William Raveis Real Estate

Idiots or sleazy, either way it wasn't pretty. Failed to properly make a bid on a house, then lied about it. Didn't call us back, email us back, didnt contact our lawyers back or return the call to our insurance agent! Didn't lift a finger to help organize the closing. Didn't show up for the closing. We asked our broker in an email about negotiating some things in the purchase and sale and our broker didnt write to the other broker HE FORWARDED OUR EMAIL TO THE OTHER BROKER!!! ON PURPOSE!! Giving away ALL of the details of what we wanted to ask for, and what we would settle for. THAT WAS HIS NEGOTIATING STRATEGY!!! I should play poker with the guy and handily get all our money back! We also did our mortgage with them, another total debacle. I watched them throw my confidential financial information into the recycle bin rather than shredding it (my bank account numbers, address, etc, bank account numbers of people who sent me money, etc). They also suggested I do something unethical to expedite the mortgage process. They also then got us the wrong mortgage, the day before the closing and told us "too late!" we cant change it. So we have a more expensive mortgage now.

The "price" I'm listing was the commission the seller paid on the sale of the house we bought; as buyers, we didn't owe anything to the agent who assisted us. Raveis as a company does get credit for making our housing search easier by providing a tablet app that allows you to draw your own target region on a map and search for listings meeting your criteria inside it. That may not sound like much, but it eliminates a vast amount of frustration and wasted time when you're looking for a house in a new town and don't know the local neighborhood names.

The first agent I used, Kathy Cuoco, told me everything was great and that the house was ready to go. After a few weeks of little to no activity, I asked someone else to check in. They told me the grass was very high and that the house looked abandoned. When I contacted Raveis, I was told it was a tough market and to drop my price. After a couple months of basically nothing, I asked to change agents so my listing was (kinda, sorta) transferred to Kathy Knox. She began by saying that I should drop my price because it was an awful market and that she didn't expect it to improve for at least 2 years. (I can look up the Case-Shiller Housing Index easily enough, and it didn't support her assertion.) Meanwhile, I traveled to Massachusetts and saw that the place needed work. I can't guess why they didn't tell me, unless they were used to selling abandoned properties and mine looked good by comparison. So I hired several tradespeople to make repairs and updates. When the house went back on the market, I got some interest but I never felt like the Raveis team was working on my behalf. They were just going through the motions. The worst point came when they had an open house and got no traffic. I was told by a friend that they didn't even put signs out. When I asked why not, they said they'd advertised the open house on Craig's List. Eventually, the 6-month listing contract expired and I re-listed with Keller-Williams out of Concord. Talk about a night-and-day difference. The agent I used, Deb Nicholls, was so much more professional and helpful. She took charge and did what a real estate agent is supposed to do. I soon got an offer and sold the house. Kathy Knox is still sending me email updates on my listing even though the house is sold and despite my repeated requests for her to stop. They honestly seem utterly clueless.