DO NOT USE PONCE SMITH FROM NEW VISION REALTY. What a nightmare this guy is!
My experience from the beginning with Ponce was immediate frustration. It all started with my real estate agent having a difficult time reaching him to schedule a time to view a property. I tried to take matters into my own hands by filling out a zillow inquiry and I got an email response from Ponce within minutes. I told him I was working with a real estate agent and asked if he could get in contact with her to scheduling a viewing. No response... (Most likely trying to double end the deal and had no interest following up with me if I already had an agent?) Finally somehow between leaving countless unresponsive messages and emails, my agent was able to schedule a time to see the property. Fast foward to when we made our official offer, it took foreverrrrrrr to get a response. During this waiting time period, someone from Ponce's office called me to ask if I wanted to view the property. Ummmm..whattttt? I explained that I already had, AND made an offer, and was waiting on the edge of my seat for a response. W.T.F. She told me she would "put on her detective hat" and get back to me. I never heard from her again.
It was a constant pattern for Ponce to go MIA throughout escrow, it's a miracle we were able to close in 30 days. In my experience, real estate agents are always "on" and available --they have to be. At least mine was. Or maybe I just had the best of the best. There were multiple times in negotiations when we would hear nothing at all unless we hounded him for an answer. Or unless he needed something, of course.
Not only does Ponce lack essential communication skills, but he appears to be far more concerned with quanity than quality. Three weeks into escrow, I received a call from Ponce himself, asking if I was still interested in the house. I was very confused and told him we made an offer and we were in escrow. I honestly thought someone was messing with me. I immediately called my real estate agent in complete panic. She was also floored. But she reassured me everything was ok, and thought Ponce was probably trying to generate a lead from my Zillow inquiry and just didn't make the OBVIOUS connection that not only is my name associated with the particular property he was calling about (hellloooo-do you read any of the documents you are signing??), but that the property (HIS listing) was pending sale. Wow. Just. Wow. This guy is UNREAL!
Near the end of escrow, Ponce tried to re-negotiate parts of the sale that were signed and in contract. I think this was due to some massive miscommunication with his client. Totally his bad--but he somehow made us pay for it. He continued to make things stressful and difficult until the very end. In addition, Ponce was unprofessional and unreasonable when it came to ensuring his client would vacate the property by the close of escrow. He was full of empty promises. We were scheduled to close escrow on a Tuesday, and as a common courtesy, postponed until Friday because his client needed more time. His gift to his client was to pay for her move, and his movers were "only available on Saturday." We got stuck rearranging our entire move and giving up the opportunity to paint and clean before we moved in, because this joke of a realtor would do absolutely nothing to compromise. I'm not sure where he gets his uneducated ego from, but he obviously doesn't understand much about the law. We close on a Friday, we own on a Friday. Your client is not entitled to stay until Saturday. Bottom line. That's pretty basic, right?
Furthermore, when we did our final walk through (while the seller was still occupying the property--because we had no choice), the seller had removed items that were supposed to stay. Our real estate agent very nicely explained that it's in contract that anything affixed to the property stays. She was surprised and had no idea. She claimed Ponce never went over the contract with her. He also never explained the difference between FHA and Conventional loans and how appraisals work, etc. But I'll let her write her own negative review.. At the end of the walk through, the seller happily handed us the key since we were about to close escrow. We exchanged thank yous and congratulations and went on our way. Since Ponce gave us no choice but to allow the seller to stay until Saturday, it was imperative the seller sign a "Seller In Possession" form to protect ALL parties. When Ponce found out the seller willingly gave us the key, he refused to have his client sign the form, until we return the key. Power trip much? Again, this guy is unreal.
I can't say enough about how unorganized and unprofessional Ponce was throughout this transaction. It's disappointing that my first time buying a home had to be accompanied by such frustration and negativity. Please save yourself a massive headache and whatever you do DO NOT use Ponce Smith as your real estate agent! read more
