Yes, “nut job” was probably not the way to go.

As you say, it’s hard to know what might happen, but I’ll hazard a guess.

She loses and it costs her far more than she thinks she lost in the home purchase. She’ll end up eating the defendant’s legal fees, and possibly be sued. This guy’s E&O provider is going to fight it like their future depends on it, and it probably does. The guest lawyer tore her case apart, probably without much preparation.

I guess we’ll know in March.

Does anyone know the agent involved and what kind of a reputation he has in his area?

I mean, how hard could it have been for the buyer to ask what the active, pending, and sold homes were in the area. If the house was overprised by $150K, how would the appraiser appraise the home without nearby comps.

These people definately don’t seem stupid and I’m sure they know how to use the internet, I think they are upset at their agent because they think they overpaid.

Was this the only home that the buyer’s looked at in the area? There are so many questions to ask both parties. Nonetheless, I think to protect oneself from future liabilities, maybe it would be best to at least show comps of the nearby area including active, sold, pending within the last year and have the buyer sign-off on it.

Richard Johnston, RE/MAX OTB Estates
http://www.estates.la

Personally, it makes me ill when I hear about people (allegedly in this case) that were fed a line of BS by their agent and/or lender.

Don’t get me wrong, people need to be responsible for their own actions. But we as agents do have a duty and obligation to help our clients.

I think it will be interesting to watch this case develop. I don’t think the Ummel’s will prevail. But then again, I didn’t think OJ would prevail either. ANYTHING can happen in front of a jury.

But even if the Ummel’s don’t win the suit, there is little chance that that Realtors will “win”. I suspect that we as a group will come out looking like a bunch of sleazy dorks, regardless of what the court says….