This is the biggest Rip-Off of them all. Foxton's Real Estate Services states they will sell your home for 2%, but it is a big fat LIE. Let me explain.
On November 24, I contacted Foxtons.com to inquire about listing my Condo for sale. They were quite eager to speak to me, and scheduled Andrew Yatsko (609-238-1793) to visit my home on November 25. When he arrived, he gave me the sales pitch, and I have to say, it sounded good. I was told Foxtons.com would market my condo aggressively, using internet, print and radio advertising. They would be available 24/7 and would do everything a traditional Real Estate agent would do. We set the time for the photographer to come take photos of the home, and also set the date for an open house, December 14. He answered all my questions, including what the term of the contract was, which he stated was 30 days. Mr. Yatsko felt very confident that the home would be under contract within 2 weeks.
This seemed normal enough. Other condos in my development had sold within 14 days and 27 days, as documented through the Multiple Listing Service. On November 30, I received a phone call stating that someone wanted to come by and see my condo. The appointment was set for December 2. The photo guy came on December 1 and took the photos.
On December 2, I waited for the client to show. After an hour past the scheduled appointment still no one came by and no agent called. I called on December 3, to inquire where the agent and the buyer were. I was told then that the agent does not bring the client and that there was a communication error whereas Foxtons.com did not call the client (buyer) to confirm the appointment; but they would call the client and see if they would reschedule. I never heard back from anyone.
At this point I started an email campaign on my own, emailing everyone that I know, as well as local real estate agents.in an attempt to fill the void of advertising by Foxtons.com, I included the site number for my condo and also the web address.
On December 9, I called the agent to inquire when he would be there for the Open House and if there was anything that I should do to prepare. I told me at this point that he does not attend open houses, and I would be the one to host it. This was not right in my eyes, considering a traditional Real estate company would handle this event, but considering that I need to sell the condo, I had no option but to do so. I asked what I should do, and he told me that I needed to call the 800 number and ask for yard signs and pamphlets to hand out. He told me that if anyone wanted to make a bid, I should have the clients call him directly. I then started to inquire on the marketing of my home. The agent told me that it was advertised in the local newspaper on Friday, December 5, but to date, I have not seen it. I inquired as to when the advertisement was going in for the open house, and the agent informed me that Foxtons.com would not advertise anymore in December. I was told that it was not cost effective.
On December 14, which was the scheduled Open House I waited from 1pm to 4pm, and not one perspective client came. I was quite disappointed, and felt confident that it was due to the fact that there had been no advertisement going on. I sat and read the Sunday paper, and behold there were a great deal of homes listed for sale. There were full page ads that had special sections, from other real estate agents, just for open houses. Foxtons.com had nothing. No listings at all. Did I mention I never received the promised literature until a week after the open house? Again, failing to meet their contractual obligations.
I did not receive one called from Foxtons.com. I figured that someone would do some follow-up. I waited Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but no one called. I finally called and asked to speak to a manager, because I was so dissatisfied with the company and their service, I wanted to make sure that I could cancel the contract. I spoke to a Mr. George Notte, and he said that it was rare that Foxtons.com would cancel the contract, and that the contract is good for 180 days. This is contradictory to what I was personally told by the agent who came initially to my home. I told him how I felt about the lack of service and the fact that the home was not being marketed. He confirmed that Foxtons.com did not do any print advertising in December. I told him at that time, if I had not been lied to in the beginning, I would have never signed the contract. How could you possibly sell a home without advertisement? He said that he did not see why I was so upset, and he felt that that he did not need to take this any further. Again, I told him that he needed to take this to the next level and cancel the contract. He said that he would make a call and call me back.
Mr. Notte did not return the call that night, and did not take my call on Friday morning. What I did get was a message from Mr. Dan Desmond late in the afternoon, which stated that I needed to relax and that he would not let me out of the contract. He left no title, nor a phone number to reach him. I was very upset at the true lack of professionalism and courtesy towards their clients.
I called the 800 number once again, and demanded to speak to Mr. Desmond. Friday was his day off, and also the entire sales team was off on Friday! No one buys houses on Friday! How incredible is this! I finally got a call center manager on the phone, and she said that she would email the Vice President of Sales for New Jersey, a Robin Ervin, (who was also off) and let her know of my displeasure.
On December 20, Mrs. Robin Ervin (609-238-1766) did call me at 10:30am. She asked me what my problem was, so I told her. Foxtons.com agents opening lied to me at the time of signing the contract, my home has not been marketed as it states in the contract, Foxtons.com does not advertise in December, and that due to all this, I wanted out of my contract. She said that she would not release me from the contract, because I had not given them enough time to sell the home. At this point it had been 26 days with not one inquiry. She stated that the winter season is tougher to sell than the spring! False. Being in the mortgage business, I told her that the purchase money mortgage application index was up for the month and that this was not the reason that the condo had not been seen. The real reason is that Foxtons.com lied about advertising the condo, or any property that it had listed!
I asked her if she was aware of the advertising campaign for December, for New Jersey. She, as Vice President of Sales in New Jersey, did not know what advertising had been done in December. I asked if she knew what the advertising campaign was for the month of January. She, as Vice President of Sales in New Jersey, did not know what advertising would be in January. Still she maintained that she was confident that she could sell my Condo.
I stated that she needed to consider releasing this contract before I took it to the next level. They had minimal amount of money invested in this, and that I had no confidence in Foxtons.com. I told her to reconsider this and to call me back by 5pm.
At 6pm, December 20, I called her again and left another message. She returned my call at 6:30pm. She had not changed her mind. She felt that she would sell my home.
Since this was the case, I asked her to be at the home with the open houses and she said no. Even though she has a Real Estate license in New Jersey, she did not do such things. She would have her assistant do it. It is unknown if the assistant has a license.
I asked her for a second time if she knew what the advertising campaign was for December and January, and she still did not know. I requested that she provide this information and call me back on Sunday, December 21 by 2PM.
On December 21 at 2:30PM, I called her once again, and left another message. She returned my call around 6PM that night, with no information. I requested that she get this information and call me back on Monday, December 22. As of this writing on Tuesday, December 23, she has not returned my calls.
It is unrealistic to expect a home to be sold without advertising. It is amazing that these people can stay in business with this lack of service. They by all means are not marketing the property let alone aggressively and do not provide the same service as a traditional realtor as they claim. Every other home within our community that has been listed within the past six months has sold in longer than 27 days. As is apparent, their representation of our property has become a false entrapment and they have grossly failed to live up to their written and verbal obligations. Continuing to keep this contract only continues to violate our reasonable right to sell our home. My home has been listed for sale with them for 28 days, and not a single person has come to see it. It is just not right!
0 comments