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Ethical and professional behaviour by sellers

By
Real Estate Agent with Caldecott Properties 01372814

No one I tell this story to believes me. Most responses are like: wow, is that true? or That is not possible!

From the title you can already guess where this is going, no? Here is a true story that happened to one buyer who is looking to buy a fourplex in a decent neighborhood, and in decent shape.

We had an accetped offer on the first one, and in escrow. Initial deposit posted. Doing our due dilligence (inspections), the seller did not allow the inspectors on the premises. We tried to inform her we could not remove our contingencies if we cannot complete the inspections. The seller, without explanation,  then simply withdrew the listing. She simply stated: I am not selling my property anymore. The listing agent did nothing.

On the second property, we had opened escrow, and during the inspection period, we found a whole bunch of "unapproved by city inspector issues". We tried to have the issues "negotiated" but the seller withdrew their listing as we could not come to an agreement.

On the third property, the seller was not willing, after opening escrow with an accepted offer, to show all units and the storage spaces. The owner also refused to give the income and expenses statements. When I  kept asking for it, the seller withdrew their listing. The listing agent did nothing.

And then lastly, we had an accetped offer, did our viewing of the units, found some small issues, and since we had to write the offer contingenct upon viewing the untis, renogatioted/countered on the price. While in negotiations, the seller withdrew their listing. Listing agent did nothing.

So what can we learn from this? Be very very careful with writing offers on properties contingent upon viewing the units. The seller is mostly trying to hide something. And the listing agent does not seem to be able or willing to "assist" the seller in doing the right thing either, and are not willing to tell you exactly what took place. 

I still have my buyer, and we are still looking for a good properrty. They could have filed a law suit 3 times, (as we had an accepted offer and opened escrow) but they are too nice to go that route.

Antoine

Show All Comments Sort:
Raiza Schwartz
West USA Realty - Ahwatukee, AZ
CDPE

That's horrible, but not surprising.  I always call the agent prior to writing a contract to find out as much information as possible; just in case I see a red flag.

Mar 31, 2011 01:02 PM
Gary Coles (Coaching)
Venture Realty International - Las Vegas, NV
Latin America Real Estate

Antoine, Your Buyer is lucky to have you to look out for his interests.  Keep up the professional work.

Mar 31, 2011 01:22 PM
Matt Grohe
RE/MAX Concepts - Des Moines, IA
Serving the metro since 2003

Antoine: That's got to be really frustrating. What are the odds of that happening so many times in a row?

Mar 31, 2011 04:21 PM
Antoine Pirson
Caldecott Properties - Oakland, CA
When integrity is important to you too

Thank you for your comments and feedback. Much appreciated.

You would think that a seller who lists with an agent is willing to sell no? Not always as I found out. And perhaps the listing agent did not find out enough about the seller situations either?

Thanks 

Apr 01, 2011 06:51 AM
Elisa Uribe Realtor #01427070
Golden Gate Sotheby's International - Berkeley, CA
Opening the Doors to California Homes -East Bay

So...did they finally find another property and you were able to close the deal? Or are they still looking. I'll look for the answer in your next post:) Happy Holiday Weekend!

May 27, 2011 06:47 PM