue her because he made it clear to her that he wanted this home, regardless of price.  He asked me to offer the contracted buyers $10,000 cash if they would walk away from the purchase.  The contracted buyer refused the offer and we closed the transaction as scheduled. 

I'm not sure what happened with the broker and her former client but I would love to have been a fly on the wall when they met for the final time.