Real Estate Villains

First Things First:

The June sales numbers came out. Sales were down -6% in Palm Beach County, -2% in Martin County, -9% in Broward, -10% in Miami Dade, and even in 0% in St. Lucie County compared to last year at this time. Those numbers were much better than the April and May of this year which were all down by double digits. But the real good news is pending sales. June sales are really the result of April and May pending’s. The June new pending’s in Palm Beach County were even steven compared to 2024 and other counties also showed more activity. This means we should see sales in July and August break even with last year. I think we have hit bottom of activity and the next 5 months will be the most opportune time to purchase as “must sellers” are willing to make a deal. You can look at all the June activity here. Note that there is now a toggle for choosing between single family homes, townhomes/condos, and all properties as well as counties.

Second, and this is an ask for a great cause. I’ve been involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters for over two years. We have a location in West Palm Beach that needs a decorator’s vision and some help remodeling. If you know anyone who appreciates this cause and would be willing to donate some time, please contact me. We would be most appreciative.

Now on to the bad eggs in this JJ….

Shooter McGavin—maybe the best golf villain of all time—is back in Happy Gilmore 2 this weekend. Some people loved the new Superman, others thought it was too “woke.” But most agreed: Lex Luthor nailed the villain role. Villains show up everywhere. Francis Buxton in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. The Ugly (who was worse than the Bad) in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Even Hulk Hogan—RIP—turned heel later in his career.

In real life there are plenty of malefactors. Capone. Madoff. Manson. Epstein. Villains eventually get remembered by their last name.

Since this is the summer of the villain, I thought it was appropriate to name some in real estate. Yes, we have our share. Not too many but more than I thought when writing this. So, here are the real estate scoundrel awards by category….

Roofers

Sometimes it’s shoddy work, but it’s the assignability of the warranty which is the biggest issue I see. There are some developments and roofers where the warranty only survives for the original owner. People get crazy over this. If you are buying a home from a developer or getting a new roof, make sure that it not only is transferable, but it’s transferable to the new buyer if they want to transfer it too.

Killer Roofer

It is not so easy to find a roofer who is good at repairs. We had one until he hit the news for killing a lady and dragging her off into the Loxahatchee Slough. It was a very Larry David moment as we had him scheduled and he was a good roofer. The killing thing, though, put him in the ultimate villain category.

Owners of Brokerages

One guy was arrested a few years back for beating up a woman. Not the first time either. Another company took the clients’ money out of escrow – for themselves! Buyers lost their deposits and Realtors lost their commissions. Deals fell apart. Google the brokerage you are thinking of using and add the word “arrest” and separately “escrow.” The Realtors who work for these firms are aware of this behavior. There are plenty of good brokerages out there to use, unless you want to support this type of lifestyle and fatten their pocketbooks.

Inspectors

There are 2 extremes. One is a guy who used to have an old jalopy with a ponytail. He infuriated my seller so much that my seller used an opportunity to cancel the deal. 50% of the deals always fell apart. He would emphasize the word “ORIGINAL.” One buyer said to him, “Is this a good inspection, bad inspection, or ok inspection?” The inspector said, “No, it’s ok.” When representing a seller, I used to ban the buyer from using him if I knew the other Realtor’s preference. On the flip side, there are companies that buyer’s agents find that find next to nothing when there should be more. I’ve seen some that find the repairs and then want to do the repairs, which is such a conflict of interest.

Sellers

Most of my sellers have been great people. People get stressed, and the selling process can be emotionally taxing for some. We get that. There’s one couple who I still remember from during the Big Short market. I sold their house for a record number in a tough market. Meanwhile, I took them around to visit different new construction. Spent umpteen days with them. Settled into one spot. Visited this development with them four times including weekends and nights. Back and forth with information, comparables, and advice. Finally become enamored with a custom builder within the development. Worked at picking out lot location, materials and negotiated the price. They called me to their home and told me that the builder told them if I wasn’t involved – they could get a better deal without me. Therefore, they were cutting me out of the deal because they felt I had made enough money. This was a new marriage and the guy who I had the original relationship with took me aside and said he felt bad but he didn’t want to argue with his new wife who pushed for this. They actually couldn’t do that because the developer had to pay compensation. Again, that’s 1 in 1,000. I’ve had people say they aren’t buying the home unless I’m taken care of.

Buyers

One person I showed a home to, I noticed one day was in the tax records with a home I showed. He purchased the property without me, even though I brought the buyer and seller together. I actually had an agreement with them. The Buyer told me he was a big cigarette lawyer and worth millions. He said to just meet me at the county steps. I wanted to say to him, “puff you”.

Friends

A networking friend of mine wanted me to show his wife around, looking for her mom. I accompanied her around for half a day and then to a listing I had coming. The husband called me the following week and told me his wife knocked on the door and bought the house. The wife comes to my office with a $25 gift certificate for a restaurant. I took it and decided to bite my lip. She calls me a week later and is interested in an investment property and wants me to show her around. Some people!

Realtors

There is like a top 10 list of Realtors that are snakes in the grass, and we all know who they are by a brief description. I took my first vacation in years around 2008 and this new Realtor knocks on the door in a gated community without calling us and at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. I’m at Disney. The owners are much older and were confused as to why I’m not there. I’m explaining it’s because no one called us. I had a new assistant who had just started. She runs over to the house. My assistant stays with the other Realtor until 8 p.m! The owner is mad at me as they are still upset, that I didn’t call her for permission. In between I’m leaving the restaurant to talk in the lobby with all this noise. My family is upset. Basically, the Realtor was just trying to create bad relations so she could get the listing. She did this to others as well along with other crazy tales of how many homes she has sold. The Realtor bounced around to a number of different brokerages and has done the same thing for years. I still get a migraine any time I hear her name.

Double-Dipping Realtors

There are a number of these out there. They have Jekyll and Hyde personalities. They appear to be wonderful people with their sellers but are the most awful people outside of that. What they try to do is stall showings. They don’t return phone calls. Then the time to show it is not available. What the Jekyll and Hyde phony baloney is trying to do is double the money for themselves rather than do right by their clients. I asked a couple of Realtors who the worst Realtors were to work with for this piece. Both brought up his name for the same thing.

Double-Dip Brokerages

There is one brokerage around right now which in my opinion is trying to maximize their own profits instead of their clients by having private listings. I believe the true purpose is for the company to double dip and have both sides of the deal. The way to maximize price is for every available purchaser to see your home and that won’t happen if it’s not on the open market. Imagine an auction house eliminating 95% of the bidders. It would be a terrible strategy. There is a major website portal in a lawsuit with them that says they won’t put their listings on its site if they follow through with this. I would never list with that company recommending this as I do not believe they have your best interest at heart.

Bounty Hunter Brokerages

I started making a lot of headway during my third year in the business. The development I was focused on put a bounty on me. They would fine any Realtor in their firm $1,000 with no commission if they did more than one deal with me. I was scared and my broker had the mortgage office in our competitor’s office and wouldn’t go to bat for me. Fortunately, my clients stuck with me, and I blasted marketing out to make sure everyone would know our listings. The previous year I did 46 transactions with one double dip. My double dips went up to 20 the following year as the buyers just went around the bounty hunter brokerage who didn’t want to show property.

Attorneys

One who answered his own phone and who was based in Naples wanted their clients to not sign off on the PGA POA addendum so he could sue the association with a class action lawsuit. He told me not to worry about it. I said, “I don’t think my sellers are interested in that.”

Lazy Appraisers

I saw lots of this during the Big Short market. Some didn’t know the area and wouldn’t walk through the property. I had to go walk through one and prove there was a powder room, as he insisted there was not.

Builders

Builders can be categorized in grades of A-B-C-D. Some are at cost + 15/20%. But there are trades that are giving kickbacks. Some of these builders go with the guy giving the kickback. Paying more for one trade than they know. Shoddy work. Walls not straight. Or they buy last year’s appliances. One builder who builds beautiful A+ communities gets a D for the construction of them. Chinese drywall issues. Grading where tiles pop. ACs where the whole community had their ACs needing replacement in just three years.

HOAs

A few years ago, we had a celebrity baseball player rent a home for spring training. We submitted all the HOA paperwork a month in advance. We were frantically calling on Thursday and then on Friday along with our landlord with no avail. I had our Realtors email everyone at the HOA so it’s all in writing with a paper trail. I finally got a hold of someone, and they told me that the HOA President is at a funeral. I said, the President has had a month. This is a well-known person, and I don’t think you want to wake up on Monday morning with WPTV filming a story at this home with all their stuff in a parking lot. Miraculously, he signed off. Another HOA I know had board members get in a tiff and the board, unbeknownst to the community, racked up $50,000 in legal bills suing the other board members. Could go on and on with these stories.

Cheap & Emotional Landlords

We had one landlord who went crazy when the buyer did their own carpet cleaning and on their own dime. Another one where the landlord accused the tenant of bringing bugs into the house on purpose as they refused pest control. A stove that a landlord wouldn’t replace and then he got mad at the tenant when a fire occurred. One mini fridge in place of the large fridge that broke. The worst, though, just happened. A tenant got rid of the cheap old builder-grade toilets and replaced them with Toto toilets. The landlord refused to give back the deposit unless the original builder grade toilets were in place. The tenant didn’t want to flush their savings down the drain, so went door to door and found someone willing to trade their old toilets for the new Totos.

Tenants

Trashed places, scriptures on the wall, and other gross stuff. The number who wouldn’t pay or leave mostly occurred during the Big Short market. The worst, though, are people who think they are living in the Ritz-Carlton and call the landlord 24-7 over nothing. More instantly than abominable but one nutty tenant called a dozen times in a few hours asking her desk chair be raised 2 inches.

Service Providers

Seen it all here. Pool providers who just disappear. Had one AC provider who charged double what any other place would. We recently had a plumber who cracked all the tile around the toilet and then would not return any calls.

Show Dogs in Crates

Seasonal renters (all of them) say that Fifi, the 4-pound show dog, just sits in the crate and never barks. Yeah, right. It’s really not Fifi but the tenant who is the baddy here.

And you thought I’d end with the dog as the villain?!