Your Real Estate agent is NOT a Contractor!

This morning a long time client called to tell me there was a problem with a property they were bringing to the market. They have used our cleaning services for years. They have also used some of my workers from time to time to work on properties. We have kind of a loose relationship. This time they used a contractor recommended by the Real Estate agent. I’m a Real Estate agent, but contracting work on properties is my claim to fame.

This is an agent I respect. He’s great, does a good job, and gives his clients an exceptional value. Our company has never done work for him or any one who works with him. I have however come across some of the shoddy work this agent has recommended a Home Owner do to get a property sold.

We have found water damaged floors covered over with carpet. Painted walls that were used to hide staining from a reoccurring problem. Tile or flooring put over structural defects such as a sloped floor, kitchen “remodels” without changing out the plumbing or electrical systems, and perfume to hide odors are some of the fixes that have to be dealt with after the deal closes. A buyer may be impressed by the move in condition, but find projects that need to be done to make the place livable.

Two houses that I looked at this year after a heavy rain had flooding issues. Both houses dried out the basement to have the houses go back onto the market with a passing comment about the unusually heavy rain fall. Both houses had failed drainage systems that I would think any agent would be able to spot, but the recommendations were to extend the down spouts away from the house, in both cases, like that’s going to fix it.

The down spout extension trick is common. In cases of higher ground properties or down spouts that empty into those concrete drain pipes that are usually clogged the trick works. In terms of properties that back up to ravines, or creek beds there should be some due diligence. It’s my opinion that Real Estate agents should recommend more care be given to what could be a future liability.

Back to my clients, they put in a beige carpet in an upper floor. The contractor had taken out a chimney from an old wood stove. He patched the roof with a piece of asphalt material and tar. The patch leaked onto the middle of the carpet with a brown black stain that had accumulated for a few days. Once it was discovered the contractor tried to clean the spot with a solvent that melted the padding. Of course it was a cheap carpet, nobody said so, but of course when people do work to sell a property, they don’t care. That’s a topic for a separate post. My client was calling today to see if there was a trick, and I recommended replacing the carpet.

Two questions came to my mind while she and I were talking. Number one is why she was calling me now, and second why she didn’t call me before she started work on the place. I did recommend a great guy to her on her last project who she chose not to use. This time she had the ability to hire my favorite contractor, who is a bargain because he’s competent, and she didn’t do that. She hired the handy man recommended by her Real Estate agent. He’s cheap.

I hire cheap labor. The difference is that I can do most things if the guy doesn’t show up, or I can get some one else to do it. Your Real Estate agent is going down the list of people who have sent business cards or flyers to the office. They are asking the people at the next desk if they know some body to do this, that or the other. The problem is that contractors who work for Real Estate agents are busy. Many have a crew that works all the time. They are set up to handle the high volume quick turn around time. Those contractors work for who they know.

Now my client’s Real Estate agent is a top agent, been around for twenty plus years and has access to construction workers. He also works with builders. So how is it the handy man he recommended is weeks behind and thousands of dollars over budget? We have a project we are working on right now where the Home Owner is complaining about price and we are under budget, so the complaint is normal, we just have a better handle on it.

I hate to say it, but experience tells. I know when a project is going sideways. I follow up daily. When a worker, contractor, or laborer starts with a story, I tell them mine. If you can’t do the job, I’ll get some one else. Thanks but no thanks, no I don’t have money for you today, if you want to get paid you have to get something finished, and you weren’t here so I made the executive decision to replace you, thank you, sue me. You’re not my mother, father , sister, or brother, well sometimes they are, but the point is the same, and everybody has heard my story, everybody, consistently.

That’s the difference in getting something done. Many Real Estate agents want to be smart and get a good price. They just aren’t that smart. You can’t burn through resources. I have an agent who owes me seventy bucks. She can’t call me again. She has, or does, but we don’t work for her. As she burns her way through her worker resources she will find a dead end. She will be in business for about three years and fade away in five. She’s no longer the resource to her clients she once was. As she continues she will be the one, like my client was saying today, that will never work with a client again because of the nightmare of getting the property to market. That client will recount this story of paying thousands of dollars and being behind the market place by several weeks, and they have a trip planned out of the country next week. It’s a nightmare, not a good referral.

My recommendations are to hire your own contractor. Pay a fair price, and pick someone you can work with. Take referrals with a grain of salt. Check to see if the person you are talking with knows what they are talking about. Have a consultation with a contractor based on what your Real Estate agent tells you. Look at your house as though you were a potential buyer. Be honest, if anything sounds fishy or tricky don’t do it. We are in a market place based on the Internet. Buyers are pretty hip. I was talking with one of my Real Estate attorneys this morning about deceptive marketing practices. Contracting work should be on the list and I think it’s just a matter of time before it is.

As to the agent who recommended the handy man. This agent has a set of resources. The handy man is a part of this agent’s resources. the agent has a relationship with the handy man and wants to use him in the future. He may screw up this job and do great on the next. The agent has an allegiance to the handy man and may just be looking to get this place on the market, get paid, and move on. Most agents believe that the Home Inspection phase of a Purchase and Sale clears everybody of liability. It might if the agent is arms length away from the contractor doing the work. If they have a working relationship together I would think the agent would want the best work possible, but like I said, I don’t think all agents are that smart.