Saturday, June 26, 2010

Facing Giants (my own)

Yesterday was a particularly interesting day as I decided I was going to face some things I had been putting off due to fear.

As you all know my home had an offer placed on it over a week ago. For the most part I have been blessed to supply everything the realtor is asking for considering they basically need your whole life when doing a short sale. However as of late my realtor hasn't been so pleasant and each day my frustration has been growing. Well I decided that I need to put an end to the madness! Throughout the process of purchasing my first home and selling it now it has never been pleasant. One of the reasons I got my real estate license was so that I COULD be the good agent and people wouldn't have to put up with the agent that bites! I currently don't actively sell real estate but it is one of my future goals when all this debt is paid off and I have built up a hefty bank account. Anywhoot so I wrote a letter to the company expressing my concerns and my good friend helped me draft the letter.

Im usually not so good at confrontation but its something that I feel God is bring out of me because as I get older things like this will come up and if I don't face it (just like the car situation) I will be left with a mess on my hands. So here is the letter I wrote....

Dear Mr. Jon Swords,

This e-mail is being sent to inform you that, I have applied and paid for the home inspection for 12851 Riverview St which is Scheduled for July 1,2010. I would also like to make you aware of several issues that have arisen in my attempts to sale my property, namely, my dissatisfaction with
the service I have received from my agent John Lewis.

First, is the issue regarding the property not being able to be entered at the time the agent wanted to do a showing. I received an email days later stating there was a chain on the door. When I contacted Mr. Lewis regarding not notifying me sooner, His response to me was "I did not have your number". This was extremely disappointing as the sale of the property is important to me and should be important to your company as well. I had expected that any time there would be an issue regarding the property, at the very least the real estate office would be contacted in order to obtain my number on file in order to schedule appointments.

Second, I do not appreciate being told things at the last minute, i.e. being informed about the inspection cost and fees regarding the law firm's negotiation of the short sale. It is unnecessarily
stressful to receive news that has financial ramifications for me that is likely information my agent could have shared earlier.

Finally, I question Mr. Lewis's level of professionalism. When communicating with me about the inspection cost and law fees, he made racially offensive comments about Detroit's former mayor. He insinuated that I am on a first-name basis with the former mayor and that if I had a problem with
paying for the inspection, that I should take it up with Kwame. I am a black woman, who was raised in the city of Detroit but find it highly offensive that someone I have a business relationship with--Mr. Lewis--would make any hint of associating me with someone who has been convicted of a crime.

Based on the issues above I would like to request another agent to complete this process. Though we are in the final stages of the sale of this property, I expect professionalism and good customer service from the agency. My experiences are not enabling me to give good reviews or referrals
for your agency. I desire a more positive and professional relationship. If your company cannot provide me with another agent, I have made arrangement to do business with another company.

I look forward to being in communication with you regarding the new agent who will be assigned to work with me to sale my property.

Respectfully,

Kimike Clark

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you, sometimes it seems easier to just stay quiet and get through it, but in the long run standing up for yourself is always better.

Divine and Debt Free said...

Right and I was really doing my best to put up and shut up, but it just got to be too much especially knowing Im doing everything I can to make it go smoothly. I am very NON confrontational but sometimes you just have to go there with people. Its not always a happy ending but hey I did my best!