This review is of James Trost only - real estate agent operating out of Re-Max Platinum, Ann Arbor.
J. Trost is no doubt a truly kind and affable person. However, while he'd make a great buddy to go out with socially, he is a deplorable real estate agent. My husband and I felt like we were his guinea pigs... he seemed to learn everything about buying a house through us! For example, he knew nothing about the high levels of arsenic in the wells throughout Washtenaw County, as well as the importance of getting radon testing in this county. These are 2 SERIOUS issues for this county that all potential buyers here should know about - especially, if you have young children!
While he is an Ann Arbor native, he does not seem to know anything about what lies just 10 minutes or more from the city center. He brought printed mapquest directions and got lost many a time trying to 'show' us houses - a total waste of our time and gas! What agent (be he/she 80 years old or not) doesn't have a GPS by now or know how to use the one on their smartphone?
Trost also seemed to be a terrible listener; we'd tell him all the specs of what we were looking for and then he'd send us houses that were not at all what we wanted, or then repeatedly ask us for the specs again. He also continually would tell us whatever we wanted to hear, even if it was not true. Then we would find out the reality and be so disappointed after he got our hopes up.
We basically did ALL the work to get us into our first home. We sent him homes that we saw online, we read through all the final documents and caught all the errors ourselves, etc... He was so useless. We deeply regret sticking it out with him, optimistically assuming it would get better. Furthermore, for him, this is just a 'side' job - he actually runs an English language school (don't get me started on his limited skills in writing English after numerous confusing, poorly punctuated emails from him...poor foreign students). So do you really want a 'part-time' agent helping you buy or sell a house? In closing: call Jim for some jovial conversation but avoid him for anything to do with you real estate needs. read more