My first impression with Mike Roth was so bad that my jaw actually dropped.
He was on speakerphone and responded to my real estate agent's question so condescendingly that both of us were stopped in our tracks and took a few seconds before she could speak again.
I was tempted to immediately call him myself and remind him that it costs $0 to be kind, but
1. I wanted the house
2. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt in case it was just an awful day for him, and
3. He didn't strike me as the type who'd be receptive to feedback, particularly unsolicited advice.
I waited and we continued with the transaction, but it was not nearly as smooth as it could have been, and for perspective - this is the third house we've purchased since 2019, each house in a different state.
As his other reviews reveal, the experience of working with him was unpleasant at best, for a few reasons beyond the initial rudeness:
1. While it benefited us, I felt sorry for the seller - I believe that with some small effort to stage or fix some cosmetic issues, the house could have sold for more. I suppose this could have been something the selling party declined, but it is worth mentioning in case someone is using his services still and catches this in time.
2. Additionally, during the renegotiation process, the sellers/selling team went completely non-communicative for an entire weekend, leaving us wondering if we should start looking for a different house while over half a million dollars and a huge life decision hung in the balance. Even if it was because the sellers weren't responding to them at all (which I doubt - why wouldn't they just tell their realtor they were getting repair estimates?), the Roth team could have taken less than a minute to respond to an email/text/call,explain that and provide some reassurance.
3. Days from closing, the team had to be prodded to provide access to the house to allow professionals in to assess repairs, and gave a one-time use code for the final walkthrough, even after they asked us to "do it all on one day," which wasted our time, along with the time of an asbestos remediation professional whose availability was after the final walkthrough by a couple hours on the same day. I assumed that the code would work the full day, but that was obviously a mistake - and the Roth team didn't respond for hours.
4. Finally, we were told before closing that we'd have garage door openers and keys to all the locks. At closing, they said they'd be on the counter in the home. Spoiler alert - they weren't. So we don't have keys to all the locks and had to buy new garage door remotes.
I hope Lisa is well-compensated- she seems to be trying her best in a tough situation.
If you're able to avoid this team, you'll save yourself some hassle.
Honesty, good communication, and remembering that even if the Roth team is approaching a billion dollars in sales that most people buy or sell homes once or twice in their lives (if they're lucky) and that it's a stressful experience could benefit this team's service dramatically. read more
