Issue 1: We owned 1 parcel, 2 homes. The house was initially listed for $725k by Ward Scott at Beachy Beach. Several weeks passed, & we weren't getting any interest. We called Britt, PR Director, and were reassigned to Tanya Childs. Our home was relisted for $550k. Tanya contacted us & said that another realtor(Debby Hove), also with BB, had an investor looking for investment property. We received an offer. Tanya told us that this buyer was an investor & a CASH buyer. It was a lowball offer. We were told it was "take it or leave it" and that if we countered, he'd walk. The offer came over in writing; the buyer was borrowing $100k. Tanya said that it was not anything to be concerned about & that borrowing a small $$ was basically the same as a cash offer; hassle free.
Issue 2: Before closing, Tanya called us b/c the buyer needed an extension to the closing. The bank would not loan him $100k. The buyer wanted to pay contractors to install the floors we'd provided. When we saw that the contractors cut a hole in the roof & covered it with a tarp at the end of day 1, we contacted Tanya, very alarmed. At our request, Tanya emailed us a list showing the scope of work to be done. However, the scope changed several times after.
All of this should have been drafted in an amendment to the contract. This would have outlined legal obligations. As the house was still in our name until closing, having this in writing would have served to protect us from having the contractors put a mechanics lein on the house if the buyer did not pay. Tanya kept telling us that we needed to focus on gratitude.
Issue 3: The key to the 2nd house was placed in a lockbox. However, 2 days after the contractors started work on the house, our key was given to them without our consent or knowledge. When we reported this to Tanya, she apologized & said it wouldn't happen again. The key was given to the contractors AGAIN a day later.The contractors also left an appliance and other valuables outside on 3 separate occasions & the back door was left wide open one night during a thunderstorm As a result of neither Tanya nor Debby coming to supervise the work, we were forced to do it in order to protect our investment.
Issue 4: On day 3, our refrigerator & stove were placed outside at the end of the driveway. The contractors said that Debby told them to throw them away. When Tanya was informed of this, she said she'd address it. However, after talking to Debby, Tanya texted us that Debby didn't understand why we'd be concerned about it as the refrigerator & stove were old and gross. Until closing, it was not acceptable to discard our belongings.
Issue 5: Anytime we brought up a concern or asked for anything, we were told that we needed to tread carefully as the buyer, being an investor, would "walk." We were constantly in fear of the buyer canceling the contract.After the closing, we brought up our concerns to Brittany & were directed to the owner , her mom; Karen Smith. She'd been out of the country & didn't know any of this. She said she'd call us back. A few days later, Tanya called. Karen had allowed Tanya control of the conversation.
Tanya told us that she met her contractual obligations as she had sold our house. She said that "instead of complaining, you should be grateful." She talked over us, inflamed the situation & didn't take any responsibility or apologize. Tanya kept stating that our concerns were not anything that doesn't happen & that we shouldn't be so upset as we'd lost nothing & in the long run; she'd sold our house.
Karen also agreed that sometimes the key does get lost or given to other people besides the realtor, although not often & that it wasn't a big deal.It's a privacy violation. At the end of the call, Karen assured us that she would call us with a resolution. No one has contacted us & it's been over 2 months. These issues are not small things. The laws in place to protect both buyers & sellers were blatantly disregarded. Beachy Beach has opened themselves up to a lawsuit. I'm grateful that this horrible experience is behind us. read more
