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Active Rain • August 30, 2010

Do It Yourself Hell

by J. Philip Faranda

I don’t have any issues with For Sale By Owners. It is a free market. I equally have no issue with FSBOs who pay a fee to enter their home on the MLS and then try and act as their own listing agent. What I do have a problem with is people who distrust agents because they paint us with a broad brush in the lack of integrity department but then turn around and misrepresent themselves. That wastes my time. 

Today I walked through a home which was billed as a “totally renovated home.” It was not. It was an incomplete, sloppy, half finished do it yourself job of dubious quality. What I observed was a patchwork of poor workmanship, probably illegal (which is to say, no permits) “improvements” and a desk in the basement covered with indications that the owners were unskilled weekend warriors. 

We saw:  

  • Exposed wiring everywhere
  • Missing molding and sloppy finishing where it wasn’t missing
  • An incomplete kitchen with a CURTAIN for a sink cabinet door
  • An incomplete master bath
  • A finished basement with a 6-foot ceiling -which couldn’t be legal in their wildest dreams
  • An HVAC unit in a basement closet with hanging wires and ductwork that was separated and leaning
The MLS marketing remarks were written in language and copy worthy of my best effort, and I’ve done some good write -ups. Concise, a vivid word picture, inviting, convincing, and great economy of words. It was fantastic. The only problem was that it couldn’t be for this house. 
I suppose I shouldn’t have a problem with these people. They make the best argument for the necessity of accountable brokerage. 
Broken Ductwork

 

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