oooo…moveable type saw that i was cheating on it and decided to work! but i still think i am going to change to wordpress, if only because i’ve already started the process.
but i am loyal. I think, well, MT works enough. Why do I feel a need to stick with MT?
Because I am loyal. I like to think the best of things….and people.
but sometimes, things (and people) are just not doing their job!
life lesson: do not trust real estate agent and mortgage brokers. they do not have your best interests at heart. they only have theirs.
This life lesson is brought to you by the letter J, well, okay, my sister’s friend jenny. She got a big fancy chem eng job downtown. She decided that it made the most sense to buy a condo. She came up in March to do the shopping. Her first agent was a dud. We pointed her to a recommendation we had gotten from a coworker of some family. The new agent was great. Available on short notice, knowledgeable, helpful, proactive. We were quite proud of our recommendation.
Jenny found the condo she wanted. The offer, etc went well. Things were going smoothly to a may 22 closing date. Everyone had two months to get their shit together.
Usually these stories turn into how much the seller ends up sucking (especially b/c it was the builder). But not this one, the sell turned out to be awesome in the face of Jenny’s “people” sucking.
Despite the two months notice, and constant assurances to Jenny that everything was fine, the mortgage broker (strongly recommended by the realtor) had nothing ready as the date approached. At 2 pm the day before the 9 am closing, he finally returns Jenny’s phone calls to tell her he needs her offer letter and to tell her that she must pay PMI despite having assured her the whole time that she would not have to pay PMI (She’s bring 10%, and he told her he could do a 80/10 with the rest to avoid insurance).
It wasn’t the fact that the lender was requiring the insurance (it is understandable in this climate) that was annoying, but the last minuteness of it. It seemed that she was being taken advantage of.
When we gathered at the title office yesterday at 9 am, nothing was ready. The broker was not there nor was he returning Jenny’s attorney’s phone calls as we all sat there.
When your information comes from the seller’s attorney’s, something is wrong. The realtor kept defending the broker. The broker kept saying it will be noon…then three…then four for SURE.
The broker blamed it on the lender. I understand some things are out of his control, and that the jenny’s situation was unique. The communication about the issue has been very unprofessional. The broker would not return Jenny’s phone calls. The realtor did not advocate for her CLINET, instead spent the time defending the broker and making excuses. The whole situation would have been a lot better if the realtor/broker just said, yes, this was a screw up. sorry. and kept Jenny in the loop. She should not be having to call people to get information. People should be giving her information. Especially the realtor, who is going to make $12,000 off this transaction.
So closing is scheduled for noon today. Hopefully it will happen.
Needless to say, we will not be recommending this realtor again. It shows that lots of people can do the easy stuff well, but when things get tough, it really shows where their loyalties lie. I would hire the seller’s agent way before i ever would the realtor. At the beginning I thought an agent with many many years of experience was the way to go (knowledge), but this makes me question that thought b/c the realtor’s loyalties obviously lied with the broker and not her client. Oh and it is not just us that thinks this…
sketch. so be careful out there.
hopefully they will close today….
