Keller Williams was recommended to us by our mortgage broker who had limited experience with this company. Our broker heard from word of mouth that this establishment is really helpful towards their clients, particularly a Mr. Hodge. Anyway, our initial meeting with one of their realtors' assistants named Crystal (who is Mr. Hodge's wife), was supposed to give us a call over the phone that she herself scheduled for 6pm PST. My husband and I had to cancel all our appointments so that we could talk about what type of house we were looking for with Crystal; we waited and waited for her call. Finally, after 45 minutes of waiting for this supposed 'phone call', my husband and I got fed up and left our apartment to run some errands. When we got back, sure enough there was a message from Crystal saying she knew she was late for our phone meeting, and that she wanted us to call her back! My husband (particularly) was appalled that she didn't even say sorry, nor why she was even calling so late, and the fact that she wanted us to call her!
We called our mortgage broker right away and told her of our horrible experience. She was apologizing throughout our conversation, and informed us she would call Mr. Hodge herself. Within five minutes of talking to our broker, we received a call from Mr. Hodge apologizing for Crystal's tardiness. My husband did not want to deal with this company any longer due to our first experience, but I talked him into it since everyone deserves a second chance. He agreed with me, and we agreed to set up a time with Mr. Hodge for the next day.
When we got there, he was pretty much sweet talking us. He was telling us about how he got into the realty business, and how he used to work for Miscrosoft, etc, etc. He was talking really fast the entire time, while throwing paperwork at us to sign. My husband and I initialed one page that was it, which stated that we received a pamphlet from him regarding 'Lead-based paint'. The next thing he threw out at us and wanted us to sign immediately so we could take a look at houses with him right away, was a contract (which according to my husband after he thoroughly read it) something to the effect of 'Mr. Hodge is our sole realtor; that if the buyer (my husband and I) decides to go to another realtor to purchase a home Mr. Hodge showed, the buyer would have to pay him 6% or so of the cost of the house.'
During the time my husband was reading the contract, Mr. Hodge was giving me a quick talk (perhaps trying to distract me) of what great things he has put together for us, to facilitate finding a house with him. The contract raised red-flags for my husband who questioned Mr. Hodge right away of its impact on us, the buyers. My husband (quick-witted that he is), refused to sign any further contracts and wanted us to take the contract home, and discuss it amongst ourselves. Mr. Hodge explained that any realtor we go to in the future will make us sign a similar contract, and that Windermere even uses the exact same contract. Then, Mr. Hodge offered to step out of the room for a few minutes while my husband and I discussed it; pretty much implying that it needed to be signed right away. My husband insisted he wanted to discuss it with me at home, and Mr. Hodge insisted for us to come back the next day at the same time with the contract signed. To make the story short, we did not sign the contract, and pretty much fired him.
Since this incident, we have talked to several friends who are also house hunting and told them of the experience we've had. One couple we've talked to works with a Windermere realtor also, and denies having to sign anything with their realtor. According to this couple, they were actually warned by their realtor about this sort of scam. It's a good thing my husband is very thorough. This is just a warning for all house-hunters, as well as individuals who decide to work with Keller William. Don't be taken in by such scams, and make sure to read the fine print before signing anything.
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