So my brother Darwin is buying a home in Florida. He may have the world's worst real estate agent. Lindsay has proven herself to be a bit of a do-nothing and unfortunately that has put my brother's life savings in jeopardy. When I found this out, as a real estate broker, I hyperventilated. All the nightmare scenarios that get agents in front of the grievance committee and brokers in front of judges were playing out in front of me.
As a big sister I felt righteous indignation that someone was treating my brother and his wife wrong. And there was hell to pay.
I suggested my brother call the broker and explain that he was about to lose all of his life savings and then some because his agent decided to jet off to the beach instead of doing her job.
Darwin did call the broker. In fact, Lindsay was also on that call where she made excuses for not setting up the inspection appointments because she was "busy," and she felt Darwin's inspections were "over the top." She also told the broker and Darwin that she thought it was, "customary" to put down more than the GNP of Belize as non-refundable earnest money without consulting the client (Darwin and his wife) of such risks.
At which point Irving, the broker, stepped in. He told Darwin that he is now Darwin's agent and will take over from this point forward. He will be calling the listing agent's broker, explaining they might need more time and could that be granted? Irving was sure he could make that happen. "What does that mean?" Darwin asked me.
"It means that Irving is going to call the listing agent's boss, throw Lindsay under the bus for being incompetent and ask for more time. Hopefully the listing agent's broker has lived a similar nightmare and is willing to grant this indulgence."
"What if they don't?" Darwin asked.
Honestly, they probably will under the circumstances. I know I would if a broker called me--especially after I read the terms of that contract Darwin and his wife agreed to without understanding what they meant. It's common courtesy and hopefully the listing broker will feel compelled to pay forward some grace in this messy situation. But I just told Darwin to stay on top of that.
As of Saturday morning, all the inspections were miraculously set up for Monday. That broker must have worked overtime to get that done with the trades on their day off. Additionally, Irving now refers to my brother as, "Sir," and is asking if there is anything else that they can do to make him feel better. No need. Darwin is happier than he was when I talked to him Friday afternoon. And hopefully this will be his new home for years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment