In my mind, anyone who knew about the history of this property and did not disclose it to the buyers is guilty as charged. There have been many discussions over the years regarding whether homes with bad history---even if its a psychological history---qualify as having a material latent defect. A material latent defect as defined by RECA is:

“defects that render a property dangerous or potentially dangerous, unfit for habitation, or unfit for the purpose for which the buyer is acquiring it (where the buyer has made this known), and may include defects that would involve great expense to remedy, local authority notices that prejudicially affect the property and lack of appropriate permits.”

To me a double murder in a home is certainly a defect that would involve great expense to remedy because, in many cases, its priceless. You cant put a price on fixing the history. You can gut the place and completely redo it, but it wont change the disturbing facts about what happened between those walls. I would wager that only half the population would consider living in that home when priced at full market value, and only three-quarters would consider living there if the home was priced far below market value. Theres absolutely no good reason why this should not have been disclosed by the sellers, the sellers agent, and the buyers agent (if they had any knowledge of it.)

Two questions for you:

1) Would you ever consider living in a home with this type of past?

2) Do you think the sellers, and sellers brokerage had a duty to disclose?

Ive been working with an agent who is just purely cantankerous. I cant think of a better word than that. This individual---I discovered over the weekend---sees my attempts at courtesy and kindness as a weakness, and Ive concluded that this person is trying to take advantage of that by speaking over top of me, refusing to listen, and just straight-up making negotiations impossible.

This person is one of three people Ive worked with in all my years in the business who are forcing me to reevaluate my approach to agents with personalities like this person has.

Its making me think about the upper hand.

With the majority of agents in Calgary, you dont need to bluster and blow and run about like peacock brandishing ones feathers in the form of character attacks. My dealings with most agents, have proven to show two individuals working together to get the best deal for their clients. You dont budge on the things you want for your client, but neither do you get nasty: yelling and attacking your opponents character, or refusing to listen to the other person speak.

I found myself in the middle of one of these heated discussions this weekend, and Im sad to admit that it picked my anger bone and I sank to this persons level in some places. Vanderveen fail.

But what Im taking away is to always bring it back to the basics. I realized some things I should have done to diffuse the bomb before it went off.

1) I should have presented offers and counter offers as is, and refused to engage in arguments until this individual had spoken to their clients. This person kept negotiating with me on the phone before they had spoken to their clients. I know they are not allowed to do that, and it just creates conflict. I should have insisted on this agent taking my offer back to their clients and waited for a counter offer which I could then write down and take back to my clients. It makes for a whole lot less to discuss. Instead I got hooked into a back and forth, which added heat to the fire. There are some people where discussions are not meant to be had over the phone, which brings me to…

2) I should have switched communication to email and text only at the first sign that things were getting fractious. This would have ensured that I could outline my clients reasons for offers and counters and actually be heard and understood without all the posturing in between. This would have alleviated a lot of miscommunication which I think was occurring because the other agent spoke English as a second language. If I had taken the time to type everything out, it would have made this agent feel less intimated because of a lack of understanding English. I finally realized after everything was said and done, that this agent was frustrated because this agent could not understand our counters, but was too proud to ask me to explain it again. The agent would angrily respond to our counters based on what they thought they heard, rather than what I actually said. At which point, I would repeat myself again in a different way, explaining that I had already explained this to them twice. Once the agent understood that I had already addressed previous concerns in previous counters, and that they just didnt understand what I said, I surmise that they felt ashamed or embarrassed for having made such a huge angry deal out of something they just did not translate properly, rather than an actual, real issue.

I think that when a person gets into a conflict like this, we tend to think that the “upper hand,” is being louder, meaner and more aggressive. But I really think this didnt get me anywhere. I think the upper hand would have been insisting on a following a fact-based framework, and insisting on a mode of communication that decreases the risk of misunderstanding.

Hindsight is always 20/20.

You know at the end of everything, Im pretty sure Ive made an enemy out of this agent. My heart side says, “Who cares! This agent is a %^&*U&^&(O*&. I dont care if this agent takes a long walk off a short dock!” But my head (and my logical husband) says: why make enemies? Theres no sense. For every terrible nasty personality that I encounter in this business, I always think I could have done better when all is said and done. I always think I could have done more to discover what made this person so angry. If I had given credence to the language barrier at the beginning, Im pretty sure it would have been a smoother deal, and I wouldnt be sitting at my desk right now with an ice cream tub, typing with one hand and emotionally eating with the other.

***I tried to make this as anonymous and gender neutral as possible, because I have no desire for anyone to find out who my nightmare agent is. So if I used the wrong gender pronoun somewhere, cut me a break. Its not easy to eat ice cream and type a blog.

9) Put Misleading things on listings like entering $300/month for the condo fee, but then writing “Seller agrees to pay half of the condo fees for one year” in the private agents comments. (Meaning that the monthly condo fee is actually $600/month.)

8) Not educate their clients about the absolute need to show the property every single time it is requested, and thusly decline requests based on their clients dinner plans. (Or because it is Stampede. See blog about this topic here).

7) Be aggressive and antagonistic in the negotiation process.

6) Write sloppy contracts: missing fields, using the term “tbv” anywhere or anytime on a legal contract, illegible writing, 500 faxes before it hits your desk so it looks like a black blob on white paper.

5) Page you with a message to phone them back and providing you with a phone number that sends you to their paging service.

4) Insist on talking everything through in person. Cant we text or call? Its 2012. If youre not in my iPhone, I cant understand you.

3) Wear shirts that say, “Its Five OClock Somewhere.” I actually have never seen an agent do this, but my husband, Clint, is wearing one today as he works at finishing the basement, and I found it particularly annoying and therefore worth mentioning.

2) Not respond to a message indicating I have an offer within a half hour.

1)

I left 1 open for you. What do you think is the most annoying thing other agents do?

The Calgary Herald reports that our new theatre will feature, “A 43,000-square-foot, 11-screen theatre with three VIP auditoriums — the first of their kind in Calgary — as well as an UltraAVX auditorium and seven traditional auditoriums.” It looks like the VIP rooms will offer patrons service to your seat with an expanded menu and selection of appetizers, child-free environment, bigger seats, their own check-in, and likely a premium price. In the famous words of Liz Lemon: “I want to go to there!” Ill probably skip the VIP section because I am far too Dutch to shell out the extra cash for a bit of panache, but Im excited to finally have a theatre in the SE, and pack in shoulder to shoulder with fellow SE-dwelling comrades!

As for the rest of construction of the commercial phase of Seton, 130,000 square feet of space in phase one is currently under construction with an estimated opening date of Summer 2013!

“Saleslady,” (I know her name but I wont “out” her here) “Why do new home salespeople hate us so much?” I asked.

“Oh,” She shook her head and then went on to say, “So many reasons...”

We had a good laugh about this, and I snatched up my pen and notepad, showing her I was ready to take notes. Over the next hour, I received an education from a very generous lady. Here is what I found.

1) Salespeople in new homes lose commission when an agent walks in. Which I already kind of knew, but she confirmed that it was true and to varying degrees by builder. Apparently some builders are worse than others in terms of compensating the staff well when an agent brings in a buyer. There are conditions under which its fine when an agent comes in and helps, and there are conditions under which is it not fine. But agents have to remember that the salespeople are there from contract to keys, which agents are too, but its pretty rare for us to have a deal that doesnt close for 9-12 months. This is par for the course for new home sales people in Calgary.

2) When an agent comes in after a client has had many, many appointments with the sales centre and then demands a cheque, that is not cool. The sales staff has done all the work up until that point, and this kind of behavior is surprisingly not so uncommon, and its one of the main reasons why salespeople hate us.

3) Sometimes agents come in with a combative and aggressive attitude, pitting buyer against builder, instead of trying to find a mutually satisfactory deal for buyer and builder. This attitude tends to spread throughout the whole transaction, and the salespeople have to put up with it for 9-12 months while the home is being built, and then another year on the warranty end. Injecting this type of attitude is another reason why they hate us.

4) Agents come into the show home and dont identify themselves, and cause sales staff to spend more time with them then they would if it was a member of the public. This sounds bad, but the expectation is that agents should know more and be able to educate their clients in lieu of salespeople. This lightens the load for the salespeople and thus makes it worth it for them to lose a chunk of their commission. Obviously agents dont know the price or product of the showhomes, but once armed with that knowledge, they can educate their buyers on the best value lots to buy, the best value for upgrades, and help them conceptualize their financing.

5) Agents dont show up for appointments, which, again, causes the salespeople to have to pick up the slack for half the income.

How Can We Stop the Hate?

Basically, she told me to just do the opposite of the above five points. Stop doing those things, and you should be able to reduce the level of hatred, or even move into a place of mutual respect, as I experienced with this wonderful lady. I should say that I dont think the majority of agents behave in this way, and I certainly dont, but sometimes a few bad apples can spoil batch.

1) An immediate family member is dead or is the process of dying.

2) Part of the home has been lost through a devastating house fire.

3) Christ has come back and raptured his believers up to heaven.

4) Dinosaurs have taken over the earth and shut down all major roadways, and youre stuck at work. (Please note that if the roadways are not shut down, you still must show the home.)

5) There is a western-style shoot-out occurring on the road in front of the home which is occurring less than 40 paces from your front door. (If its more than 40 you still must show).

6) The septic system has exploded all over the basement.

7) The half human alien thingys from I am Legend have taken over the city. (Please note that this only prevents night time showings. You must still show through the day when buyers are able to safely evaluate the home without the threat of being dismembered by the mutants.)

8) Spontaneous hydro dental implosion.

9) City-wide communicable disease quarantine.

10) Wildfires 10 meters or less from your front step.

I hope this is helpful!

When we left the showing, the lock was broken and would not close. Eventually, we left the door open, and got into the van. I was steaming. I was fuming. I was seeing red.

Its just so disrespectful.

Is it not, people? Please weigh in here, and tell me if Im being totally irrational here. Im interested in some opinions.

So I ring the agent, and explain what just happened, and hes cool as a cucumber.

“Yah, dont worry about that dog. Hes a good dog. He isnt gonna do nuthin to ya,” He says, and he just leaves it at that.

“Well I am sorry, sir,” I exclaim, “But not everyone shares your feelings about PITBULLS.”

He didnt say much after that. Didnt even apologize. I let him know that the door was left open and that none of us felt like sticking around long enough to diagnose the problem with the broken lock because of the pitbull. He was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.

Ive never seen anything like it. In all my days of real estate.

OK. Lets just forget about actual physical safety and respect for your fellow REALTORS. Lets just put that aside. But tell me: how in the WORLD are you doing this client any favours by allowing him to keep a pitbull on site? You have to KNOW that his home isnt going to sell. You have KNOW that buyers will be totally turned off. You have to KNOW that agents will get to the property and refuse to show. How? Why? WHY? (Im sputtering like an old car here now.)

OK, now its your turn. Please tell me if Im being WAAAAY too uptight about this. Whats your take? Go:

Poor guy is fighting an uphill battle all on his own.

There is a resistance to technology in the Calgary real estate industry. Its small, but its there. One by one, I think these agents who cant stand the lack of personal interaction in real estate, are getting iPhones and realizing there is a whole new world out there.

A world that serves our clients better.

The difference in the technological landscape in our industry is totally different even from only five years ago. If you dont use Touchbase or Call to View, how are you keeping up with showings? We have a market in Calgary that moves lightning quick, even if were in a slow market. Sometimes, youll get a request for a showing as people are standing outside your property. If you dont respond right away, you will have most likely lost that showing, and every lost showing is the potential loss of an offer or a multiple offer. Buyers attention spans are often as short as my two year olds. They find what they want on the internet in 20 minutes flat. They call their agent in five minutes, and in the next couple of hours, theyre on the road looking at properties. If you dont catch them on that tour, you might have lost them.

I get the resistance to technology. Its hard to accept something new, especially when you fundamentally dont understand it. Its kind of the way I feel about shag carpet.

Call to View and Touchbase are one of the most beautiful aspects of the new technology in Calgary Real Estate. If youre an agent in Calgary who does not know how to use Touchbase or how to connect it to your cell phone, give me and Clint a call and well gladly get you up and running for the small charge of two Tim Hortons double-doubles.(Size of beverage to be determined in direct relation to age of your cell phone). :)

Last year we started seeing big, ugly, awful, man-eating spiders in our windows in our humble little abode in Auburn Bay. After I calmed down from even seeing them from behind the safety of a window, I sent Clint on a spy mission to see where all the spiders were coming from. They were everywhere like all over the exterior of our house. After telling a few friends about this phenomenon, I learned that friends in McKenzie Towne, Cranston, Copperfield, and Mahogany were having the exact same issues. (See, I know Im not crazy. Im not the first one to predict the zombie spider apocalypse). I sent Clint out right away to buy something strong from Home Depot. I told him to do anything and everything to get rid of them: mustard gas, tear gas, nuclear warfare, I dont care. Just GET them!

He came back and sprayed the exterior of our home with something I can only assume could burn through concrete. The spiders were gone….until THIS year. And here we are again. The spiders are back all over the exterior of our house, biding their time until they can fully envelop us with their webs of doom, and sacrifice our children to their spider gods.

I took to the internet to find a few solutions to get rid of them, and presently, Clint is on his way to Home Depot to begin our revolution. Heres what I found:

1) Diatomaceous Earth

Having decided that putting chemicals around the perimeter of my home where my children play might not have been the wisest choice, I looked into this less chemically offensive alternative. Its a naturally occurring substance. It basically dehydrates the offending critters when they come into contact with it. Sprinkle this stuff around places where the little devils tend to want to come in: piping, wire entries, and windows and doors.

2) Weather Stripping

Make sure you have these in place and they are fully functioning. These little guys are always looking for an entry way to terrorize you and your family. This is one of their best routes.

3) Mint Tea

Spiders have taste buds in their feet, and they dont like the taste of this stuff. This is one that is safe and clean to use inside the house. You can put the tea bags in doorways, windows and other openings. The fresh smell in the house isnt a bad side benefit either.

4) Caulking

Make sure water pipes, and sinks are all caulked preventing any entry of these awful creatures.

5) Chestnuts

This is another scent that spiders dont take kindly to. Crack the nuts and place them where you dont want the arachnids to enter. Youll need to replace them every so often to keep the scent strong.

6) Fogger

And, finally, for those of you who have done everything and youre still in a bad way, fog it. (I have to say after writing this blog, Ive already texted Clint and asked him to pick up some fogger.) Be sure to read the instructions to make sure that the chemical you buy is not harmful to children or animals.

I feel it is only fair to note that I was hugely pregnant at the time.

It was a couple. Looking for a revenue property. We stumbled upon a foreclosure that they liked, and they just could not understand the deal with how Calgary banks tend to deal with chattels on their foreclosure listings. Admittedly, the chattel aspect of buying a foreclosure can be super-confusing (see my blog explanation of foreclosure chattels here), but I felt---and still feel---that I explained it over and over and to the very best of my ability. They just didnt get it, and they wanted me to personally guarantee the chattels, which I was certainly not willing to do!

We got past the chattel aspect and actually wrote an offer. We submitted it to the bank, which normally requires anywhere from 48-72 hours to get back to potential buyers of their foreclosures. (See my blog on that here). But this time, they didnt get back to us even four days after we submitted. I phoned the agent representing the bank multiple times daily to find out if there was any progress (bordering on stalking), but there was none. The bank just simply hadnt gotten to our offer yet. Having been in the listing agents position many times before, I knew there was nothing we could do about it but wait. The bank is the bank. You cant move them with a tractor. They get to things when they get to things. Every day that passed my buyer got increasingly agitated. He often barked orders to me on the phone, and Clint would reach over top of me trying to take the phone out of my hand to give him a piece of his mind. I had to dodge Clint and just hang onto the phone and try to keep things cordial. I think my buyer was feeling insulted that the bank didnt come back to us, thinking it was a personal slight from the bank to him. I tried everything I could to explain that it was not personal; its just how the bank rolls. He was still angry. So, so, so angry.

I met with the buyers on the fifth day (still with no response from the bank) and they blasted me. The guy was even straight up yelling at me! In public! They said it was my fault that the bank wasnt getting back to them, and that I was lying about having submitted the offer. They accused me of not submitting the offer!!! Why would any agent not submit an offer? An accepted offer means weve done our job and were going to get paid!

What can you do, right? I burst into tears (and believe me, people, I am not easily given to tears) and said to them that there just wasnt anything that I could do for them anymore. The tears just flowed despite my trying to stop them from pouring down my face. I asked to be released from my agency obligations with them, and they allowed me to terminate. Ive never had someone be so angry with me. I literally cant recall a time that anyone in my life, business or personal, was just so angry with me and not shy to show it. They had just made me feel so small throughout the process, and I was hormonal…

And those were the ones that made me cry.

Epilogue:

The bank finally got back to me seven days later, and I told them that the buyers had lost interest in the property.