That would have solved his problem… (just to take the poor buyer’s side…)

Once he got his house cleaned – he must be better off…

“Could we afford to remodel the house to suit? Remember, we did not want to live in the house in as-is condition.
In fact, the contractor functioned as part of the agent’s sales team, and the agent functioned as the contractor’s salesman.”

The question is if you could afford the remodelling? Did you take other bids? Did you stop the work in progress if it was different than what you agreed to?

Well, actually . . . our case is not primarily concerned with contractor law.

The Windermere agent brought the contractor into the house before we decided to buy it. The agent presented the contractor as an expert who could evaluate the renovation potential of the home. Could we afford to remodel the house to suit? Remember, we did not want to live in the house in as-is condition.

In fact, the contractor functioned as part of the agent’s sales team, and the agent functioned as the contractor’s salesman.

But the agent did not tell us he was one of the original incorporators, 20% shareholder, and Vice President of the contracting company. The agent had “referred” more than 30 other clients to that company over the years, and not once did he reveal his connections.

And not once did the agent reveal to his clients that the contracting company was not licensed, bonded, and insured as required by state law.

As well as being VP of the contracting company, the agent was a business partner with the primary owner of the contracting company in another deal. This was a land speculation joint venture to turn six acres (immediately adjacent to downtown Sammamish) into a shopping mall.

The contracting company was operating from that land, and the agent took out a loan in his own name to develop the land. The agreement was that the primary owner of the contracting company would make payments on the agent’s loan as he could.

Just about the time we were considering the house, the agent was in arrears on the payments. As soon as we agreed to buy the house and hire the contracting company, the contracting company itself began making payments on the real estate agent’s loan. All this was happening without our knowledge.

Our trial is scheduled for October 24 in the Superior Court, King County (Seattle) courthouse. We hope you-all can be there.

In fact, that is the theme of an ad campaign financed by the Board of Realtors a few years ago. You can find the Board of Realtor’s ads at http://www.realtor.org/pac.nsf/pages/television

When a person defined in law as a “fiduciary” does you wrong, a whole different set of laws apply. Merely “failing to disclose” a fact that the fiduciary “had a duty to disclose” can be escalated to a finding of Civil Fraud by the courts.

But that is not to say the Court is always your friend. In the story on the web site Windermere Watch, we find the highly believable narrative of an innocent (and legally ignorant) litigant abandoned by his lawyer, trying to present his case at a summary judgment hearing, and finding the whole case thrown out of court – facts be "golly"ed, public interest be "golly"ed – because the ordinary citizen cannot compete with the corporate pocketbook in a lawsuit.

Washington needs to institute punitive damages. We have been nibbling around the edges with the Consumer Protection Act and the Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA). Now we need to bite the bullet and realize that just “making whole” is not enough. When some corporations behave outrageously, abuse the public trust, make a profit, and lose a lawsuit only now and then, dishonest business becomes profitable. And the result is not nice to behold.

Nobody should be buying a house the way that person did it.

When selling a home to a client – I would never even show a home that I would not personally consider buying myself. Why – because I expect this client will come back to me when it’s time to move again and hopefully will list with me. I would never recommend purchasing a home that I wouldn’t want to have as a listing in the future.

Just yesterday we had an investor find a house he wanted to buy. We took a look at it without the investor and because of a leaking roof, water problems, slab foundation and baseboard heat – told him that this was not a good re-sale home and talked him out of it.

I can repeat this scenario multiple times for multiple clients.

I’m in this business as a lifetime career. I expect to be selling homes for another 15 years until I retire. Every sale I make now is hopefully a repeat customer in the future. That is how a successful agent stays in the business.

I also would hope that my clients trust me enough to use my “deal killer” inspector. We’ve recommended and used the same inspector for over 10 years and cringe when someone uses a different one because our “deal killer” inspector knows that we expect him to find the problems. In representing a buyer, going back to the seller with a list of problems is like “taking another bite at the apple”. Working for the buyer to get more reduction or consessions from the seller. Any buyer’s agent worth his grain of salt would not work any other way.

So Christina #10, we are agents who place a high regard for ethics, it’s just unfortunate that there are bad ones out there that don’t. Also, keep in mind that the good ones do out number the bad ones.

I wrote to Elizabeth Rhodes and my situation was published, recommending that I contact an attorney. When this was published, even though names were omitted, the agent was furious with me….I wonder how he knew it was about him?

On our last home purchase, we used a “deal killer” for a home inspector. :)

My wife and I just did our 12th move since college. I have lived all over the country. You just dont know an area until you have lived in it. It is like vacations. Sure it is a nice place to visit but if you were here 24/7/365, would it still be so nice? You just dont see the details until you live there.

Having been a home owner, I always rent in a new area before I buy. The idea of moving to a completely new city and buying a house immediately (ie making a huge financial investment) seems insane to me.

Whenever a realtor’s lips are moving, he is lying.

I spent three months before moving in to clean up the kitchen (rats could get over the microwave and inside cabinets, underneath the refrigerator and dishwasher), and then dealt with the rest of the house later (took about 2-3 years to discover all of the secret places that the buggers were getting in). I’ve kept them from getting inside for the last few years so I call that success.

There is a permanent underground (literally–underneath a tree) colony of rats at my neighbor’s house that feed on dog food, which the neighbors insist on feeding the dogs right at dusk (meaning there is some food there all night while the dogs are asleep and the rats can come in and steal it away)–I have talked to them about it to no avail (feed your dogs in the MORNING). So I have to continually deal with young rats looking for a new home. The like to hang out underhood at night keeping warm on the car engines also.

Rats are everywhere, but most people don’t know it until they come inside THEIR home, and then it’s crisis time!

That said, legally speaking, the guy has a pretty good case… and a lousy lawyer. And Tim’s closing comment about blind trust of anyone with a financial stake is spot on.

David @ #5 – I don’t normally take exception to your self promotion, but let’s be honest here – it’s very difficult to discern who is being honest and who is not. Both of the groups you reference – the long time RE agents and the new kids on the RE block – have a vested financial stake in the buyer signing. Unquestioned trust of either is foolish.

If you have a doggy door on your house, rest assured, the neighborhood rats go in and out of your house getting food and essentials [like socks for their outdoor nests]. They’re quiet and stealthy; even your dog won’t know.

http://www.laweekly.com/2008-07-31/news/rathouse-of-the-palisades/

I have a buddy who lives across the street from these maniacs. Yikes.

People who buy houses unseen are living proof of the old addage, “it is morally irresponsible to allow a fool to keep his money.” Fortunately, people learn from this sort of thing which is why it is said that with age comes wisdom.

It’s best to learn on cheap stuff though…

The only difference is I plan on coming to Seattle for a look-see 2 months prior to the final move back home. I’ve already bought the plane tickets.

I guess this is a “Word to the Wise,” and I plan on being wise. Keep on educating us, Tim!!