Why did I hire Goldberg and Perl to sell my condo? What was I looking for?
I wanted a honest, dependable, experienced, Realtor who was local to the neighborhood. Secondary I was looking for a straight 5% commission without any additional fees tacked on. I use to pass by their office everyday as I walked from the train stop to my condo. So I was familiar with the name. I called up the office and spoken with Harry Perl, after our discussion I met him at his office. I was expecting to see a sprawling agency inside, but there were only two people one broker and one assistant. We drove 2-3 blocks from his office to my condo, and signed the listing agreement.
What I got?
I had a tenant at the time, who taken good care of the unit and was very kind. Mr. Perl taken pictures of my unit with his phone and posted them on the MLS. The pictures included stacks of papers on the counter and personnel hygiene items lying around the bathroom. When I requested that he take new pictures with less clutter. He became noticeable upset over the phone and condensing, holding the position that it's not going to matter. So the pictures remained as is. New pictures were not taken when my tenant left or of the exterior landscaped area (it looks much nicer in the spring\summer when everything is green vs brown\dead. So I taken the pictures myself and emailed them and requested they replace the existing ones posted on the MLS. He also seemed noticeable upset when I asked him to prepare a comparable market analysis.
My tenant informed me that Harry never once shown the unit, while he resided there. Even though he was only 2-3 blocks away. Instead he simply relied on a lockbox. I might as well had a real estate agent from Texas.
His assistant receives and responds to emails and text messages. I had very few phone conversations or emails from him, during the duration of our listing agreements. He seemed that he was always out of town or unavailable. His assistant was very nice and helpful. I am sure that Harry is nice in a personnel setting as well. He must be doing something right to be in the business for such a long time.
He did not attend the closing. He did not provide the keys or check for overages over the earnest amount, the buyers agent had to pick it up from Harry's assistant.
Rather than speaking with the buyers agent and trying to look out for his clients best interest. They would just forward emails back and forth, between the sellers agent and myself. I would get emails sent from the buyers agent. I would email back responses, which in turn my agent would just forward back to buyers agent.
We did not complete the disclosure forms, get the board rules\reg, request a letter from the condo association stating the assessments were paid, etc until we made a counteroffer. Everything was last min and required allot of follow up on my part. I even had to pay for a messenger to get the documents delivered on time.
So what service did I get for an approximately $10k commission?
Camera phone photos, limited in person showings, limited communication, limited support.
This was a definitely a learning experience for me. I will invest allot more time in locating a realtor for future real estate transactions. You're paying the same basic fee, why not select a top performer. In my opinion, if you do not have the time or passion to do the best of your ability, you should consider another line of work or retirement. read more
