Larry Lindt - Morgan-Collins Inc

Larry Lindt came highly recommended by an acquaintance who used Larry as her real estate agent. My husband and I hired Larry to help us find a house to buy. In the beginning, Larry was very professional and friendly. It wasn't until later during the home buying process that I experienced problems with him. Larry took me to look at several houses and on one occasion I waited for Larry about 30 minutes past our scheduled meeting time, so I drove for a few minutes around the neighborhood and returned to the house to find Larry waiting for me. Instead of apologizing for being late, he said he waited for me a long time and even called my home phone number and talked to a member of my family. Later I asked the family member and was told that Larry NEVER called. I wasn't receiving any updates or new house listings via email from Larry and asked him to find out if there's a computer glitch on his end. After awhile, I gave up and found listings on my own by going to the local real estate website. When I spotted a house that I was interested in, I contacted Larry to schedule a viewing. One time Larry even asked me how I found the house we went to look at, and I told him the internet. I wasn't getting any responses from his office when it came to new house listings, so I took it upon myself to do the legwork. During one of our phone conversations, Larry got impatient with me and yelled, "I don't know what you want!" All I wanted was a house that's move-in condition. In many houses that we looked at, Larry was quick to point out how easy it would be to fix the flaws that I spotted, such as the numerous crack on the sidewalks. He had a handyman who could fix these problems for me. One of the houses was too dark inside, so Larry said I could have a window installed to add more light. My husband and I loved a house that we saw and Larry pointed out the problems and tried to steer us away by complaining the chandelier was ugly or he didn't like the carpet color and texture, which happened to be one of the more expensive upgrades in that house. I contacted Larry to look at a house that I eventually purchased. When we walked through the house, all Larry could say out loud was how nice the white kitchen laminate cabinets looked. The sellers were home at the time and listened to him compliment the house. Then we went in the garage and he said the rough wood panels the sellers used to cover the walls costs more than drywall. It turns out that this material costs much less in labor and materials than dry walling the garage. Once we were outside, Larry sounded very angry that the sellers used an out-of-state agent to list their home rather than a local agent. "If I listed this house, I would list it for $25K more than the asking price." It sure sounded to me like Larry was working for the sellers rather than us, the buyers. When we filled out the paperwork to submit our offer, Larry told us not to make the sellers angry by offering a lot less than the asking price. He printed out some listings of homes that sold within the past year to give me an idea of what houses in the area sold for. What he did NOT show me were the houses comparable in size and age in the neighborhood that sold for less than the price I offered. He did not want me to see these listings for fear that I would have a reason to ask for much less than he suggested, thereby reducing his commission. I've been househunting for 2-3 years and knew what houses in the neighborhood sold for, because I actually toured these homes during open houses without Larry when they were still on the market. Larry didn't know that I did my research. I took his advice anyway and offered a little less than $10K from their asking price. I told Larry that the housing market was slowing down after reading and hearing about the housing crisis occurring out west, but he assured me that this area is very conservative and won't be affected. Now I regret not offering much less than what we eventually paid for this house, but I trusted Larry's professional opinion at the time. The sellers gladly accepted the offer, because they were building a house and needed to sell this one. They walked away with about $70K profit from the house after 5 years of owning it. After the contract was signed and the closing date neared, Larry told me to contact his secretary for questions or help. If she couldn't answer my questions, then she'll pass it on to Larry. After the house inspection, I told Larry what I wanted the sellers to fix according to the inspector's recommendations. Larry left a message on my voice mail complaining about my recommendations and then said he'll have to listen to the sellers complain to him. Larry once said he knows a sale of a home is good when BOTH the sellers and buyers are NOT happy. This makes absolutely no sense to me. The goal is to make people happy. As a thank-you gift for working with him, Larry's office sent us a letter congratulating us on the purchase of our home and sent us a discount coupon at a local furniture store. No gift basket, no bottle of wine, no flowers--just a coupon that required us to make a purchase in order to receive a % off.