I am a first time homebuyer, but as a paralegal who works with real estate attorneys I am fairly informed and savvy. Before buying a home I did my research. Unfortunately, I picked a bad real estate agent.
At first my agent seemed okay. He responded to my phonecalls and faxes promptly. However, as the weeks wore on and I didn't find a house that I liked, his patience waned.
Eventually, I was going to put in an offer on a home. My agent offered little advice on what to bid. I was basically on my own. I knew more about the neighborhood and the property from my own research than he did. He was only making a comission for actually opening the door to the home.
I ended up not putting an offer in on the home, because it needed too much work and had lead paint (a major environmental health concern and legal concern, if I wanted to rent the property, which was a possibilty.) I told my agent that I wondered if the landlord had done a more recent lead paint inspection than the one the owner disclosed to us. According to the law, the owner has to have an inspection everytime new tenants move in. My agent said the owner didn't have to do that and argued with me.
I then left him a voicemail message stating that I would no longer use his services because I was concerned that he did not have sufficient knowledge about some matters relating to my home buying process. (He had also tried to pressure me into signing before I was able to hire a contractor to do a feasibility study, which would have been necessary as I was doing a purchase/rehab loan. The agent wanted me to use his buddy. Without ever meeting this "buddy, " he expected me to put my financial security in his hands.)
My agent responded to my message by leaving a nasty message on my voicemail. Not too professional? Was he? His lack of customer service was shocking to me. As the buyer's agent, he had a fiscal responsibility to me, but did not exercise that. It was apparent that he did not want me to get the best house for my money. He wanted me to buy the most expensive house I could as quickly as possible, so that he could make his commission!
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