- Report: #127224
Complaint Review: First Place Realty - Austin Texas
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Author Not Confirmed
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First Place Realty
3307 Northland Drive Austin, 78748 Texas, U.S.A.
Phone:
512-458-6156
Web:
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First Place Realty ripoff! Austin Texas
Oh boy... let me tell you, they are still at it. I see adds in the Austin American Statesman regularly.
I have my own story...
I went to their company to see what kind of houses were in Austin that I could afford as a 1st time home buyer. I went to look at a few houses one Saturday with these realtors(they are an older couple). They took me to some of the worst homes I had ever seen, one smelled like a combonation between dirty diapers and really bad body odor! They also got lost, trying to find one of the locations, so we wasted about an hour to find just one of their "listings"(I was following them in my own vehicle).
After all that B.S. I decided to forget the whole thing, and continue renting at my current address. A few months later, I worked out a deal with my land lord and a different mortgage company to buy the house I was renting/living in for two years.
I got a "courtesy call" one day from the realtor at First Place Realty to see if I still wanted to buy/look for a home. I told the guy "no thanks, I am buying the house I have been living in for two years". His voice changed immediately on the phone to an angry tone. He told me that if I did not close on my house with them at the closing table, they would sue me for commission of the sale of my home, which is about $6,000.
They had nothing to do with my closing! They did not show me my house(I already lived there!),My house was never listed on the MLS listings, and I had only seen these people twice. They are nothing but a bunch of crooks. Their attorney actually sent me a threataning letter to sue, and I quickly responded with a letter in my defense as to why they didn't have a leg to stand on.
The bottom line is that if you are not aware of your rights and how the market works, you can get screwed. Don't EVER do business with these people, they actually have their attorney's office,realtors, and mortgage all in one place! It has RIP OFF written all over the building!!! They are at 2222 and mopac in the Ghirling buiding right by Randalls.
T
Austin, Texas
U.S.A.
I have my own story...
I went to their company to see what kind of houses were in Austin that I could afford as a 1st time home buyer. I went to look at a few houses one Saturday with these realtors(they are an older couple). They took me to some of the worst homes I had ever seen, one smelled like a combonation between dirty diapers and really bad body odor! They also got lost, trying to find one of the locations, so we wasted about an hour to find just one of their "listings"(I was following them in my own vehicle).
After all that B.S. I decided to forget the whole thing, and continue renting at my current address. A few months later, I worked out a deal with my land lord and a different mortgage company to buy the house I was renting/living in for two years.
I got a "courtesy call" one day from the realtor at First Place Realty to see if I still wanted to buy/look for a home. I told the guy "no thanks, I am buying the house I have been living in for two years". His voice changed immediately on the phone to an angry tone. He told me that if I did not close on my house with them at the closing table, they would sue me for commission of the sale of my home, which is about $6,000.
They had nothing to do with my closing! They did not show me my house(I already lived there!),My house was never listed on the MLS listings, and I had only seen these people twice. They are nothing but a bunch of crooks. Their attorney actually sent me a threataning letter to sue, and I quickly responded with a letter in my defense as to why they didn't have a leg to stand on.
The bottom line is that if you are not aware of your rights and how the market works, you can get screwed. Don't EVER do business with these people, they actually have their attorney's office,realtors, and mortgage all in one place! It has RIP OFF written all over the building!!! They are at 2222 and mopac in the Ghirling buiding right by Randalls.
T
Austin, Texas
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Tamara
Austin,Texas,
U.S.A.
after they started to threaten me.
#2Author of original report
Tue, January 18, 2005
I did sign a form like that in the beginning, but I was a young single mother who didn't really know what I was doing until after they started to threaten me. When I met with them for the first time, they presented me with the paperwork to sign. I asked them if I was legally binded to any of it and they said no! I had to pay them an application fee of $40.00 just to see if they could approve me for a loan. I contacted the Better Business Bureau, the Austin Board of Realtors, a mortgage broker, a loan officer, and an attorney who are friends of mine. They all advised that I file a report and that First Place Realty didn't have a leg to stand on since they had not been in contact with me for so long. I wrote them a letter with my defense and they never contacted me again. I have since then received my loan officer license, and am processing my own loans. I work with realtors all of the time, and the ones I know would never do that to their clients. I have also come across a hand full of people who have had similar problems with them. Two of them were realtors who had worked for the company. They told me that the realtors fight over there for everything! They get screwed out of their commission checks, some realtors steal the other realtor deals right behind their backs, and they are constantly screwing the consumer. I am telling you, there is something seriously wrong with this company. Rumor has it that they have been in trouble for some of these issues. I think there needs to be a thourogh investigation on this company. ............
Skip
West Palm Beach,Florida,
U.S.A.
What Paperwork Did You SIgn?
#3Consumer Suggestion
Thu, January 13, 2005
As a broker owner in Florida, the only way I can think of that any real estate company would have a claim of commission on the situation you described would be if you signed a buyer agency agreement in which you agreed to pay a sales commission to that brokerage no matter what property you purchased. If you truly only spent a few hours looking at a few homes and they never followed up for a month or two, you could claim you were "abandoned" by the real estate company and this abandonement would negate their claim to a sales commission. First Place Realty is a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Texas Association of Realtors and the San Antonio Board of Realtors (can't figure out why they don't belong to the local board). Go to WWW.realtor.org and read through the rules. These guys must follow these rules. I'm sure that the Texas Real Estate Commission has a website and you can file a complaint there. That'll get their attention.
