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Realtor Case Histories

To: Arrows Real Estate

From: A veteran [and good] Realtor.

Hi there, Arrows Real Estate. You asked for a story so here is mine.

I am a veteran Realtor and have sold millions for various homeowners over the years. You state in your web site that some Realtors are good and some are not.

Well, even though a Realtor may be good at the business of getting a property sold, there are so many customers or clients that take advantage of the Realtor that it makes me ill just to think of some of the innumerable cases.

Here is one case in point of my being taken advantage of ….one time too many.

I had developed a good clientele after being in business for about 5 years. One day I received a telephone call from a property owner in our city’s most prestigious neighborhood, asking for an appointment for me to handle her property which was a house she rented. This woman was a divorced lady who, after her divorce, had decided to go to law school. Her divorce was caused by her husband having an extra-marital affair. She, as I understood only through the rumor mill, never from the client, herself, had returned home one day only to find her husband there in their home with "the other woman".

The divorce took place shortly thereafter. The woman entered law school but did not think it prudent to remain in her expensive home so she decided to lease the home for about $2,000.00 per month, and with that money, she bought a little condo to live in.

I was the Realtor handling the leasing of this property. The woman always told me that when she finished law school, she would sell the property and buy another house in the same area. This would mean a nice piece of business for me, beyond the leasing of the house.

I leased this house for her for about 8 years. I was paid one month’s rent per year’s lease. This commission was divided between my broker, me, and the cooperating real estate company. This means I personally earned about $500.00 per year. During that time, whenever there was a problem the various tenants would call me. I spent hours and hours handling little things such as dripping faucets, and the like. Realtors perform many duties beyond what is required as a course of business to maintain friendly relations.

The client finished law school, was hired by a good law firm, and eventually became a partner after only about 2 years with the law firm. All the time, she would call me to show her property, which I willingly did. She saw many houses, which she could have bought but never did. I always wondered why.

Then, it happened. I called her one day in November and she informed me that she was not going to buy a new house but rather was going to tear down her old house and build a new one on the same lot. I asked her why she had not telephoned me to tell me her change in plans. To this question, she gave no answer. I was very disappointed because she had told me many times that she would never do that. Sure enough, she built a new house. She never called me again.

One day I was at the post office and ran into a nice looking woman who I recognized but could not quite place. We both said hello to each other and I said, "I know we know each other. And, I have a feeling we might be old friends, but I cannot quite remember your name".

She laughed and said; "Don’t you remember? I leased that house from you about 4 years ago."

"Oh, yes", I replied. "You were one of the nicest tenants we had in that house. What are you doing these days?" She then said, "Remember, I am an attorney, just like that owner was, and now I am working in a great law firm."

With that, I told her of my disappointment. She told me this, " I looked into her situation when I was leasing that house. I checked down at the courthouse and looked at her divorce papers. There was a provision in her divorce proceedings that if she ever sold that house, then the ex-husband got half of the money from the sale of the property. She was never going to sell that property!"

I said to her, "I never would have guessed that. In real estate you meet more liars than you ever thought you would."

I parted from that decent lady lawyer at the post office, rather stunned that that property owner had fooled me.

Now you can see why Realtors get to be so tough in life.

That is my story. And I have other stories I could tell you, too. Put this up on your web site. I bet other Realtors will tell you more stories.

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Welcome To Arrows Real Estate Stories of the rich and famous, along with stories of real life, all pertaining to real estate!

Welcome To Arrows Real Estate
Stories of the rich and famous, along with stories of real life, all pertaining to real estate!