LINDA SHOEMAKER

Before we had decided on which house to buy, we had a conversation with Linda Shoemaker about the house she had listed. In talking with our buyer's agent, she took an accusatory tone and said, ''We KNOW they are talking to other builders.'' I think it would be irresponsible to buy a brand-new house without talking to several builders. Is she afraid to work with informed buyers? By the end of our transaction, we were referring to Linda Shoemaker simply as ''the dragon lady.'' She approaches every house sale as if it were an episode of Gladiators, complete with full battle gear and weapons. Even though we clearly loved the house and were adding upgrades that increased the sales price, she acted out of suspicion that we would try to back out of the contract. Between her confrontational attitude and the phantom meetings she set up with the builders without informing them and the obstacles she created out of thin air to our purchasing a house from her, how is she still in business.