Edina Realty Wayzata

Overall we were very disappointed with the services provided by Catherine Seck and the Edina Realty Wayzata office. There were things Catherine did very well (ie: responding to emails promptly and touring houses with us), but unfortunately the things she did not do well far outweighed what she did well. She did the small/easy things well, but missed greatly on the most important things. Summary of our experience A backdraft issue was identified in the Truth in Housing inspection report for the boiler and hot water heater and we told Catherine that we wanted language in the purchase agreement to ensure the system was fixed properly and safe to operate. She told us that she would require the sellers to provide a certification on the units, which she told us was a full safety check and would confirm that any work done was done properly and the unit was safe. The sellers and selling agent gave us multiple assurances that the specific problems flagged were addressed. Despite multiple attempts to obtain the boiler certification several weeks in advance of closing, it was not provided until the day before closing. We had some questions and concerns about the documentation that was provided as it didn't seem to meet the terms of the purchase agreement as a "full certification" of the units. Catherine accepted the documentation as a certification and allowed us to close (although she did not attend the closing - see #3 below). The day after closing, which was our first day in the house, we smelled something odd in the basement and called the gas company just to be safe. Within minutes of them arriving in the home they shut down our boiler and hot water heater for backdrafting, which was the exact issue we wanted addressed. As we researched the issues further, we found out that the company who did the work that was passed along to us as a "certification" does not do certifications as a matter of policy. It cost well over $10,000 to fix the problem, and despite Catherine telling us that we would not be financially responsible to remedy the problem, we were the ones that were left to foot the bill. Below is a summary of the ways we feel Catherine Seck and Edina Realty failed us: 1. Lack of industry knowledge and failure to research outstanding questions. Despite us raising concerns about the work performed, she accepted a document as a "certification" from a company who does not provide certifications. As a long-term veteran in the real estate industry, Catherine should be familiar with safety certifications and resolution of Truth in Housing disclosures. 2. Misleading guidance regarding contract language. As the sellers were relocating, we had the purchase agreement with the relocation company. As part of this we were told we had to sign "as-is" agreements and disclosure waivers. We specifically asked Catherine about these documents and her response was that they were standard and that we were not giving up anything as a result of signing them. This was false as it was a key part of the defense that was used in the lawsuit against the sellers (that we lost.) Despite Catherine's remarks that the "as-is" and disclosure waivers were standard and no big deal, they did turn out to be quite important. She should have known this and as a result her duty of care to us should have been elevated even higher. If there were any questions about the boiler, hot water heater, certifications, etc she should have not allowed us to close until all were settled. These agreements made going back after the closing almost impossible. I would have found it acceptable if she said "you should probably consult a lawyer on this"...anything other than saying it is completely standard and we are not giving up anything. 3. Lack of representation at the closing despite our stated concerns. Two days before the closing Catherine informed us that she could not attend the closing as she was planning to attend a Renaissance Fair. We pointed out to her that we still didn't have resolution on the boiler and asked what we should do if there are items we are not sure about since we still had some major issues to resolve. She did not respond to this and Edina was not present at the closing. I should also note that we were completely flexible on closing and Catherine selected the closing date with our consent despite having an apparent conflict on this day. 4. Pressuring us to include unfavorable terms in the contract. Catherine advised us to bid about $10,000 over asking price and waive all inspection contingency. We worked out details on pricing but when we told her we were not comfortable waiving inspection contingency she tried for 20 minutes to get us to change our minds. When we still didn't budge she proceeded to put her husband, also a real estate agent, on the phone to try and convince us we should waive inspection. As she is supposed to be representing us, it was disappointed we had to negotiate so hard with her on the things we told her we "wanted". 5. Lack of accountability and responsibility to remedy the boiler/hot water heater. When the gas company shut down our boiler and hot water heater she said that we would not be responsible, said to keep invoices and assured us that it would be "taken care of" and that it was not our financial responsibility. However when it came time to pay the $10,100 bill, Catherine's manager called to inform us that "Edina Realty does not warranty the houses", as if our issue was related to a warranty. The problem was that they did not listen to our concerns and execute the terms of the purchase agreement. Catherine and Edina Realty didn't do their job, and we were put in harms way and had to assume all financial responsibility. 6. Allowing the seller to set the terms. During the walkthrough we found there were several items from the purchase agreement that were taken from the house (a refrigerator, microwave, curtain rods, window treatments) and there was damage done to the carpet and floors during the moving process. Catherine told us she would work with the selling agent, find prices online and they would cut us a check at closing for the total value of the items taken, which sounded fair to us. However, just hours before the closing we were emailed an offer of $250 to cover the items and damages. It irritated us that Catherine would allow them to make an offer and set the terms on this when they were the ones that were in breach of the contract. 7. Lack of negotiation strategy and negotiation experience. We found that Catherine was reactionary and not proactive in most aspects of the negotiations and she did not employ any specific tactics or strategy in the process. We thought she gave up leverage without asking for anything in return on multiple occasions just because the other party asked for it. For instance, we asked Catherine to put a time box on the offer because there was an open house and we wanted the sellers to accept the offer before the open house to avoid multiple offers. Catherine had convinced us to offer over the asking price, waive the inspection because we had put in the boiler certification contingency as part of the offer and also put an expiration time on the offer. When the other party asked for a time extension on the offer, she advised us that we should grant this but she did not ask for anything in return to put pressure on them. She caved to their demands on multiple occasions and then convinced us that we should too. We have nothing personal against Catherine. We found she was pleasant to be around and did provide some insight into the house livability, put in a lot of time with us, and showed us a lot of houses. We were picky clients who were looking for something specific and we told her this on our very first meeting. We got caught up in the pressure of the closing process and ended up accepting her advice on many things that in hindsight, really hurt us. We really wish she would have listened to our concerns and put pressure on the sellers, rather than listen to the sellers and put additional pressure on us. A more appropriate response of an agent representing our best interest would have been "give us what we asked for or we don't close". In reflecting on the events leading up to closing, we can't recall a single time in the transaction that she put any pressure on the sellers. We will certainly not use Catherine or Edina Realty in any future transactions and tell our story to everyone we know who is looking for houses and advise them against Edina Realty. The events that we experienced due to Catherine and Edina Realty's negligence were extremely disappointing and robbed us of the joy and delight a couple should experience as they start off in their new house.

Not well. We are extremely upset, and this experience has caused us and our kids significant distress and lost productivity. We had worked with Edina Realty before and had no problems, but that was at least 7 years ago, and leadership seems to have changed drastically. The economy must have turned them sour, and we had the misfortune of walking into their office at the wrong time. I believe this is not necessarily the case with other Edina Realty offices; I am speaking only about our experiences with this one.