Twenty years ago when I was still a “stupid kid” in my mid twenties I decided I wanted to buy a house. I looked around on my own, almost got conned by a house flipped trying to trick me into buying a home in a flood zone. I found an agent afternthat and I thought I was safe. At the time I knew nothing of the real estate industry and I believed that my agent would watch out for me.
this agent, who I will not name, must have seen me coming. He took me to see two houses, both his listings, and then “represented” both sides. Needless to say the sellers made off like gold. I on the other hand was a mess. It was one of the most stressful events of my life from step 1. Financing was easy, I had stellar credit. The home inspection (I let the agent choose because I didn’t know any better) was a joke. Though I paid for the inspection the inspector was clearly looking out for the seller not the buyer. He missed so many red flags thatnit was glaring. It’s cost me thousands to fix everything.
The days leading me up to Closing had me so stressed out that I couldn’t hold down food and lost 20 lbs as a result (not a great diet plan). I finally got to closing and done but the sellers didn’t vacate the property. I was stuck waiting another month till they found a home. In today’s world I should have been compensated daily until they surrendered the home. That obviously didn’t happen.
Its safe to say the whole experience left a lasting impression on me. As a Real Estate Broker I never want my clients to feel like I did. I’ve taken my experience as a “what never to do” and I go above and beyond to make the experience as smooth as possible. My ultimate goal is a “zero stress” situation or as close to it as possible.
Buying a home is one of the single most expensive purchases onencan make and you should always feel good about it and understand what’s happening and why. If I’ve done that then I’ve done my job.