Chris Iacobelli – RE/MAX Alliance Group

This Realtor was dishonest. He «highly recommended» an unlicensed contractor to me for the remodeling at one of his listings that I purchased. The contractor, Elves de Souza of Elves Painting & Remodeling took my money and ruined the materials I purchased to remodel 3 bathrooms, a kitchen and the master bedroom. He caused over $ 40K in damages to my home. Chris Iacobelli told me that he had been using Elves de Souza for all of his investment houses for the past 4 – 5 years, in and around Lakewood Ranch and Sarasota. Can you imagine a licensed Florida Realtor highly recommending an unlicensed contractor to a client/​homeowner?
As the result of this realtor’s dishonest practices, my house has been a construction zone for the past 8 months. Not only was his «star contractor» unlicensed, he also left my house in shambles. Moreover, Chris Iacobelli lead me to believe that he was a savvy real estate investor and professional, and knew everything there was to know about real estate in this area. At the time of the purchase of the house he had listed, when I pointed out all the areas of the home that needed repair, remodeling and renovation, he mislead me to believe that everything would cost significantly less than 1) what I imagined, 2) the inspector and his recommended contractors estimated the costs to be, 3) most mainstream consumers believed the costs to be.
If you intend to purchase one of Chris Iacobelli’s listings, before the sale I highly recommend that you pay for a thorough inspection of the property and demand that all problems and defects in workmanship be fixed by a licensed contractor of your choosing. Under no circumstances allow Chris Iachobelli to choose who completes the repairs.
If you’re using Chris Iacobelli to represent you as a buyer, do not expect to get the best sales price on the house you choose to purchase. He is only interested in making the highest commission possible and will attempt to manipulate you into quickly making an unwise decision. He will misrepresent what repairs cost, recommend cheap, unlicensed contractors, and outright refuse to negotiate on your behalf as is his duty under Florida law as a licensed Realtor.
If Chris Iacobelli was willing to take advantage and defraud me, a disabled, single mother that moved to Florida to improve her health, consider what he might do to you. I will NEVER trust this Realtor again.