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Would You Buy This House?

By
Real Estate Agent with Florida Property Experts
Ponce Inlet Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

ugly houseBelieve it or not, the photos in this post are of a house I recently sold. We just closed last week. You should know that these sellers are experienced at buying and repairing houses that need a lot of work. But this house brings new meaning to needing a lot of work! It needs a LOT of work! And just before closing we had one more problem that caused the entire ceiling in the garage to collapse. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of that disaster.

However, I do need to mention that during the course of this transaction, I had the extreme displeasure of working with the most incompetent listing agent I've ever met! I'll probably elaborate on that in a future post; with no names mentioned of course. Sometimes our Code of Ethics, that prevents us from bad-mouthing other agents, is what allows those agents to wood rot under windowcontinue to do a huge disservice to their clients. (And it's unfortunate that we can't file a grievance against another agent, just for being an unprofessional jerk.) We can only hope that eventually, their actions will catch up to them. Because it's awfully hard, when in the future, you have a buyer who wants to look at real estate listings that match what these unprofessional agents have listed, to bring yourself to show them. It's very difficult to add those listings to what you have scheduled for your buyers to see, when you know that should your buyer decide they want to buy one of those listings, that listing agent will not only NOT do their job, but will for some unfathomable reason, apparently do everything they can to prevent the sale from happening!?!

For now, I'll let you enjoy the pictures of this listing that sat vacant on the market for about 2 years, in which the listing agent had never even entered!

 


 

In closing, what you see in every one of these pictures, is only the tip of the iceberg. The damage to this house was so extensive that if it these buyers hadn't come along, this house would have been condemned within the next year. So good luck *Amy. You've got your work cut out for you. But I know that you genuinely enjoy this type of work. I can't wait to see the end result of all your hard work.

www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateSales.com

www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateVideos.com

 

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(*Name was changed.)

Comments(11)

Midori Miller
Talk 2 Midori, LLC - Daytona Beach, FL
Online Marketing For Real Estate Professionals

Lisa-Congrats girl and all I can say is WOW.. Is it our area?  I've not been enjoying some of my experiences with fellow REALTORS lately...I think, well I would like to think..its frustration. 

2 years huh?  Well it doesn't surprise me..was that in Port Orange?

 

Sep 20, 2008 11:02 AM
Liz Moras Migic
Chilliwack, BC
Chilliwack, British Columbia - Realtor

I do believe that working with certain realtors is much more difficult than working with most clients!  Its no wonder we have to work so hard to elevate our reputations when so much of the public has been exposed to their type of service!........It truly is unfortunately that we don't have a better system of checks in place - so that we realtors can help hold other realtors accountable for the type of service and professionalism (or lack thereof) they are providing.

Sep 20, 2008 02:12 PM
Jeff Belonger
Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ
The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

Lisa... I have been hearing more and more bad experiences with working with other realtors or loan officers. I thought with a down market, that many of these people would be out of the business.

jeff belonger

Sep 20, 2008 04:14 PM
Susie Blackmon
Ocala, FL
Ocala, Horses, Western Wear, Horse Farms, Marketing

It is amazing and embarrassing how many lazy, incompetent realtors there are, and is the very reason I have a hard time being proud to say I am a realtor.  There is hope in sight though; if they have to WORK and blog and put a sentence together, their number will be up!

Sep 20, 2008 10:28 PM
Bob Cumiskey
A1 Connection Realty, Inc. - Sun City Center, FL
US Army Retired, Your Sun City Center, Florida ~ Realtor

Lisa, I'm amazed that house sold.  Your buyers must have really had a vision.  Hopefully, they got it for a song.

Sep 21, 2008 03:24 AM
Lisa Hill
Florida Property Experts - Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Beach Real Estate

Midori- I didn't want to say the exact city, since it could be construed as violating the Code. If someone recognizes the house from the pictures and puts 2+2 together, well... you get the picture; especially since I plan to write a follow-up article about this agent, without his name. I need to tell the story, but I can't violate the Code of Ethics. Let's just say that it is in our area, on the beachside, south of Dunlawton, very near the beach =)

Liz- This was a cash sale, with only 2 weeks to close. If I were the listing agent, I would have been jumping up and down with joy, and would have bent over backward to help the selling agent.

Jeff- This is actually a seasoned agent, and a top producer! I have no idea how he stays in business. Not only was he condescending to both me and the buyer, he absolutely refused to do his job. I was forced to do both my job and his too. But he knows exactly how far he can go, without having a grievance filed against him. As a matter of fact, just a few days before closing, he e-mailed me a list, with his version of what had transpired. He knew I was not going to tolerate his incompetence, so he sent a list of lies. Every line in his step-by-step analysis of how the transaction had progressed, was a lie. And get this... I was at the Board of REALTORS one day and mentioned his name, and ALL the ladies and the Board suddenly, in unison, repeated a similar sounding, but very bad depiction of his name! ROFL! How bad is one's reputation when the ladies at the local Association have their own name for that person?

Susie- I feel the same way. Unfortunately, this agent has a team of people who do everything for him. That's why he never knew what was going on, and when I pressed an issue, he got beligerent.

Bob- These buyers know what they're doing. They e-mailed me some photos of a 275 year old house that they had previously restored!

Sep 21, 2008 09:46 AM
Mesa, Arizona Real Estate Mesa Arizona Realtor
Homes Arizona Real Estate LLC - Mesa, AZ
AzLadyInRed

Lisa, yes, it is too bad we can't "tell" on incompetent Realtors who give all of us a bad name. This home is unbelievable. I hope the people saved a lot of money purchasing it. Be sure and share with us the fixes made along the way. ;-)

Pepper

 

Sep 21, 2008 04:58 PM
Janet Brown
Re/Max Aerospace Realty - Rockledge, FL
"Making A Difference One House At A Time"

what brave souls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sep 21, 2008 05:05 PM
Katrina Madewell
Charles Rutenberg Rlty- More than 5,000 agents(813) 777-1196 - Tampa, FL
Tampa FL Homes for sale | Tampa Bay - (813) 777-1196

WOW!  Lisa is this house not a tear-down?

I posted an on-top blog a moment ago... incompetent agents and Realtor 101... LOL

Katrina Madewell

Sep 22, 2008 05:50 PM
Edith Schreiber
Luxury Homes, Move Up Buyers, 1st Time Homebuyers, New Construction - Frisco, TX
Dallas Area Real Estate

This scenario reminds me (sadly) that there are far too many unethical RE agents out there who get away with this kind of thing, for various reasons & for too long.  I have met my share!

No wonder there are so many in the public sector that think Realtors charge too much/don't earn their pay. I (and obviously you, Lisa!) take great pride in doing the best job that we possibly can for our clients. Thank goodness there are still those of us who want to maintain the highest level of integrity, and can easily put our heads down on the pillow at night, knowing that is the only way we know how to take care of business.

I really want to thank you for restoring my faith & confidence in our chosen career....in the challenging market we are all currently facing, I honestly would have hoped it would have weeded out those who never really cared about doing their job the right way, and that they'd be mostly gone. I have found that is not true, but knowing there are still others out there who truly want to do the right thing, makes me feel better & hopeful that the very next agent I do business with will share my committment to simply do the right thing!

Thanks again!

Sep 27, 2008 02:56 PM
Debbie Malone
Londeree's Real Estate & Property Management - Lynchburg, VA
From Lynchburg To The Lake (434) 546-0369

Lisa, I've been fortunate, maybe three transactions in the last three years with agents who were not pleasant to deal with.  I do wish I had my camera with me on some of the showings, especially one where the entire back half of the house was eaten up from termites. I wouldn't want to take on a project like this house!

Oct 01, 2008 02:14 PM