Dave Mattingly

Dave promised us weekly updates and to notify us any time our house was going to be shown - so we could be sure we weren't there or didn't drop by when a client was looking at it. Once we signed the listing papers, Dave basically vanished. He took a few photos, put a sign in the yard and we didn't hear from him again for a couple weeks. Nothing. Nada. He didn't even e-mail us a link to our listing. I had to go find it online myself. Not a big deal, but come on. About four weeks into the listing, we still hadn't heard anything, so I called him. He said there was a lot of traffic in the first week and that he had shown it several times. That's all well and good, I thought, but where's the follow up? Why didn't he tell me about the showings like he promised? Where was his promised weekly activity report? Where was the promised notification whenever someone visited our home? I explained to David that I was not satisfied with his level of communication. He apologized and assured me he would redouble his efforts and do our weekly update. So the next week, I did get an e-mail saying he was planning an open house the following weekend. We drove past and saw a car in the driveway and the open house sign on the 'for sale' sign. "Good," we thought. Things are happening. Guess what - No report on the activity from the open house. In fact, there was no report at all. Nothing. No follow up. He vanished again. We drove past the house again and saw Open House sign was still on the For Sale sign. ... and it remained there until the day the house sold. Reviewing the paper, the MLS site and other resources, we never saw our house listed for an open house again. We drove past the house on a couple Sundays, but never saw a car in the driveway. He just didn't take the Open House off of the For Sale sign. A few weeks later, I was again forced to e-mail him for an update. All he could say was that he was doing more marketing and suggested we bring the price down $500 dollars so it would show Reduced in the listings. I agreed. He did it then promptly disappeared again. By now, it's after Thanksgiving and we're getting ready for the holidays. My wife and I decide that the house isn't moving and we're going to take it off the market. According to our contract with David, we can't re-list the house with anyone else for 90 days, so we figured now was the time to pull it off the market. We weren't satisfied with Dave Mattingly's service, wanted to list with someone else and would need the 90 days to get back on the market in time for spring. I e-mail Dave and tell him our decision to pull the house off the market. He's on a ski-trip to Colorado when I send it. I know this because he calls me back immediately from the lodge to tell me he has an offer on the house and to sit tight until he gets back from vacation. ...long story shortened a little - He comes back from vacation and brings us a low-ball offer from the buyer. Negotiations go as negotiations go... I can't blame him for anything that happened during negotiations, however I will say that I felt like I was negotiating against both the buyer and David. I never felt like he listed to what I had to say or even that he was acting in my best interest. Regardless, we reached a deal and the house sold. After the home inspection, we made a last minute concession at Dave's urging. Since it ate up some of our out-of-pocket funds, he told us he'd refund $400 off his commission to 'get the deal done'. I thought Dave Mattingly was difficult to reach and communicate with when he had our listing. Now that he owes us money, he's a mythical creature. More than four months after we closed and after countless unanswered e-mails and unanswered phone calls, I still don't have the funds. I just called his office and they said he 'just ran out to lunch.' I called him on his cell phone from a different number so he wouldn't recognize me on caller ID and he answered. He told me he was in the hospital and "wanted to answer before they take me back" (get this) "because I recognized the number." To me, that demonstrates a clear lack of integrity - not a quality I want in my realtor. Week 1 - House listed. No communication Week 2 - Nothing. Week 3 - I call, he says there's been traffic and he's about to have an open house. He promises weekly follow ups. Week 4 - e-mail update. Tells me same thing he said when we talked on the phone. Week 5 - Nothing Week 6 - Nothing Week 7 - I e-mail again for an update. Nothing. Week 8 - Nothing Week 9 - I e-mail again for an update. He replies that traffic has slowed and that he's ratcheting up his marketing effort Week 10 - E-mail follow up from David.... the one week I told him we'd be out of town and couldn't get e-mail. Week 11 - Nothing Week 12 - Nothing Week 13 - Nothing Week 14 - I've had it, and send him notification that we want to pull the house off the market. He replies and says he has an offer.