TimesToCome

I decide to scan the Boston real estate ads to see what our competition looks like.

Well lo and behold there is our ad and not a mention of the commuter rail. I’m ready to commit murder now. I get a hold of my real estate tycoon uncle in Houston and ask him what to do. He says not a problem, sometimes things don’t work out with brokers, get a ‘Release of Contract’ – he has done it many times and just go find a new broker. Preferrably a full service broker. Preferably one who has been in town a long time. Cool. I contact that nice Carol from Re/Max and I stop by Bob Cassidy Real Estate. Both of them say they can still get us to Houston on time. They both have great marketing ideas. I don’t know which to pick. I’m excited, this is all going to be ok now.

Per Uncle’s instructions, I have husband type a detailed list of complaints and request a ‘Release of Contract’ and email it to the salesman. And we wait for him to write us back.

And wait.

And wait.

No response from The Salesman.

WTF?! Doesn’t he know who I am?!! I am the Four Horsemen of The Apocalpyse! I am Death and Destruction! I am Kali! Broker is going to wish he had never been born when I get through with him!

Husband is terrified. Has seen me in this mood before (usually just before dodging flying dinner plates) and knows that anything can happen. Dinner is canceled (fewer plates to replace that way) and we descend upon the DiscountBroker office like Visigoths sacking Rome.

Salesman isn’t there. No problem. Fetch the Manager! Manager isn’t there either?!! Kindly retrieve the bleeping Manager then. The receptionist says the salesman had day off. Says the manager has gone home for the day. Receptionist is now having a very unpleasant day

We won’t leave.

We aren’t being nice.

We glare.

We froth.

We have receptionist call the Salesman. We tell Salesman we’ve had it and we want out. Salesman says only Manager can release us. Alright, Himself is summoned from dinner. Salesman is also summoned. Manager gets there first. Salesman arrives shortly thereafter. Manager flat out refuses to release us even before he hears our complaints.

Manager has no answers for us: has no idea why house isn’t being shown, has no idea what current sales activity is, says houses take 90 days to sell (hey we were told 60 by the Salesman!), has no idea how many showings it takes on average to sell a house. Manager says existing home sales are down in Attleboro. Also says some brokers come in at a high price to get your business, overprice your home and it doesn’t sell but they wouldn’t tell us that if they were doing that. Does he think we are stupid? I’ve seen 6 year olds try and con people that way. Is he lying to us about not knowing the numbers we are asking him for or is he the most incompetent businessman I’ve ever met. Either way it is bad for us. Eventually he agrees to shorten the contract from May 17^th to Mar 31^st. Probably should have gotten that in writing, I’m starting to feel really conned here. I must be getting old.

He assures us the Boston Globe ad on Sunday will be as we requested (mention of commuter rail etc).