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September 22, 2009
Worst Broker Experience Ever
Wondering if I have any recourse for dealing with what happened in a recent home purchase. We were dealing with the owner of RE company who was helping us - the buyers I'll call him Agent A. One of his associates was the listing agent on this property - I'll call him Agent B.
We scheduled an appointment to see the property with Agent A, he showed up 30 minutes late. We scheduled a second viewing of the property with A and he was 25 minutes late. We told him at the end of the walk-thru that we wanted to make an offer and what we were offering. He told us he thought there was maybe another offer coming in but he would ask Agent B and call or text us back within the hour and he would also send over the offer form late that evening. He did neither. I called Agent A the following day asking when he was going to send over the offering paperwork so we could our offer in and he said he would send it by noon. He still did not send it. I called him again at 2:00 pm and left him a rather terse message. We finally got the offering paperwork by about 9:00 pm - almost 24 hours after we were expecting it. We filled it out, sent it back and he did not present our offer to the sellers for 3 days. Ironically, the same day as Agent B brought another offer to the sellers for more than what we offered but they ended up not having the financing. We asked Agent A to send over the signed counter and we would sign and send it back - that took 2 days and about 5 phone calls on our part to actually receive the paperwork. We spoke with the agent over the phone about the timing of the paperwork and he said that there was no one else interested in the property and that they would change the status on their website to pending sale. We had an appointment to sign the paperwork with the broker this morning and he called us last night to say that out of the blue, another offer came in for over the asking price and the owners would go with this offer unless we offered more money. Agent A said that this new interested party emailed Agent B on Thursday evening with the offer without speaking with Agent B before doing so. Who, in this market, offers over the asking price? Obviously, Agent A, dragged his feet and did not inform us of the other offer coming because he wanted more money for the property. Since he owns the company, he's going to get a kick back from the sale anyway.
Sorry for the long description but am I able to file a complaint anywhere about this so he doesn't do this to someone else? If so, where?
Comments
You could file a complaint with REBNY (The Real Estate Board of NY), if the broker's a member, but many Brooklyn brokerages are not because they loath sharing commissions.
I'm also not sure the broker, who is actually the seller's agent, technically broke the law. Remember, his job is to get the seller the highest price possible, and sometimes foot dragging helps achieve that objective. He's not your representative, he's the seller's.
It does sound like the guy was slimy, but that's par for the course with small Brooklyn brokerages.
Posted by: IronBalls at September 21, 2009 5:46 PM
Super slimy - I thought that the buyer's broker had an obligation to get our offer to the owners within a certain period of time. I feel so taken advantage of. I love the the owner of the company/buyer's broker told us that they had no idea the offer was coming in, it just showed up in the seller's agent's email - and for over the asking price. Obviously, this other party was coached. I can't stand being lied to.
Posted by: StuyHtshome at September 21, 2009 5:54 PM
1. It seems unlikely that Agent A was your broker. The same firm could not be both your agent and that of the seller. Both were agents of the seller and as such were getting the best possible offers for the seller, even if it meant jerking you around. No legal obligations on anyone's part until contract is signed.
2. Let it go. The broker is important - it is the house which you care about. Either up your offer if you believe there really is another offer and you want the house or tell broker you've given best and final offer. You always have to be prepared to walk away.
3. Are you sure you aren't offering too much? Sounds like you are close to asking price.
Posted by: Putnamdenizen at September 21, 2009 9:09 PM
First off this firm may not be a REBNY member so you may have to file any complaint with the department of state. Second all ALL BROKERS regardless of who they represent have an ethical and legal obligation to submit all reasonable offers to a seller. A firm can, ahem, represent both a buyer and seller, if they are both seperate agents, if not the likes of Corcoran would be out of business. I would express your disappointment tot he owner and move on.
Posted by: Crownlfc at September 21, 2009 10:09 PM
Sucks the same thing happened to me with Remax. Move on but keep an eye on the property you never know.
The next offer you make be firm with the agent, and send your offer via email. You should mention your past experience and indicate that REBNY was notified.
Posted by: jack slade at September 21, 2009 10:10 PM
Illegal, no. Slimy, yes. Tell us the broker's name.
Walk away from the deal. If they come back to you come in at a lower offer than the first. That last scenario sounds highly doubtful.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 22, 2009 8:08 AM
you owe it to yourself and us to name the broker so that their name gets sullied. else they will not have learned their lesson.
Posted by: ltjbukem73 at September 22, 2009 9:36 AM
OP here - my husband says its bad karma for me to actually name him here but here's a clue - when you go to his website, call his cell phone or office, all of the recordings say "Thank you for calling (blank) Realty, where the BEST experience in real estate starts now." Oh, the irony.
I think we are just going to move on and look for something else at this point - on principal alone, we won't up our offer. It was so disappointing because it took us one year to find a place where we liked both the block and the house.
Thank you everyone. I do feel better.
Posted by: StuyHtshome at September 22, 2009 10:24 AM
Stuy...it would be a real service to point out what people may be in for with a slimy broker like that.
If they come back to you because the other "offers" have fallen through play real hard ball.
AND, at that point find a way to tell the seller what has been going on. Even if you need to slip something in their mailbox.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 22, 2009 10:48 AM
The same thing has happened to us twice this summer. We already have had the contract and then another contract goes out to the new higher bidder. Both houses are still for sale since the other higher bidder never signed the contract. Then the sellers have come crying back to us. We had already moved on from both houses. We don't understand why the sellers would take such a gamble. We even told the sellers of the second house that we would walk away if they considered another offer after accepting ours. I'm not sure if it's the sellers who are doing this on their own or if it is the real estate brokers who are making this mess.It seems to be the brokers. It's so hard to actually buy a house now. Hoepfully we will finally get a signed contract now with our 3rd contract.
Posted by: VHR at September 22, 2009 11:06 AM
I know - it's Mike Corley. He's a total dirt ball. The guy works on his own schedule and expects you to deal with it. Amazed he's still in business the way he works. Hopefully this will discourage people from working with him or anyone else in his firm.
Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 22, 2009 11:12 AM
There are definitiely a lot of fly-by-night brokers out there, and, unfortunately, NY is really the wild wild west as far as RE practices are concerned. I have two suggestions: 1. Always deal with a REBNY-member firm (all of the big agencies are REBNY and many of the smaller ones too -- check to be sure). That way you will have an additional recourse for your complaints if things go wrong. Supposedly, REBNY members are held to a higher standard than others -- not saying things don't ever go wrong, but at least you have some protection. Unfortunately, the smaller, non-REBNY agencies are more present in less expensive neighborhoods. 2. When you do make an offer, say that it expires within 24 or 48 hours -- that way if they don't get back to you, you'll know there's a problem and won't waste time worrying about getting an answer.
But again, the listing agency (not just the listing broker) works for the seller, so neither A nor B was working for you. The only way to do this would be to go with an agent of one company to see the listing of another.
Finally, you may consider yourself lucky -- who knows what other horrors would have arisen on the road to closing. Good luck with your search.
Posted by: babs at September 22, 2009 11:15 AM
sorry you got jerked around, but I really don't see how that ranks up there with slimy broker behavior, not by brooklyn standards at least. They didn't even tell you any material lies. Showing up late is just lazy and inconsiderate, not really slimy. it was just a stall tactic, to try to get the best bid, and it looks like the buyer was real and it worked. I'd pretty much expect him to do that if I were selling a place.
Slimy is lying about what school district a building is in, or what kind of construction is coming in in the lot next door, or covering up info about the condition of the coop or the building, or lying about the percent sold in a condo, or talking up amenities that really don't have a chance of coming in, like water taxis.
JTB Slime Score: 2.5 out of a possible 10.
Posted by: joe_the_bummer at September 22, 2009 11:17 AM
OP here - would you believe that we just got a call saying that this other deal fell through and now they want us to sign the offer? What to do.
JTB - I love your slime scale - very funny.
Posted by: StuyHtshome at September 22, 2009 11:23 AM
VHR - that's awful. I'm so sorry to hear that you've gone through the same thing as we have.
How did you respond when the other deal fell through and they called you back?
Posted by: StuyHtshome at September 22, 2009 11:25 AM
Actually, that kind of behaviour is slimy -- the others are just plain illegal, if the agent has any knowledge of these things. And, in terms of schools districts, you should always check with the Department of Education to verify the school district, as the boundaries have been known to change: http://maps.nycboe.net/.
Posted by: babs at September 22, 2009 11:25 AM
Ooh, wow -- well, keep your mind on the ultimate goal -- if you really love the house and don't think you'll find anything similar any time soon, I'd say go for it, but make sure you have a very good lawyer.
Posted by: babs at September 22, 2009 11:27 AM
We have the BEST lawyer, ever. I'm convinced. My husband says we should do it, I want to walk because it pains me to think of this guy making a penny on the deal and I basically loathe him at this point.
Posted by: StuyHtshome at September 22, 2009 11:32 AM
For comparison, I would give a 7.0 to something a broker told me a couple of years ago. I was bidding on a 5th floor apartment across a narrow street from a parking lot. Of course I asked if there were building plans for the lot. He admitted that there were plans for a 4 story building, but he only knew that because someone he worked with knew the developer, and the plans weren't public. So I checked the landmarks committee and found that a NINE story project was in the approval stage for the lot. When I confronted the broker, he admitted that there was a plan submitted for a 7 story building (plus a 2 story penthouse) and insisted that it had been rejected, and that the new plan called for...5 stories. So I called the landmarks committee and found that the hearing wouldn't be for another month, and that a 9 story plan had been submitted. Again I confronted the broker, a BUYER BROKER, and he actually congratulated me on my research, and had these comforting words: "don't worry about losing your sunlight, the building will be made of glass".
Posted by: joe_the_bummer at September 22, 2009 11:34 AM
I certainly do not agree with REBNY membership as the solution. The solution is working with a broker who has real broker/business experience; a broker who understands the concept of offer and acceptance; a broker who can "work outside" the box; a broker who will respond to your questions and anxieties promptly and substantively; a broker who will find the answer to the best of her/his ability; a broker who has a business or legal background above and beyond simply being a broker; and remember, I said a BROKER, not a sales agent or other type of other assistant. The accountability is greatly enhanced when working with a bona fide liecensed broker (the person). Not a licensed brokerage (the business) The above should be helpful when considering a broker - NOT REBNY membership. REBNY is a real estate trade group mistaken for a legislative body. Many large REBNY member brokerages simply have inexperienced neophyte sales agents running around and making many mistakes. A good broker should quickly impart upon the buyer/seller a solid basis for his/her knowledge of real estate. Remember, NON-REBNY members who are honorable and knowedgable can problem solve with their clients and do not have to adhere to REBNY "mandates" as far as commissions are concerned. For example, I can represent a seller on a building for 4%, or less in some cases. REBNY does not want to lower the commission standard below 5%. Think about the above in totality when making real estate decisions.
Posted by: foulplay at September 22, 2009 11:37 AM
If you fax and email your offer, they can't ignore it. You don't have to wait for them to send you an offer form.
It's always bad when an agent seems to be playing different buyers off each other to get a higher price. But this doesn't seem all that bad in the grand scheme of things. But you have to stick to your guns. You can't let their wavering affect you.
Corley has struck me as actually one of the agencies with the most integrity I have dealt with. However, we ended up having to pay the transfer tax on the property we bought, apparently because someone at Corley accidentally misrepresented our offer to the seller. So that was pretty major.
Posted by: mopar at September 22, 2009 11:37 AM
OP!! missed your last post! That's great news! So it's possible they made up the other bidder to get you to move up. Absolutely play hardball! Drop your bid 10% and tell them you are still trying to decide between this and another place. Thanks for the story, this is great info. let us know if you get the place.
Posted by: joe_the_bummer at September 22, 2009 11:39 AM
Stuy--We looked at the first house again with our contractor/friend who said to run away fast because the renovation the owners had done was awful. So that was easy to walk from. The second house they just called us back last week. It had been a month since they had accepted our offer. In the meantime we had moved on and we told them that. I think we decided it was meant to be not to have those houses. If we did go back to the second house, we would certainly not give them the same price we had originally agreed on. Good luck with whatever you choose. It's so crazy out there. I want to buy a house we can stay in forever since I don't want to do this again!
Posted by: VHR at September 22, 2009 11:39 AM
I certainly do not agree with REBNY membership as the solution. The solution is working with a broker who has real broker/business experience; a broker who understands the concept of offer and acceptance; a broker who can "work outside" the box; a broker who will respond to your questions and anxieties promptly and substantively; a broker who will find the answer to the best of her/his ability; a broker who has a business or legal background above and beyond simply being a broker; and remember, I said a BROKER, not a sales agent or other type of other assistant. The accountability is greatly enhanced when working with a bona fide liecensed broker (the person). Not a licensed brokerage (the business) The above should be helpful when considering a broker - NOT REBNY membership. REBNY is a real estate trade group mistaken for a legislative body. Many large REBNY member brokerages simply have inexperienced neophyte sales agents running around and making many mistakes. A good broker should quickly impart upon the buyer/seller a solid basis for his/her knowledge of real estate. Remember, NON-REBNY members who are honorable and knowedgable can problem solve with their clients and do not have to adhere to REBNY "mandates" as far as commissions are concerned. For example, I can represent a seller on a building for 4%, or less in some cases. REBNY does not want to lower the commission standard below 5%. Think about the above in totality when making real estate decisions.
Posted by: foulplay at September 22, 2009 11:39 AM
I can understand your antipathy towards this person, but if you're sure of your lawyer and you're sure of the house (BTW, PLEASE don't sign a contract before you've had a THOROUGH home inspection, and not by someone suggested by this broker), it will all be worth it in the end. Good luck! And, joe, what that agent should have said was exactly what you wre told by landmarks -- unfortunately many don't do their homework and don't want to say, "I don't know, but I'll find out," so they make something up.
Posted by: babs at September 22, 2009 11:45 AM
Come in low, Stuy. Make sure you bring all these shananagins to the seller as well. This broker is slime and is not working in the best interest of his client, the seller.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 22, 2009 11:51 AM
Your pool of available properties to look at will be much restricted if you use a non-REBNY broker exclusively as they do not co-broke. REBNY brokers are REQUIRED to share all of their exclusive listings with ALL other REBNY-member firms -- so, for example, a Halstead agent can show you listings of Corcoran, Prudential Douglas Elliman, Brown Harris Stevens, etc., etc. Check out REBNY's website for a partial list of members: http://www.rebny.com/members_websites_residential.jsp
Yes, many sellers fall for the "I can charge a lower commission," line, but in the end, you get what you pay for -- at the lower commission you also get a much smaller buyer pool looking at your properties, very often a much reduced marketing and web presence (check out the websites of some of these smaller firms -- they really are pathetic), and in the end, a property that takes longer to sell and goes at a lower price.
As a buyer, you may wish to do both -- work with a REBNY broker as your main broker, but check out the smaller ones as well on your own, knowing that you won't be represented and preparing for a rough ride to closing, but knowing you may stumble upon the perfect home for you.
Posted by: babs at September 22, 2009 11:57 AM
on public shame:
There are some libel suits coming up agaisnt bloggers, where a plaintiff can show that his business was harmed by something defamatory that a blogger said. I don't know how that applies to anonymous commenters, but before outing this guy I would look into it. Any legal experts out there?
Posted by: joe_the_bummer at September 22, 2009 12:23 PM
If you are dealing with a professional broker (the person) who is NON REBNY it should not matter. Make sure you broker co-brokes as a rule. Have them sign a document indicating the same. It is no different with REBNY members. Many REBNY members claim that they co-broker, but we all know that their self serving interests always prevail. Remember, most of the larger firms have inexperienced sales agents. If the problem has already transpired with such REBNY member agent, what good is REBNY after the fact. As far as advertising is concerned, in this modern day and age, there are more then enough electronic vehicles available to promote a property. It is how the broker works for you after the market penetration has occurred. If a good broker is doing her/his job, the property will be advertised to all brokerages, including REBNY members. The broker's job is to protect the deal for the client and use strategies with the client. I deal with building that usually have a more complex aspect concerning tenancies and income flow. There are only so many buyers out there for such properties. The broker is only causing dteriment to their listing and client if they do not co-broker. Remember, "sharing listings" is not really co-brokering. Co-brokering is splitting the commission at the closing
Posted by: foulplay at September 22, 2009 12:25 PM
REBNY members are required to both share their listings and co-broke (50/50 commision split) with other REBNY members. Non-member firms are not and usually do not (even though they will often say they do). I have attended (or tried to attend) open houses held by non-REBNY firms, only to be refused admission; at one, the listing broker actually physically threatened me, shouting, "This is my exclusive! Do you undertand whan an exclusive means? Now get off this property before I have to make you!"
No thanks; I'd prefer to deal with someone who is accountable to someone other than merely the DoS (and, yes, complaining to REBNY does have an effect).
Posted by: babs at September 22, 2009 12:33 PM
JTB - if what you say is true, then Alphono Gill must be a gazillionaire.
Posted by: StuyHtshome at September 22, 2009 12:51 PM
Babs, if you were treated by such non REBNY broker in such a horrible way, perhaps you might be under a moral and industry obligation to contact the Owner of such property and let him/her know the facts about the conduct at the open house. I certainly would do this. This eliminated a potential party to a transaction. At least this would leave room for owner investigation to ferret out the actual problem. This goes for REBNY and non-REBNY members. By no means should REBNY membership be the immediate indicator of good faith dealings. Brokers should really be industry watchdogs for one another. If a non-REBNY broker is meeting his/her ethical/moral/legal duty to their respective client(s) and to the industry, there should be nothing to worry about at all and one should sleep well at night. You should not be afraid to "out" whoever treated you in such a way. You would be doing the industry a sound service.
Posted by: foulplay at September 22, 2009 12:56 PM
OP--
I know it's a minor consolation but once you have an accepted offer, the broker will be pretty much out of the picture except to arrange access for an inspection. Once in contract, the real work is btwn the attys. So at least you won't need to deal too much with this slimeball.
Posted by: tinarina at September 22, 2009 12:56 PM
Oh my gosh, Babs. That's disgusting. Did you put him/her on blast on brownstoner?
Posted by: StuyHtshome at September 22, 2009 12:57 PM
Tinarina - that's what my husband keeps telling me.
Posted by: StuyHtshome at September 22, 2009 1:00 PM
go for it! must be great feeling. Corley's lazy ass is probbly reading this right now.
Posted by: jack slade at September 22, 2009 1:19 PM
I'm not in the Real Estate business, but if I felt my broker was not communicating my offer in a timely fashion, I would let the seller know. Of course, I would include all sorts of disclaimers about how I was not trying to circumvent the relationship between seller and broker. I would think the seller would want to know if the broker was behaving in a fashion that could jeopardize the sale of his/her property.
Posted by: anon552 at September 22, 2009 2:18 PM
Actually, as a licensed real estate broker, I am not allowed to contact the owner of a property under exclusive to another broker, so that was not an option. As the firm is not a REBNY member, my only recourse was to call that agent's managing broker directly, which I did, with the predictable response of, "That's what you say; my agent tells me a different story," so no hope there, and the other alternative is the DoS, which, actually pays much less attention to complaints from within the industry than from without, so nothing doing there either. It's a shame that so many sellers fall for these two-bit brokers' lines about charging a lower commission, etc. -- kind of like the unscrupulous mortgage brokers -- preying primarily on less-sophisticated owners.
Posted by: babs at September 22, 2009 2:57 PM
Babs, your statement about "two bit brokers" and so on is a gross generalization of the industry and insulting to many involved. I am sure there are many sound and prudent methods for conveying your situation to the owner represented by this difficult broker. I believe the statute makes public policy exeptions, if even applicable and hopefully the same for REBNY rules; again, I believe it is an industry duty to protect against bad broker behavior and poor representation. You would rather spew your generalizatios about non-REBNY brokers instead of taking the proactive measure of protecting your own industry. By your inaction, you as a real estate broker, left another prospective buyer, broker to the exposure of your own horrible circumstance. This is how you protect your business and perhaps property?
Posted by: foulplay at September 22, 2009 3:33 PM
Actually, the buyers who were with me at this incident were more upset about it than I was and later purchased a (more expensive) property through me, co-broking with another REBNY broker, so my business was very well-protected, thanks to the unprofessional actions of the seller's broker.
But this thread was not originally about the difference between REBNY and non-REBNY brokers, although I can't understand why any good, experienced, and knowledgeable broker would NOT be a REBNY member. You, foulplay, obviously believe otherwise and nothing I say or do will change your mind. Nor do I care to -- the market will take care of that just fine. Good luck to you.
Posted by: babs at September 22, 2009 3:48 PM
As a member of REBNY, I can assure you – belonging to that trade group is no guarantee of ethical behavior. There are many, small Non-REBNY brokers that are both professional and ethical. Brokers are like any other trade: Contractors, nannies, mechanics, doctors etc. It comes down to the individual.
Posted by: Crownlfc at September 22, 2009 4:00 PM
Because any "good, experienced and knowledgable broker" quite frankly should NOT have to become a REBNY member. I would love an explanation. The market indeed does take care of itself. A good broker is a good broker regardless of the existence of REBNY. Why is every broker, agent, etc. of a large brokerage house obligatd to become a REBNY member? Perhaps, the named managing broker for each office might make sense; but every agent? That sounds like many memberships and a great deal of expense. The public should flesh out the bad brokers and sales agents; not the "false" protection of REBNY. Your conduct and professionalism as a broker should validate your ability in the industry - not REBNY. The reputation is what carries the day, NOT a symbolic membership.
Posted by: foulplay at September 22, 2009 4:12 PM
I completely agree with both foulplay and Crownlfc. Of course there are very reputable, professional non-REBNY brokers that provide terrific service, get great prices for their clients and cobroke all day long. There has always been this tug back and forth between REBNY and non-REBNY offices, but to not even acknowledge that there is value in a non-REBNY broker, shows an inability to be objective and therefore, is not very credible advice.
Posted by: broker at September 22, 2009 4:13 PM
Crownlfc, based on your last note and as an actual member of REBNY, the bloggers, especially Babs, might some pay attention.
Posted by: foulplay at September 22, 2009 4:20 PM
To joe the bummer re: libel--To be exposed to a suit for libel or slander, the basic premise is that the accusation(s)is/are FALSE so if the O/P is stating the story accurately, then there is nothing to worry about. Obviously the O/P should be prepared to document the claim(s).
Posted by: Hank at September 22, 2009 4:30 PM
libel is the untruthful posting about anybody. You can get the name and email address of an anonymous poster through legal means. Remember google or yahoo had to give the name recently in a case and they have been sued by the blogger-the suer will lose IMO-.
Since brokers tend to sue a lot, its also likely they will sue for what they think is libel.
There are two types of libel per se and libel that caused injury. libel per se is when you say someone is a crook or things like that say they do illegal things. The other libel is when you say someone is a bad person and that causes them actual monetary damages. The person suing in the latter case has to prove actual damages. You don't have to prove damages to be able to sue for libel per se(but it helps with getting an award of damages) but you are also entitled to punitive damages not based on actual loses.
Finally truth is a defense but the defendant has the burden to prove the truth of what they said.
Remember there are some exceptions to this as an example when the person is a public figure(absent malice you can say almost anything you want about a public figure)or what you say in court or in court papers...
Posted by: smeyer418 at September 22, 2009 4:36 PM
stuyhts - as far as i know a buyers broker is really, at the end of the day, working for the seller. whoever is paying the bill is the one any broker involved in the transaction needs to appease to get PAID. in the case of such co-called buyers' brokers, there is really no such thing, unless you are paying them a cash fee out of pocket upfront. if not, and you are revealing ANYTHING to a so called "sellers' broker", especially how much you like or want a place, and what is your maximum price, you are completely working against yourself. trust no one. assume the worst. its real estate.
Posted by: invisible at September 22, 2009 7:16 PM
Do you really beleive there is another offer? Walk away.
Posted by: lechacal at September 22, 2009 8:34 PM
earlier this year, my wife and i put a reasonable offer in on a place that had been on the market for a while. as the sellers had alreay moved and were in a hurry to sell, they accepted the offer. a day later i got a call from the broker saying that someone else had offered 50k more (which would have put the offer well over the original asking price). we figured it was an attempt to make us bid up, and held firm at our offering price. sure enough, the broker called a day or so later to say that the higher offer had "fallen through." i have to think it's a common practice in the industry, and it probably works some of the time.
Posted by: NsPx at September 23, 2009 12:28 AM
Ah, BedStuyTownhouse,
I happen to know who you are. And it's funny how you only tell the story that gains affinity with avid posters here at Brownstoner.com.
Did you mention how low your offer was? Did you mention how long you took in making the initial offer? Did you mention how a real estate broker accommodated your unreasonable request to show you the home at 9am on a Saturday Morning because you had a busy work week ahead of you and other medical appointments that day?
Or did you think because you didn't get your way in the matter and assumed that the broker was lying about the property being shown, that it was ok to come to a public forum and trash their business reputation and integrity.
Any broker commenting here knows that Article 12a of the Real Property Law of New York State outlines the 3 conditions by which we're to confer the public when it comes to presenting offers.
Did you mention the suspicious pre-qualification you presented in your initial offer from a long island mortgage broker with a sketchy background.
You folks have to get it at some point and perhaps listen to MOPAR in her remarks.
I've had respectable, full disclosure dealings with MOPAR. Our client made that sale difficult.
Maybe you should ask your attorney what rights you truly have and see if they've been violated in this experience.
How you feel an experience has gone for you does not qualify as someone being sleazy and unprofessional.
Every broker commenting, although from a REBNY experience, is also aware of the 6 fiduciary obligations we are required when we represent sellers.
The law makes it clear. Perhaps before you start ranting in this manner, you should acknowledge your responsibility for the experience you have.
NO ONE IS REQUIRED TO GIVE YOU A HOUSE JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BUY IT.
A home shopper will always have to satisfy the sellers expectation and I'm sure each broker commenting here will agree.
As for BedStuyTownhouse, I'll make my concerns known to you directly by phone on Friday, 9/25/09.
I hope you post the narrative of that discussion here at brownstoner.com as well.
Posted by: bkemcee at September 25, 2009 5:32 AM
And to StuyHtsHome,
I'm excited that you and your husband are still interested in the property.
Perhaps you might want to update the readers of this forum on the status of your purchase.
(including the incompetent brokers remarking who only specialize in selling apartments...and don't use the required Disclosure of Agency Relationship form by NYS Department of State in most of their transactions...in spite of the REBNY affiliation)
Of course, you have every right to walk away from your offer any time.
And you would avoid all the stress experienced if you only
FOLLOWED THE BROKERS INSTRUCTIONS...AND NOT WHAT YOU FELT YOU WANTED TO DO.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And from what I understand in MOPAR's experience, that agent was fired after failing to meet NYS Department of State.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kudos to Foul Play for giving a dose of reality to the REBNY endorsement.
Posted by: bkemcee at September 25, 2009 7:16 AM
Stuyhtshome
It seems that you may be confused about the buying process. The broker doesn’t work for you. He’s representing the seller and it’s his duty to get the most money for his client. How this makes him a super slimy agent is beyond me.
How is this any different from buyers making multiple offers on several properties in order to get the best deal out there? Aren't they looking out for their best interest?
Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. It sounds a bit immature that you believe that because you made an offer that no other bids will be made or accepted after that. I think it’s quite reckless that you are maligning a broker’s reputation based off the fact that someone made a higher bid than you. You should be careful about making liable statements on a blog just so you can feel better about a situation. It seems like the only “crime” he committed was being late for an appointment.
And while you’re considering filing a complaint about this broker, you might want to think about if he’s going to file a complaint against you.
Also food for thought: If and when you do purchase a home and decide to sell one day, I bet you will appreciate the broker that you hire working to get the best and highest offer for your property.
Posted by: bklynliving at September 25, 2009 10:05 AM
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