I'm giving kudos to my highly regarded agent, Kate Barnhart, for sticking with me as long as she did to help me buy a condo. I've described her as a saint to my friends, Unfortunately, when I did finally buy, I had a disappointing experience with the seller's agent and the seller, who wrote an unfair and negative review of Kate. The day before closing, I did a walkthrough and found the apartment unacceptably dirty. The seller's agent was notified immediately. Instead of having this delay the closing, the agent stated that the apartment would be cleaned the next day to my satisfaction. I was surprised to find that he tried to clean it himself, and he may not have expected the many hours of deep work it ultimately required.
With this verbal agreement in mind, however, I closed the next day. The apartment was still unacceptable. To move things along, my agent hired a skilled cleaner for $250 and asked the seller's agent to act quickly to see if the amount could be deducted from a possible security deposit from the tenant. I understand the seller did not reply. The important point is that the promise to clean to my satisfaction was made before the closing even though the cleaning was done afterward. When the agent made this promise, he represented the seller and is now in the position of not keeping his word.
In addition, we were told in advance that the listing price would be $125,000, but I see now on the Internet that the agent listed it as $120,000 when it was under contract. Unknowingly, I paid the full price for an apartment with kitchen appliances estimated to be 15-16 years old, that needed new paint and air conditioners, has some floor damage, and then was left in a filthy condition for me. Instead of appreciating what a wonderful deal she received, the seller refused to pay the cleaning fee and wrote a punitive review of my agent for even asking her.
I certainly have learned a lot about relying on verbal agreements, and I hope the seller will reconsider the actions she took in a temporary state of anger. read more