The Clark Group

I hired Peter Clark of the Clark Group in Portland, OR to list and sell my home this summer. While we did receive a gross selling price that exceed our list price, with the net proceeds falling just short of asking, I continually found myself wondering whether Peter was working for the buyers agent, or for me. We had multiple stumbling blocks along the way, instances in which Peter asked me for a response ASAP, but then would not confirm anything with me after he heard from the buyers agent. Here are a list of issues that we encountered:
1) While there was a «for sale» sign posted, the eco fliers or paper fliers were never delivered/​posted. I followed up with Peter and his admin twice on this and received different timelines both times. I honestly believe that he never put in the work order for the fliers, and hoped to avoid that cost of business as the market was very hot. We did receive two offers in six days, but I attribute that to the market, not to Peter’s ability to market a home.
2) Peter did not follow up with me after showings to provide feedback. When I requested info from him, he finally provided feedback on the basement, which I needed to remedy, but would not have known otherwise. I continually found that I needed to contact him to inquire about the status of the showings and sale, rather than the other way around.
3) During the repair addendum negotiations, Peter verbally told me that the buyers had a clean soil sample in hand. I signed the repair addendum, according to that understanding, when there was no clean sample in hand. This had implications on the repair process. One example of the numerous failed communication attempts.
4) As we came nearer to closing, and the negotiations continued, I felt as though Peter was closing the deal for his own interest, and working more for the buyers than for myself. This was incredibly frustrating.
5) When we met to sign papers, the commission he had listed on the HUD was incorrect. This was the final straw for me. I had to follow up with him and title company to have it revised.
I would not, in any circumstance, recommend Peter to anyone of my friends or family. I am not sure if his lack of attention was due to the fact that my home is in the first time home buyer price range, and the market was moving quickly, but I certainly did not feel as though he was the trusted advisor I had intended to hire. The home sold, and I made a fair profit, but it was not an enjoyable experience. The most stressful piece was actually dealing with communicating with Peter.