Real estate horror stories

1. Posted by YORKE on Sun, Aug 23, 2009

yeah right...hire a realtor. I did...had to ask her to change the spring scene where the grass was dead to anything other. She couldn't even spell principle...(principal??) I didn't have the nerve to point that one out to her. When she took the pics for the virtual tour, there was my hot rollers sitting in the bathroom, the boot mat in the hall etc. I had the most atrocious urn sitting in my hall.....the list goes on. My husband & I didn't hear one thing from her after the inspection. We never got a congrats, we sold! NOTHING! We did most of the open houses as she didn't believe in them & didn't even advertise any of them other than the first one. Her advertisments in the local paper is of her alone, striking a very fetching pose but not mentioning the homes she has for sale. Ego???? Yes! I shall make sure that if I hear of anyone selling that I warn them against this "top selling" realtor in Adjala, Ontario!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still waiting for my basket of flowers or at the very least the cheap champagne to congratulate us on selling.

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2. Posted by Mr Chamberlain on Sun, Aug 23, 2009

Baking? Give me a break. Who hasn't heard of that? If you want to sell your house get a bin. Then move what's left that you want but you really don't need while you are trying to sell to a storage facililty. And be careful about the home inspectors. Had one cost me a sale and further delays in selling making false and unsubstantiated claims about the structural integrity of an older house. I'm guessing he only is happy we new builds.

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3. Posted by IMO on Sun, Aug 9, 2009

We got our agent through recommendations. Our agent made us look at 10 houses in different areas knowing we would not want any and he didn't expect us to. But he was able to narrow down where we stood and what we wanted. When we made an offer he would verbaly discuss it with the other agent and if we were not close we walked away without having to do any silly paperwork. It took us 18 months and perhaps 65-70 houses later we were able to buy the house we wanted within 90 minutes of setting foot in it. We had 14 days to remove our subject to's. Today (now 7 years later) we still live in the house in a stable area, great schools, and each year we only find more reasons why we like the place more. Not all realtors are bad. You just have to find one who wants to do his job and enjoys it.

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4. Posted by IbysMom on Sun, Aug 9, 2009

You know the main link for this article on buying homes and impression in the first key doesn't work, as the page is a complete blank. I guess first impression really is the key.

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5. Posted by Bill D on Sun, Aug 9, 2009

The comment in the article about 'go for title insurance' is a good piece of advice. But title insurance alone does not mean you will have no issues with title if you have ever refinanced, etc. And you have to understand why you purchase this insurance and what it is for. I purchased title insurance through TD CanadaTrust when they talked me into switching my conventional first mortgage and a second mortgage from a refinance to one of their 'secured home equity lines'. Eight years later I sold my home but when the lawyer did the title search there was this old second mortgage lien from many years ago still registered against the property. TD CanadaTrust should have been responsible for securing the discharge of all liens against my property that they were buying out and furnished me with copies. TD CanadaTrust initially and adamantly denied that it was their responsibility. In fact they refused to believe that the trasaction was done internally at their branch with title insurance and they insisted I find the lawyer used to payout the first and second mortgage to secure discharges. This was even after I produced the paperwork (the actual form) registering the home equity line, paying for title insurance, naming the parties and amounts to be paid out, the discharge fees collected from me to do this and that it was all done through CanadaTrust's own mortgage and trust company. Because I paid insurance this shouldn't have been an issue as TD should just stepped up and assumed any liability/damages for their error, secured the discharge/s and the sale of my home would have went on without all of this extra stress and frustration. This is what title insurance is for! My sale went through with only hours to spare but not until I had to practically beat the bankers over the head with the paperwork from 8 years ago and let them know they would be sued for damages and reported for fraud. I will live in a tent before using TD for a home purchase again.

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6. Posted by Ihabwynoi on Sat, Aug 1, 2009

Be ware of buyers who purchase without and inspection and then sueyou when something goes wrong. The family sold our parents house, the court case for $200,000 is still pending, the buyer refused on several occasions to have a home inspection. Within 1 month of the sale we received papers from their NEW lawyer, the old one would not do it, asking for a settlement because the 40 year old wall paper had lifted, the basement had supposed asbestos tile under 3 layers of carpet, and the paint on the wooden window frames was peeling. She even accused us of painting the entire house because there were faults in the walls/ceilings. We also replaced a complete bathroom, it was yellow, and are accused of doing that because the plumbing was faulty. This sale was for $250,000 for my parents, both of whom are dead now and yet they are demanding medical records to prove that my dad had entered a nursing home in 2007, and my Mum had joined him in Jan 2008 diagnosed with dementia. He died in Nov 08 and she died last month. I never told them what had happened with the sale of the house. So far our legal bills are over $50,000 no idea what theirs are, court has been posponed several times last year and now 3 times this year. Their NEW lawyer has retired, so we have no idea what is going to happen next. Our research has shown that this woman paid $1.00 for her last house from her father, sold it for $400,000, and the house purchase previous to that she sued the sellers for over $100,000. which of course means nothing but is interesting and None of this can be used in court as it does not pertain to the current case. On a recent drive past my parents home, my son noticed a brand new vinyl fence, 8 ft high enclosing the complete 4 acres of property. I guess we are paying for it. Our Lawyer says that this is the new way to reduce the price of a home......my point is that both buyers and sellers are at risk of a horror story. thanks for listening, we cannot talk about it here.

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7. Posted by D on Sat, Aug 1, 2009

As a realtor I always put a clause in for my purchaser which states that "The vendor agrees to leave the house in broom swept condition." Every buyer has the right to a legal inspection on the day before, or the day of closing., regardless of how many visits are agreed to within the body of the offer.Every buyer should use the last visit to inspect to see If something is not right, if chattels that have been removed that should on the premises. Check for changed shower heads, door knobs, appliances, window coverings, light fixtures, etc. The buyer should immediatey consult the lawyer and stop the closing or have the lawyer hold back money if any of the above are not as purchased. Never ever verbally agree to anything regarding what is staying and what is going. Sellers rarely keep to anything that is not written in the agreement and will always deny that they verbally agreed to anything. Use a realtor who is full time and is there to protect you and give you advice.

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8. Posted by Night on Sat, Aug 1, 2009

Always have a clause in the agreement about what must stay or go and the condition of the house. Friends of ours didn't and found their new house had been strippe. The previous owners had use a steel wheele dolly to move all the heavy things and ruined the tiles. They even took all the lighting fixtures and the laundry tubs and water softener and all drapery rods which they verbally agreed to leave. The only thing in the agreement that helped was it said with all appliances. They sued but it cost them more than if they'd just gone and bought new to begin with and even then got only a small amount of what the ones they'd seen there were worth to replace. They also didn't have the realtor or their lawyer go with them to check the house out before they moved in so the old owners insisted "someone" must have taken the things after they moved. Their lawyer later saw an ad in the paper offering them for sale and the fools gave their own number so he took the police to check with him and sure enough they had the appliances and were selling them. But that was after the court case and they were charged with theft.

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9. Posted by Bobby D on Sat, Jul 25, 2009

I am a realtor in the city of Southern Ontario. I can tell you that this sort of thing can be avoided by using a REALTOR. Because we are so smart. And we lease nice cars.

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10. Posted by on Sat, Jul 25, 2009

A Realtor would have done a pre-closing inspection and halted the closing until the house was vacant and ready for new owners.I assume they bought privately and this goes to show the value of using a Realtor.

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