owards the end of last year, my husband and I began the process of selling our home in Colorado and…read morebuying our new home in Buffalo. Our listing agent was incredible: effective communication, supportive, and genuinely invested in our wellbeing throughout the entire process. Unfortunately, we received the opposite of this with Jennifer.
Relocating to another state with the intention to purchase a home in said state is stressful, a process that requires support and trust between the buyer and buyer's agent. It's especially tricky when you're not local. We counted on Jennifer to present us with appropriate listings, especially after we refined our search specific to our needs and expectations. Instead, we obsessively scoured Zillow on our own and presented our results to Jennifer, essentially doing the work for her. Once we listed our home, it sold within a matter of days, and yet, we had to basically chase Jennifer in an attempt at communicating the urgency of our relocation plans and locking down our future home.
Once we found our home and secured the deposit, we began the relocation process. Jennifer and her team were nothing but vague and seemingly disinterested in supporting us in our efforts. We arrived in Buffalo after leasing an Airbnb with the intention of staying there until we closed on our home. Upon receiving very little effort and communication from Jennifer and her team regarding what to expect, we reached out for any updates regarding our closing. We booked 45 days at the Airbnb and also rented a pod with our personal belongings; it was imperative that we had some sort of plan to 1. Ensure we had a roof over our heads and 2. Provide the necessary information to our pod account for any extension of rental.
After reaching out, we received a heavily worded phone call from Richard Cole, the buyer's attorney. He was dismissive, disrespectful, and clearly disinterested in meeting our needs. Apparently, Jennifer couldn't be bothered to do her job and reassure us, HER CLIENTS, that she is on our side. We had, at the most, 2 phone conversations with her before closing.
Additionally, things got especially complicated after learning that our future home was left destroyed and disgusting (the odor of cat urine still permeates our home, even after reassuring us that it was safe), yet we received no communication about plans to rectify the problem, other than the seller will handle it. Did they ensure the cat urine didn't soak through the floor boards? Absolutely not. They cleaned the carpets and called it a day. The nauseating smell came right back after a few days, however, Jennifer did not push back on ensuring that the seller check the floor boards. Appalling.
Finally, after meeting Jennifer for the first time during our walk through after closing, she was cold, disinterested, and completely disengaged in our experience. I guess since she was getting her commission, it was cool for her to check out. It's actually mind blowing how much money one can make from zero effort, but she succeeded. Good for her, I guess.
We love our new home (that WE found), and have plans to tear out the carpeting and the floor boards to eliminate the cat urine stench, replacing the flooring with hard wood. Unfortunately, we will absolutely not use Jennifer again. We have plans for purchasing future properties and prefer to give our money to someone who truly cares. Jennifer is not that someone. This experience was frustrating and inexplicably horrific from start to finish and, I for one, am so relieved to be on the other side. Let the healing begin.
