Real Estate Transactions Suck

I’m pissed.  Man, am I pissed.

One of the reasons I was absent from blogging is because things have been good.  I wish I could be one of those bloggers where all you read about is good stuff, but my blog ends up being a place to dump, probably because I don’t like burdening the “real” people in my life with this stuff. 

First of all, I was very close to purchasing my first home.  It was this lovely condo that I fell in love with on my first visit, but then two things happened:  gov’t and city downpayment assistance ran out of money and interest rates went up.  This means the ”free” money I was hoping for to help reduce the amount borrowed didn’t happen, which was a bummer but it was not the end of the world.  I could still afford the house.  But then interest rates went back up and that caused the monthly payments to rise, which then reduced my purchasing power.  So the two of these combined ended my ability to purchase this place.  I really love that place and just couldn’t see myself living anywhere else.

This fact alone is not the biggest part to bum me out.  What’s really pissing me off right now about it all is the shady dealings of the builder’s sales agent.  She is clearly not letting me out of my purchase contract, despite having not secured my loan during the contingency period.  In fact, I am now about two weeks beyond that and she is threatening to keep my holding fee.  However, she actually did not send in my check to the escrow company until about the last week of my loan contingency period, and NOT during the 3-5 days after signing into contract.

Anyway, there’s too much about this situation that is pissing me off.  She shadily brought in a broker “to help with my closing costs”.  When, since I had viewed the first time without my agent, she would not allow me to use my real estate agent.  My agent actually said say that she did technically have the right to decline working with my agent since there IS some sort of unspoken rule amongst agents that you need to be present on the first visit with your own agent (or else I need to mention I am working with one, which I didn’t mention at all, in fact, I didn’t really have an agent at that point).  Anyway, so she shadily brought in this broker (who was clearly her friend) and basically used her to do exactly what my own agent would have, so now her friend is getting the commission (and probably her as well since I now see how shady she is) and not my own agent.  Ok, it’s my own fault for not really thinking this through initally, but I am a first-time buyer and I signed agreement to all this stuff.

Oh, and I must add, initially I found out that she is a friend of my cousin’s.  It’s a long story.  But it also turned out that she goes to a sister church and knows some of the same friends.  So I guess I gave her some “grace”, so to speak with my trust because of these two facts.  I am SO not happy with myself right now.  I really trust my cousin and I really trust those common friends.  So I just naturally trusted her too.  Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.  Argh.

Anyway, so after our last conversation I repeated (again) that I wanted out, but she leaves this message the other day clearly talking as if she’s still moving forward with the deal.  Now she’s claiming that I have not been returning her calls, which is complete BS.  I told her twice, VERY CLEARLY, that I am now out of contract and no longer wish to purchase the property.   I didn’t tell her this part, but since she was delayed in sending my check to the escrow company, I’ve put a stop payment on my check.

Anyway, now I’m partly freaked out because I’m wondering what kind of legal mess might arise out of this, and I’m partly freaked out because the whole real estate process is so messed up.  It’s no wonder so many people get taken advantage of.  There are sooo many financial, legal, and other aspects involved with the process that you really have to do your diligence to protect yourself.  I am very good about being an educated consumer so I am upset with myself for somehow getting into this mess.  Argh.

I’m pissed.  Just really pissed.  I’m pissed because I had hoped to be posting pics of my new home and tell you all about the exciting news.  But nooo…thanks to shady agents out there, my current experience has been less than joyous. 

If any of you have some real estate advice, please offer it.  I will probably talk to a lawyer just to make sure what my rights are and to prepare myself in case things get ugly.  This whole thing is really weighing on me right now and I am stressed beyond belief.  I just want out and I am not longer going to play nice.

Thanks for listening.