This review is for Maribel Mejia, agent at 3 Leaf.
I consider myself a savvy south bay real estate consumer but by no means a professional. I've bought and sold multiple units over the past few years that I've owned, lived in or rented out. I've used agents but in this age, the internet renders most of what they do useless. As you will see, they will click boxes and send you a saved search - their real power is in getting the keys to the house and negotiating. This costs 6% to the seller, many savvy buyers are having real estate attorneys represent them instead. When you are buying a 1 million dollar home, the savings comes out to $30,000 (based on 3% commission). When you are buying a 4 million dollar home, that comes out to $120,000 - imagine all the upgrades I was able to put into my home. What the attorney won't do for you is walk to open houses, or schedule showings. In this age of open houses, internet MLS databases - its really not hard to find your perfect home on your own. What an attorney will do is be a master negotiator (it is their profession), make sure you are not taken advantage of (people fear litigation and won't pull anything suspicious) and get you the 3% in your pocket (and you pay them roughly 5-10k depending on how many hours billed etc). My experience is, things tend to move more efficiently when a highly educated attorney I trust is used.
When I viewed a home that Maribel was the listing agent for, she decided to bring an agent to be my de facto "buyers agent". He just happened to be her boss and brokerage owner. Now, your normal buyer won't know but this nearly obligates you to use them as your buyer agent since they will argue they were present - the least of which will lead to litigation. When I politely stated my offer would come thru a real estate agent, this woman had the nerve to tell me I should educate myself. This lady, who took a weekend course in real estate (no admission requirements necessary), and has less required training hours than a hair dresser (look it up), told me in broken english to educate myself! She decided to text me later and spelled my name wrong - its a pretty common name so interesting/uneducated spelling attempts
As a listing agent, that is a one way ticket to quickly losing an offer (if only the owner knew about this practice). This weekend, I saw Maribel again while viewing other homes. I complimented her on the recent sale as I saw a home was pending. She had the audacity to say, in front of my family, "you still can't find a house? obviously, alone you are not good enough, this is why you need my help". Not only was this embarrassing, this woman didn't even know that I am pending on 2 homes since I saw her!
I highly encourage all to do your research and look at the +/-'s of submitting an attorney offer - I agree it is not for everyone.
This blatant pretentious attitude towards knowledgable customers is unacceptable. We are by no means obligated to use a buyers agent and if we were, you can see the reviews for who the top ones are. Highly recommend to avoid read more