The all-Ummel Odysseus Medals, January 28
The All – Ummel Odysseus Medals are now at the Bloodhound Blog. Top honors this week goes to Glenn Kelman at the Redfin Corporate Blog for his outstanding take on the story, “114 Pounds of Absolute Perserverance”.
Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy chimes in and picks up the Black Pearl with his post, “On Buyers Suing Agents”.
Last, but not least, the magnificent Brian Brady wins the People’s Choice for his clever post on the subject, "Watch Out! Here Comes Erin Brockovich!"
When I first noticed the story of the couple in California suing their real estate agent in the NY Times (and I’m so glad the NY Times has finally made all their stories available online), I thought this was a case of an ambulance chasing attorney. It certainly stirred up a lot of commentary in the real estate blogosphere.
From the NY Times, “Ms. Ummel claims that the agent hid the information that similar homes in the neighborhood were selling for less because he feared she would back out and he would lose his $30,000 commission. … Mr. Little also worked as a mortgage broker. The Ummels say he encouraged them to get their loan through him.”
As anyone who reads me regularly knows, I tell it like it is. I was asked many times about potential appreciation in my career and my answer was always the same, “If historical trends continue, real estate has generally appreciated in value”. Obviously in parts of the country, that historical trend has broken for now and there are some unhappy buyers looking to blame (or sue) others.
There is probably much more to the story than we know at this time but I don’t think it is just about price declines and buyer remorse. Acting as a real estate agent and a mortgage broker is a potential conflict. Withholding material information might be a breach of fiduciary duties. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
I would like to make an additional point about the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the (sometimes overly) positive spin they seem to regularly put out. Not all Realtors®, myself included, are happy with some of the advertising and much of the wishful thinking. A bit more honesty about the current real estate environment would get a lot more respect from the membership.