Decent is as Decent Does
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 3:33PM 
My faith is renewed in the goodness and fairness of folks in our profession. I must share. An experience this weekend will definitely make my lifetime book of "agent stories." This one was amazing for the right reasons.
My first-time homebuyer clients found a great place: an updated bungalow with a beautiful layout just right for their needs. At inspection, all the pretty fell away. Structural concerns, lack of proper workmanship, missing materials… a total meltdown. My clients walked away from the transaction. But instead of calling the agent with a quick "we're out," I explained what had happened. We'd built a nice rapport and I gave her the time I'd hope someone would give me to prevent my trying to sell an un-sellable property.
Not only did she receive it extremely well, she apologized. As did her client. In fact, he was so appalled by the results that he reimbursed my client the full cost of the inspection! I don't know if these folks will be able to bring the property back online within the timeframe of my clients. But I'll certainly look forward to the opportunity to work with this agent again. If I can sell one of her client's properties, I'll do that too. Thanks to my colleague for her professionalism and representation of our industry's best.
Carmen V. Rodriguez - Broker Associate
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Reader Comments (1)
On many other blogs the tendency is to throw the home inspector under the bus as the "Deal Killer." Great to see two agents and the seller working together to rectify the problem rather than pointing fingers at who was responsible for the deal falling apart.