Real Estate: It's a Blood Sport!

What happened to the good ol' days back in 2004/2005 when real estate was more people friendly? Sure the market crash landed with ferocity similar to the late 1980s (so I've heard) and banks were stirred into a frenzy by the numerous bad loans made to subprime borrowers whose dreams were bigger than their pocket books could afford but I'm seeing the bloodshed coming from familiar, though unexpected, sources.

Most recently I had a relocating client whose been through the ringer when it comes to buying a home. After being unsatisfied with the REALTOR® their relocation company hooked them up with, they found me through an internet referral (Thanks Mona!) and I found a dream home for them on the first day. Shortly after moving forward on this house we prepared for the inspection by having appliances delivered to the home and set a date for inspection with the selling side. When we arrived for the inspection we discovered the home wasn't ready for inspection AT ALL with the appliances still in boxes and the rest of the house in disarray. During our inspection we found one major issue with the home in that all of its hardwood floors were cupped. Upon questioning the builder (who was working on the home at the time) he noted that he bought the floors that way and they were cupped when we made the offer so he was wondering what the big deal was. Further, he was not going to replace them, period, end of story! This wasn't the response we were expecting from a home builder who is supposed to stand by the quality of his work and at a time when home builders are desperate to sell new homes it certainly isn't ideal to alienate the buyer by using poor quality materials and then blaming it on them for not noticing. I'd liken that philosophy to a used car salesman selling you a car with non-working air conditioning in February and then when you complain about it you get no response because "you bought it that way, you should have known!". With this experience already under our belts my clients and I found a different, better home to purchase and when trying to withdraw from the offer to purchase on the first home (mind you no contract was signed), the builder refused to give the appliances my clients had purchased back. No credit, zip. Caveat emptor indeed.

Yet the worst experience for my client was waiting in the shadows and came when their attorney (also provided by the relocation company) fired my client exclaiming his home purchase process was too involved and he didn't wish to work with them any longer. A builder, fighting his way to a good price and sale from the other side, is an understandable foe but to have your attorney, paid to represent you, "fire" you and leave right in the midst of contracts being prepared on the new home is disheartening to say the least. To top it off, the previous attorney's assistant refused to "speak with REALTORS®"  (<3 NAR ;)) which may have cost the attorney's office valuable information vital to the transaction. Fortunately I have a network of attorneys who are ready to sweep in and pick up the pieces and pick up the pieces the new attorney did. We're now back on track, contracts are headed to the buyer's attorney's office within the next couple of business days and my clients are far, far happier with the way the transaction is being handled now.

Sometimes I think people forget that, for better or worse, we all need each other to help get the home purchase to closing and all the infighting, overblown egos and stereotypes we have of each other aren't going to help the people who are PAYING US to do our jobs. Of course when representing a client I want the other side to like me and would love for the attorneys, title company agent and everyone else to be my best friend but at the end of the day I don't really care how they feel about me so long as my client's home sale isn't affected by their misconceptions of my industry and they do their jobs properly. Remember, we are ALL in this TOGETHER!

• Orange County New York Real Estate
• Monroe NY New Homes
• Orange County NY New Homes

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