In the real estate industry, you work not only for your client but also with other realtors and rely on their professionalism. Unfortunately, like in any business, there are excellent and lousy fellow professionals. It could be inexperience, inconsideration, or laziness, but dealing with time-wasting mistakes is always annoying for realtors and their clients.

Today, we’ll tell you some crazy stories that fall under “Stupid Sh💩t realtors deal with” –personal stories from Ariel and Adrian!

Cold Feet. No Deposit. Unresponsive Real Estate Agent.

The morning after selling to the highest bidder on offer night, Adrian got a call from the buyer’s realtor, who said his client was not bringing the deposit. It was a firm, accepted agreement, which means the deposit is due within 24 hours after acceptance. Not getting the deposit is not an option.

The buyer’s agent responded by offering to send a form to release both parties mutually. Alternatively, the buyer’s realtor asks if the seller would be willing to accept a considerably lower bid, more than $70K less than the offer because that’s the amount they’ve been approved for -they didn’t want to provide the deposit because within the 12-hours since submitting the offer, they found out they couldn’t afford it.

A real estate agent’s responsibility includes ensuring their client has done their due diligence and can afford what they buy.

Series of Events:

• Adrian immediately declined the mutual release
• Adrian immediately refused the proposal of the $70,000 discount
• After the revised offer of a $20,000 discount was made, the seller agreed to it in addition to a reduction in the buyer’s agent’s commission to offset the difference, ensuring the total amount agreed upon was still the result in net proceeds.
• A formal letter from a lawyer conveying that the seller would seek damages, along with the proposal above, was sent to the buyer’s realtor.
• The buyer’s realtor laughed at the proposal, and within less than an hour, the deposit was received –I guess neither the buyer nor their realtor was keen on losing money.

The result: We often find real estate agents to be great communicators before a deal is put together; how they act after the fact is usually very different. In this case, it took a stern letter to ‘scare’ a buyer back into a deal. They managed to arrange their mortgage, and the sale closed successfully. The lesson here is to be confident in what you’re buying. Ontario has no cooling-off period for resale or free-hold new construction real estate. The implications of breaching a contract for these purchases can be profound, often life-changing.

Ariel’s Nightmare Storytime About a Client and a Ghosting Realtor

When showing real estate, it’s not always easy to schedule multiple appointments while ensuring timely arrivals. This has been especially challenging since the onset of COVID. Our showing times have shortened from one hour to half an hour, and overlapping appointments aren’t always permitted.

When showing condos recently, the first property Ariel showed had an empty lockbox –no keys! After calling the seller’s real estate agent to inform him of the empty lockbox, he replied, “I’ll contact the seller to let you in.”

Waiting around for the seller meant likely missing other showings. As a result, they decide to move on to the next appointment. On route to the next showing, they received a call saying the owner had arrived. Ariel and his client decided to go back. The place ended up being filthy, smelly, and hadn’t been staged –it was in rough shape! However, the condo was a good size and had nice upgrades, and it simply needed a bit of TLC.

After seeing the other places, they decided the filthy and smelly place was the best option. Although priced very reasonably, they were making an offer under its market value because the listing had been on the market for nearly three months, the price had dropped twice, Ariel’s client had no conditions in the offer, and the other realtor had already provided the status certificate, which means the client was comfortable making a firm offer. This is an attractive scenario for sellers, especially in a questionable market –it also puts a buyer in a position where they may be able to negotiate a better price when accommodating all other aspects of the offer.

After submitting the offer, there was no response from the agent, and subsequent messages weren’t acknowledged. After being ghosted for hours, the other realtor FINALLY responds, saying that the price is not acceptable.

The seller’s expectations may still be that of a seller in a “Seller’s Market,” while the market had recently shifted. However, this is when negotiations usually occur. They offered the seller’s preferred closing date, no conditions, and a super deposit. They were prepared to bid more than the original offer, but a counter-offer was never made.

A lack of communication between real estate agents can, and often does, prevent a deal from coming together. The takeaway from this story is that you should always hire a PROFESSIONAL. Find somebody willing to put in the time and effort it takes to result in a successful sale, rather than waiting for a deal to fall in their lap.