Towards the end of June 2015, we contacted agent Eitan Costine of Teles Properties in Brentwood to discuss selling a property we owned in the San Fernando Valley.
Eitan stated to us that he really wouldn't consider listing the house for more than $X, and that its appeal would likely be to a builder/developer/investor. After meeting with Eitan, we decided to utilize a different agent/broker because we believed that Eitan was off-base in both marketing and pricing the property. We actually sold the house with virtually no improvements (using a different agent/broker) for $100K more than the maximum of $X that Eitan had proposed, just 30 days after opening escrow.
Once we made the decision to go with a different agent/broker, Eitan sent us an email telling us that he was not "pleased" with us, that he had no ulterior motive in underpricing the property, and that small improvements (as we had suggested) would have "negligible" impact on the sale price (and stated that a "thorough set of improvements" would yield a better price).
Further, in a subsequent email, Eitan stated that he 1) felt our listing price of $X was way too high and that 2) by using the agent we ultimately chose, we would be working with people who would not likely be as interested in securing top dollar for the property. Eitan also stated that the agency we chose often let homes sit on the market for months. .
We believe that Eitan either 1) doesn't know the real estate market very well, 2) had an ulterior motive of making money on both ends with the seller and a buyer (he mentioned numerous times to us that he had very interested buyers already lined up), or 3) both. Whatever the case may be, we found Eitan's lack of professionalism to be appalling, and, as such, we would not recommend ever doing business with him. read more