Real Estate Called Out

We've been receiving a lot of questions about Antonio's story, specifically asking how in the world the adverse possession case was botched. So, for all you legal lovers out there, here is how the simple adverse possession case was botched by Antonio's attorney.   For more details, go to the previous episode to learn how this botched case against the Remax listing agent has led to s...

This homebuyer story is quite possibly the worst story we have heard when it comes to accountability (or lack of) in the real estate industry. As a kid, Antonio's family would drive through the wealthier part of Kansas City, MO and dream of one day owning a home there.   Some 40  years later, Antonio finally had that chance to buy a home for his parents in that neighborhood.     But what was...

Three anti-trust lawsuits are making their way through the court systems that could potentially change how (and how much) agents get paid when buying or selling a home. While these billion-dollar cases are some of the biggest lawsuits ever hitting the National Association of Realtors, you likely haven't heard much about them.  But why? To help dissect these cases, we asked our friend Rob Hahn...

A disabled Veteran reached out to us a few weeks to share their story and asking for help.     Their agent told them (on the phone) that they have to waive inspection and ask for nothing to win, essentially buying a home as is.  This home was recently flipped by out of town developers, yet their agent still insisted they waive inspection and ask for nothing.   The agent then had the buyers sign a...

Multiple buyers have reported being sent an invoice for a credit report from lenders they chose not to use.    While you do pay for a credit report at closing, why are buyers suddenly being charged for credit reports from lenders they said no to? Chelle Prunkel joins Wendy again to discuss this topic and how to make sure you don't get a bill in the mail from a lender you didn't use. They...

This isn't the first time we have heard a story like this, and likely won't be the last.    This homebuyer was already pre-approved but when chatting with their agent, they were told they should shop around and then were given the contact information for this agent's "partner lender."    Three days later, the buyer mentioned to their agent and the "partner lender&quot...

This buyer swears their offer was market value, but was shocked to see the appraisal come back $100,000 below their offer.    While the buyer and the agent point their fingers at the appraisal, it made us realize that we don't ever really get to hear the appraisers side of the story.    We don't see them, we don't talk to them, but are they really the bad guys in the buying process?...

This homebuyer went to schedule their home inspection for their brand new construction home.   When reaching out to the sales person to schedule a day, they were given a two paragraph email as to why you don't need an inspection on your new build home. So do you? Joining Wendy to dissect this story is Robb Williams.  Robb has been in the construction and concrete business since the late 1990&...

We came across this review of an agent and knew it was something we had to discuss. According to this buyer, their agent was obnoxiously taking selfies and videos instead of helping them look at homes.   It got so bad that the clubhouse manager of the exclusive community they were touring asked the agent to leave. Which brings us to the question, are agents as successful as they seem online? Jonat...

Our original co-host, Lindy Chapman, joins us for the next few episodes to discuss all things agents, commissions and transparency! For this episode, we breakdown the many buyer agent incentives that are, at times, not visible to buyers.   Whether it's an increase in commission based on sales price, a bonus to a builder for having three clients build, or even $5,000 from Opendoor for having c...

This homebuyer met with an agent who then referred them to a different agent and told them they expect him to pay a $900 admin fee (in addition to the 2.5% to 3% they are expecting to collect in commission). We've actually written about the BS admin fees in the past on Selling Later , but never have we seen one for this much!  We've also recently seen brokerages call this fee by other na...

It's the battle of the budgets! In this buyer story, a husband and wife can't see eye to eye on their home budget. One wants something inexpensive that they can afford on one salary, and the other wants the home to be perfect when moving in, which comes at a much higher cost.    So what causes the budget battle? For this episode, Hilary Mancuso joins Wendy to discuss homebuyer budgets an...

This episode is a must listen for those getting ready to sell their home, especially if your home is in a different town. This homeowner had to sell their home while living in a different state.   While things started out good with their agent, the experienced soured quickly as the house fell out of contract.    Not only did their agent pull their house off the market for a month, she then went on...

For Part 2 of this buyer's story ( listen to Part 1 ), we want to focus on what happened with the new build lender.  Why did her closing costs increase by 15% and why she didn't know they used points to buy down her rate? Joining the co-host seat for this episode is Chelle Prunkel .   Chelle is a Senior Loan Officer who has seen and heard it all.    In this episode, she talks about how t...

In this two part series, we share a buyer's story in which she felt steered into building a new home.    Not only did her agent stop communicating with her during the process (and still try to collect 4% commission), but she also discovered many issues with her loan from the builder. In part 1, Real Estate Attorney and Agent, David Tkacik , shares his thoughts on what went wrong in the story...

This episode is for you if you are a buyer getting ready to hit the market! This first-time homebuyer had their agent refuse to submit an offer for them on TWO separate occasions.   This second time, they wanted to offer 4k over asking with 4k in closing costs. Their agent told them it was insulting to offer that and compared their offer to a home that sold for 10K over asking SIX MONTHS AGO. For...

We have a guilty habit of watching the real estate start up scene and trying to figure out all the ways they make money off of consumers.     One start up in particular, was offering consumers money in advance (between $500 and $5,000), as long as the homeowner used the brokerage to sell their home at some point.    No matter how much we dug into their website, we couldn't figure out the catc...

"What did I just do?" "Shouldn't I feel happier?" "I just don't feel comfortable in my new home." These are all comments that we've read or heard time and time again.  The reality is that these feelings can be totally normal and there are ways to get yourself out of this homebuyer funk. Our co host for this special episode is Kimberly Zeidner.    Kimber...

This homeowner was flabbergasted to see their listing was not only LIVE in the MLS (it was supposed to just be a "Coming Soon" home) but also that it was listed $75,000 less than what they agreed to.     To make it worse, the next day the home was priced up by $25,000. Can an agent list your home before you are ready?   Can they change the price of the home in the MLS without your consen...

Can a listing agent refuse to let the buyer use a specific home inspector? In this epsiode, the buyer was thrilled to have their offer accepted, but when it came time for the home inspection, the listing agent refused to let them use their home inspector because he has "killed 7 deals" for the listing agent.    After many back and forth emails and threats (plus a letter from a lawyer) th...

A buyer agent was thrilled to tell her single dad client that he won out of 18 offers!   But when she asked for the signed contract back the next day, the listing agent suddenly claimed that her clients accepted a cash offer the day before? The story continues as the listing agent "tries to get out of the deal with the cash buyer broker."   Unfortunately, that didn't happen and the...

When we came across the story, we found so many red flags that we knew we needed an expert to help dissect this one!   Helping us untangle this mess is our favorite straight shooter agent, Steve Frazier from Platinum Realty in Kansas City. This buyer went to see a property and was connected with an agent via a search site (you can guess which big site it was).    This buyer claims the agent refuse...

When this buyer told their agent they wanted to use companies other than the in-house title and in-house insurance company, their agent lost it and went as far as to scare them from changing companies.  But, when the buyer caught their agent in a potential lie, everything changed. Our co-host for today, Matt Ward, chimes in on what went wrong, what was total BS, and what clients should know about...

True Tales Of A Home Inspector Part 2 Inspectors and Flippers Considering buying a flipped home?   While not all flipped homes are bad, our home inspector talks about the most common issues that she has seen from poor flipped homes and what you should be looking for when touring them. She also shares her worst flipped inspections.  One in which the basement was filled with carbon dioxide, and the...

Welcome to our three part series with our favorite home inspector! For part 1, we are diving into the relationship of real estate agents and home inspectors.  While there are great agents out there that will recommend a thorough inspector, there are others that (in our opinion) seem to be more concerned about getting the deal closed.  This episode will help you understand why you should always do...