Century 21 Golden West Realty

In real estate, there is a tactic used by agents that is considered kind of slimy and has even been outlawed in Toronto (a very hot market currently). Agents list their client’s home at a false (very low) price on MLS knowing that they will create a bidding war that will drive the price — and their commissions — through the roof. As a buyer, you will pay roughly %25 more for a home that is the subject of one of these fierce bidding wars. This is borderline illegal because the realtor knows their client would NEVER take the asking price for the home. Barb Ecker, an agent at this location, is particularly adept at this slimy game. In our experience, she juggled and manipulated a group of bids for days, claiming that she could not present our offer — the first one they received — because she couldn’t get a hold of her client.
As a former attorney, I am all about client advocacy but in law there are judges and a bar association to help keep attorney antics at bay. In real estate, there is very little protection for buyers — and sellers, too, as I will explain now — for these shady, borderline illegal real estate tactics. She lied, she didn’t return our agents calls and played cat and mouse throughout the whole process. All the while, she was reviewing bids and playing them against each other, likely in constant contact with the client. (I just sold my house in March. There is NO way I wouldn’t be in contact on day 1 and day 2 of my listing, asking for a report. It is my belief she lied to buy herself more time.) There is a classy, respectable way to play the real estate game and Barb Ecker seems to lack class of this kind.
Sellers are impacted by these tactics, too. If your realtor promises to get you $ 75,000 above asking price, run. This person is lying to you to get your listing, knowing that the bank will never approve a loan on a house that isn’t worth that much. The realtor gets the listing by promising you the world, knowing that the bank and the inspector will be the ones to cut you down to size. They already have your listing and you are on the «I listed my house too high» path. Pricing too high from the start can cost you even MORE money in the end. When you are 25 days in to the closing process and have already scheduled movers, the buyers agent gains the upper hand. You may have already purchased a new home. You will cut your losses and run because you have spent a ton of money, time and energy already. You will take 10%-15% too little because you became desperate. In this case, your shady realtor cost you a fortune.
As someone who has been both the seller and the buyer in the last 60 days, I feel it is my duty to report the findings of my experience and my research to fellow Unilocalers. I cannot speak for the rest of the agents at this firm who are probably highly professional and well-​qualified. My experience with this woman was a negative one and I highly recommend that buyers and sellers both ask lots of questions when deciding if Barb Ecker is the realtor for you.