Waterfront Dream Turns to Nightmare

[Dutch]

Another post in the hopefully ending saga of our waterfront dream.

 

The house inspection of the only 4 year-old waterfront home my wife and I were to buy did not go well. Apparently "contracting out" means built by owner with no clue. Everything the home owner seemed to touch was done incorrectly. The HRV unit was circulating air within the home, plumbing vents below traps, leaking showers, water coming in the foundation, water coming in around patio doors, windows not closing as they are not in square, joists not riding on beams, joists not attached to beams, jackposts holding said beams not secured to beams. We wanted to live on the water, not in water. No final occupancy permit obtained from the township (good call Irishfield), no tape/mud on drywall joints in the garage (I hope they weren't running the car in there). Wind howling through light switches and plugs. And this was only a partial list. What about the things in the walls we couldn't see?

 

Everything fixable - but at what cost? Time and money. We backed out of the deal. We had to.

 

Yet another twist - our agent advised against putting a condition on the sale of our home that would stop it's sale should we not buy the other property (apparently a quite common condition, but not according to our guy). We had the final say, but he is the pro - we being young and not experienced in selling our first home, take his advice.

 

The house we spent 4 years upgrading and painting every room, that sold in 4 hours, that we only listed to move to the lake (into that other house) was sold. I was angry and felt cheated - why you ask? The agent was representing both the buyers of our house and us as the sellers. Why did he advise against putting in that clause? Because he wanted his buyers to have this house so he got both commissions, that is our opinion. He said he represented us fairly - I said you're fired - and we are homeless in 6 weeks. Do you really think you were looking out for our best interests? I'm sure he will miss the commission his brokerage is refunding to us.

 

With our waterfront dream dead, there was nothing else on the market that fit our taste and budget, we started looking in town, something we said we would never do. Why move from a house we spent so much time on to another more expensive home in the city? Keep in mind we had a July 20 close - pretty tight timeline to find another place.

 

We found a gorgeous home that we both love in the west end of Peterborough. The inspection on it was today - flawless. It has a pool and a cabana/built-in bar in the backyard and we were able to get our close date as well. In the end it all worked out after a lot of stress and sleepless nights. Maybe we will be on the water for the next house.

 

The games from the real estate agents continued until yesterday when our deposit was finally released to us. The entire story is too big for here, but it would make your head spin. Real estate agents are all sheisters and crooks as far as I am concerned, there may be some good ones out there, but none of them work for this brokerage. My next sale, I am doing myself.

 

Watch out for yourselves as your agent isn't doing it.

Edited June 14, 2007 by Dutch

[muskymatt]

Edited June 15, 2007 by muskymatt

[Gerritt]

Well... I am kinda torn here... Do I think Agents are screwed in the head?? I do.. they look out for only their best interests. They get paid to spin the truth..They can smile while stealing candy from your baby I kind you not.... Been there done that.. but my agent was awesome! as my family has known his family since the dawn of time I think...

 

Dutch.. While it sucks your dream of being on the water did not work out for you... perhaps it is for the best... thank god you got that inspection!!!

 

Good luck in your new home.. be happy you have a roof over your head and are not in a hotel etc.

 

in the end someway some how... things always work out for the best!

 

Good Luck in your move...

 

Gerritt.

 

PS.. and no.. the cap doesnt come off my truck! LOL

[ccmtcanada]

Aww man...I HATE stories like this. Buying a home is such a huge thing for people. I can only imagine the let down after thinking you found your dream house. Things do work out in the end...and at least you found all those things before the purchase instead of moving in and then finding out.

 

Being taken by the agent as well...that's awful...but as I said before....things work out in the end and he'll get his one day!

[Daplumma]

I do a lot of work for property management companies and on occasion I have to work with agents that are selling rental or investment properties.Most are snkaes that are trying to get the deal done quickly without reguard for what is right for the customer.There are a very few who have built up a business thru referalls and word of mouth that do a good job.They are not the norm and most are old school,not the housewife turned agent during the big real estate boom.I'm glad you got out of the contract and found what you can live with but its a shame that you had to sell you place that you worked so hard on.Too bad your agent was a snake.I know there are some agents on the board here,might want to call one of them next time.

Joe

[Greencoachdog]

We call that the "King Midas" touch in reverse (everything he touched turned to she-yit instead of gold)... and why do you think this house was up for sale eh?

[lunkerbasshunter]

sorry about your problems. you knwo what they say? if its not meant to be? maybe its a blessing in the long run.

 

Hope it works out for you!

 

Cheers!

[pigeonfisher]

That sucks.

 

not all agents are bad though...I guess

[motv8tr]

Sorry to har things did not work out, but at least you found all that out before closing the deal. As for dnot being on the water...hopefully that's a temporary thing, but hey, at least you have water .... in the pool . As hard as it is, ya gotta look on the bright side of things.

 

Maureen

[keram]

The games from the real estate agents continued until yesterday when our deposit was finally released to us. The entire story is too big for here, but it would make your head spin. Real estate agents are all sheisters and crooks as far as I am concerned, there may be some good ones out there, but none of them work for this brokerage.

 

I'm not sure about it 100% ( heard a conversation ), but if you want, you can file the complain with the Real Estate Licensing Board (not sure about the name). On the other hand ( if you want to deal with another agent) I think you can ask Real Estate Board, whether there are any complains ( on paper ) against the agent.

[Jen]

I have to say I read the title of your report and immediately knew what I would find in the content. Thank goodness you had the inspection...yet I was dishearted to hear the story that followed.

 

Being a Realtor myself I am aware of all the clauses and content that should be in offers and it saddens me when I hear story after story of the client that has been misrepresented. Believe me when I say , not all agents are only in it for the money. I truly love my job, it is the only one I have found that allows me to see dreams coming true.

 

What comes around goes around, and eventually that will happen in this case as well.

 

Your new place sounds wonderful!

 

Hope everything goes smoothly for you from here on out.

 

Cheers,

 

Jen

Edited June 15, 2007 by Jen

[Beans]

Hey Dutch...

 

Whenever they get the 407 finished over to the 115 your home in the west end of P'Boro should turn out to be a good investment...maybe by then you will be able to buy a bigger and better waterfront property...

[Carp]

Sorry to hear about your negative experience with that agent/brokerage.

At least you found another place to move into that you like.

That home inspection saved you a lot of headaches and $$ down the road.

 

As a realtor myself, I've had situations where a person thinks they found

the perfect home, only to find out it's really a life long repair project, or at the very least,

they have to spend extra money to fix.

Having a construction, architecture & design background and experience in numerous trades, I can usually spot deficiencies

and point them out to my clients long before even thinking of drafting an offer.

It kills a few sales for me, but my honesty gains more respect from my clients.

As Jen mentioned, not all realtors are in it for the money.

I wanted a more flexible work schedule, so I switched from constructing homes and commercial/industrial properties to

selling them.

 

I wish you all the best with your new place.

Congrats!

[Dano]

Yea man, thats too bad, sorry to hear it. How do you tell if a real estate agent is lying? His/her lips are moving.... Sorry Jen, but thats been my experience too.

[Big Cliff]

Well, Dutch, first of all, take heart, you didn't get a house that would have been a money pit. Good thing you had a home inspection! Sue and I lost out on a few places when we were looking for a variety of reasons, in hindsight, I'm glad we did because this place turned out to be much better than any of the previous ones.

 

As for realestate agents, they are no different than anyone else, there are good and bad. The best thing you can do is do your home work before selecting one. Was this one refered to you by someone you knew and trusted? Just like choosing a mechanic, lawyer, or any other professional to help you, you should know what you are getting, just because they passed the test doesn't mean they are any good.

 

When we bought this place, our agent saved us thousands of dollars and took care many details for us. The agent we used to sell our other home in Milton also did a fantastic job by helping us determine a proper selling price, we ended up with two people bidding on our house and actually got more than what we expected and almost to the dollar of what she told us we would get. So, in my experience, choose well and you will do well!

 

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get your dream home but now you can take some time to look and make sure that the next time you do put in an offer you are getting exactly what you think you are getting. In the mean time, I'll bet that pool would make a good bass pond LOL!

[bigbuck]

It'll all work out in the end. I'm sorry that your realtor was a thief (good on him that he won't get paid-the dumb bugger-I'm being nice). It really bugs me when I hear things like this. Thankfully, you found another house quickly. A lot of people who don't have a clue of how to properly put together a real estate deal have jumped in and are now agents so they can take advantage of the red hot market. Most don't know their arse from their underwear and that's sad. I saw the same thing in my industry in the late 90's with the tech bubble and dot bombs. A lot of people jumped in who were totally unqualified and clueless and lost a lot of money for their unfortunate clientele. Honesty may not get you rich quick, but I'd rather be the tortoise than the hare.

[Whopper]

Dutch sorry to hear that your dream turned sour. Good thing you ordered an inspection, it did what is supposed to do, protected your interest.

 

Cliff you are bang on about agents "They are no different" than any other professional, I know I live with one (30years) and see the other side of the coin. Talking calls at all hours, days (even holidays) and inopportune times at the house. Having to play nursemaid to people that can't think for themselves, wearing the hat of financial advisor and lastly general contractor. The last is a pet peeve of mine, why do people that sell or buy their house expect and agent to become their personal repair consultant?, line up a roofer, plumber, electrician, carpenter and HVAC tech while selling or buying a house and even after the deal is done? and if some happens to the repairs that were done in the process god forbid that they call the people that performed them they have to call the realtor first!, then it becomes the agents problem once again for which they receive zero compensation for. The way I see it because agents are paid on a commission basis all most sellers and buyers just see that big amount that are paid out at closings and think that these people are making a killing well for one thing the company gets a cut then government gets theirs then the agent gets theirs then have to pay their expenses, yes some make pretty decent money but the good ones earn every penny of what the get and thrive in very competitive field.

Didn't really mean to rant here just an obsevation from the other side of the coin.

 

Good Luck in your new home!

 

Whopper

[Terry]

I have yet to deal with a Real Estate agent that wasn't trying to make the maximum money and close a deal at most any cost...

you tell them you want to put in a clause and they say you don't need to ..THEY talked to the registry office and it is not a problem...so as they are typing in the offer you tell them to put in writing that they Guarantee that they stated and do they get upset...so you say but you said to me you check with the office and can guarantee it so ..guarantee it.........boy do they change their story.............

 

so without breaking any laws they spin a good tale and tell you if you put in any clauses you will not get them to buy or sell.........they aren't breaking the law ..just your bank account.....

I'm sure there are some good ones out there..I just haven't met them....I believe in Santa Clause too

[tonyb]

Sorry to hear about your dream home falling through, but good thing you ran from that place!

 

Now I am not a R.E agent or anything but we are just goin through the process of buying and selling (with the same agent representing both buyer and seller properties)

 

As for the agent instructing you to not put a clause on sale of your home, that is common, from what I understand. The reason being (at least in the hot real estate market around here) is that you could potentially lose your offer on the home you desire. What I mean is let's say the lakefront property had 2 offers. 1 has condition on finance, home inspection and sale of buyers home. The other only has condition on finance and home inspection. As a seller, the choice is simple...go with the offer with less chance of it falling through (ie. buyers home not selling).

 

So...playing devils advocate, I can understand possible reasoning for your agent recommending this. However, I question the integrity of the agent from even getting invloved with the sellers in the first place when the property is in absolute shambles...

 

For you R.E. Agents...would you get involved with selling a house that is in such a bad state of repair, or is it 'a house is a house' mentality?

 

As for being homeless in 6 weeks...I believe that these wacky incidents that can drive you mental have an uncanny way of working themselves out for the better. Here's to hoping it all works out, and I think you'll get your dream property, this one just wasn't meant to be!

 

Tony

[Entropy]

My agent gave us $300 to get the septic tank pumped. Took instructions and lead from me. It was a good relationship. Heck he wanted me to sign a contract thing with him that he would be the only agent representing me. I refused and gave him my word and told him that that would have to be enough. Things worked out.

 

Sounds like you've got yourself a nice place. Enjoy. At least now you don't have to worry about putting docks in and out, and shoreline errosion.

 

 

 

Entropy

[Rizzo]

I've always loved that "we represent you so we are looking after your best interests" crap. The agent wants the quickest sale, which means less time invested, less advertising invested etc. Nobody had an agent try and get them to drop their asking price? We had our house listed last year, although we did not really need to move, only if the offer was good. We told the agent this before "signing on". For the next 3 months, we heard the "drop your price" schtick over and over, even though we had clearly stated our goals, and expected price, before signing up.

[tonyb]

I learned that the trick is to attract buyers enough to get them to want to come see your place (and hopefully fall in love with it) rather than scare them off with an initial high price. The agent should know what the realistic asking price is for your area, of course it seems like they are low-balling since you have a financial and emotional investment in the home you are selling. Remove that, and they are usually right.

 

That being said, we were stubborn, and listed higher than our agent recommended. When the offers came in were bang on with what our agent recommended, we realized that they know what they are doing Since there were multiple offers though, we got more than our asking price.

 

Tony

[keram]

For some reason I've missed this part of your post:

The agent was representing both the buyers of our house and us as the sellers.

 

I'm not an expert by any means, but to me it sounds like a perfect case of conflict of interests