Several months back my family and I were looking to move out of our leased beach house in Deerfield Beach Florida. A wonderful Oceanside community just a mile from the beach into a newer developed town home community just up the street in Boca Raton.
Our initial meeting with our realtor was one of the largest breathes of fresh air I have experienced in a long while. He was punctual, on time, experienced, aware, present and knowledgeable on this specific community. I mentioned to him how relieving it was to find someone with such client focus and looked forward to this process.
I recall leaving the meeting planning to make our offer to the landlords agent and mentioning to my wife that the whole process of leasing through realtors is completely backwards since you typically dont meet the owner until you hand him his first rent check, totally unaware if the guy is a basket case or has his life together...
In the past we have always dealt directly with the owner and had an absolutely incredible experience.
As we progressed our offer and presented the landlord with a photo of our family (we feel it is crucially important to know who is moving into your home, just like we wanted to know whos home we are moving into), our private financials showing excellent income, our 800+ credit report and our ability to treat his home as if it were our own from several testimonials from previous landlords who's only downside they ever experienced with us was the day we told them we were moving out, we made an offer for $100 less than he was asking for lease (due to be on the market for longer than it should have (RED FLAG) and in light of our good credit to waive the last months rent. We also requested the unit be professionally cleaned and that several items be tidied up prior to move in. These items included several burned out bulbs, the tightening of faucets, toilet seats, towel holders and just a host of small items that any landlord with a screwdriver could perform on a Saturday morning with a coffee.
We moved forward to settle at $50 off with him waiving our last month.
We set the move in date and were told we would meet two days prior to to meet the owner, exchange keys and sign the final lease.
So two days before move in, with most of our life in boxes, utilities canceled, our sons school transfer paperwork underway, we stepped foot into our new world to meet the lord of the land and shake hands for the first time.
This is where the system failed me.
We were told by the landlords agent that we were doing a "walk through" in place of an move in check list and that any future items would be directed toward the owner to remedy. I argued this from the moment it was mentioned and asked what we would do in the event of items that were defaulted and the only reply was that now was basically the time to bring that up. This was new to me as I had always used a move in checklist to highlight the unsatisfactory items.
Upon walking through it seemed as if the unit was in worse condition than before. Likely because now we were testing the items we would soon come to use on a daily basis.
As the owner and agents stood around the kitchen talking real estate, my wife and I were building and ever growing list of items that were outstanding that although livable, should be resolved by any respectable owner. Keep in mind, we are in Boca Raton Florida, not some slum where landlords dont respect their property. As the time rolled on we could feel every one was growing impatient with our time going over such minor details.
We eventually made our way to the kitchen and began discussing several outstanding items at which point the landlord could barely make eye contact and say "this is the condition we are delivering the unit and that's how it will be".
Now I am not a petty person and have ever contacted a landlord EVER for anything less than the AC going out or roof leaking (at which I patched the leaked and just needed to confirm with him). I take care of just about all items without ever bothering my landlord and simply just make a note of the time and expense in case it ever comes up in the future.
So here we are two days prior to move in and the landlord indirectly tells us that we are basically not respected enough to handle these items and we can basically either cower down and accept or don't.
I discuss with my wife and we determine we have come to far to make a change now and this too shall pass.
As we move in, we really begin to take notice of even more unresolved issues and one the main one is there are serious electrical issues inside the home. After replacing 17 of the lightbulbs we determine that there are receptacles that are not functional and pose a serious hazard to someone walking down in complete darkness. Aside from complete rooms being shut down and needing constant switch box resetting, several rooms simply don't have electrical.
We address this during our move in weekend and hear nothing back from him or his realtor. We cc'ed our realtor who kindly replied back and recommended they address this. At this point I feel that realtors have done their part and it is between us and the landlord although I am accepting our realtor is continuing to step up.
We continue to send another email highlighting several items with the property and get no response.
Five days later we receive a call from our realtor stating the other realtor called and the landlords recommendation is that we just move out and can sue him for costs associated with the whole inconvenience.
The situation continued to get ugly and as bad as I wanted to just not pay rent and enjoy the next 90 days of free living while we looked for a unit a few doors down, I would never bring myself to give someone a dose of their own medicine at the cost of my clean conscious.
It is my conclusion that had we not been withheld from meeting the landlord first and determined his character that this situation would have never evolved into this. His charecter would have stood out and we would have simply moved in. I respect the roles Realtors play however it is completely backwards to have representation stand in front of the relationship that will soon be removed and leave tenant/landlord standing toe to toe to figure out what moral charecter really resides.
I truly tried to understand the mindset behind a situation where income is coming in And the fastest remedy to resolve the situation is to recommend we move out.
Unfortunately what is often someone else's liability often becomes our loss. That has become a widespread problem for the world today is that people have been allowed to be absolved of their duty and it comes at the cost of the other party involved.
Even worse is when you are the person on the front end doing diligence and the raised eyebrows are all around making you feel as if you are wrong about being sure you are protected.
As a fellow real estate professional, I have always opted to take the short end of many sticks. It costs me a lot of money at times. It makes me feel as if I am walked all over. However, I sleep easy at night knowing that I have done what is right.
It is my wish that others read this article and share their experiences to make a change in the world around them to be a part of the 3% that actually care.
As it goes, he who cares the most...loses although I consider a good night sleep one of the best wins in the world.
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