Melissa Kennedy did her due diligence and advised her client to evaluate over and over again, her decision to buy a trainwreck of a house. Did the client comply? Of course not! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have this story. In this episode, Leigh interviews Melissa Kennedy from Pittsburgh. Tune is as Melissa shares just how stubborn a client can be and the repercussions Melissa endured just for doing her job.
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Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 00:20 – Introduction to today’s episode
- 00:44 – Today, Leigh welcomes Melissa Kennedy!
- 00:53 – Melissa has been selling in the suburbs of Pittsburgh for 6 years
- 01:01 – Melissa made $9M last year, by herself
- 01:16 – Leigh explains the current trend in real estate where agents are turning into teams
- 02:31 – The $9M equates to about 50 properties that were sold by Melissa
- 03:18 – Melissa is finally sharing her real-estate story!
- 03:25 – Melissa turned down a listing for the first time
- 03:32 – A past client called Melissa and wanted to make an offer on a house
- 04:07 – Melissa went to the property and took a ton of pictures. She was on the phone with the client describing the place and telling the client how it was worse off than other properties
- 04:26 – The client was really determined to buy
- 04:33 – Melissa advised the client to have a home inspection with a structural engineer
- 04:44 – The house was 100+ years old
- 05:10 – The client decided NOT to see the house or have an inspection
- 06:06 – One hour before closing:
- 06:13 – Melissa suggested to have a final walkthrough
- 06:24 – They met at the house and the client was blown away by the condition and felt it was worse off than she saw in the photos
- 06:37 – Melissa advised her client to walk away if it was too much for her to handle, but the client wanted to follow through on the sale
- 07:00 – The client was really upset during the closing
- 07:19 – After closing, the client started screaming at Melissa
- 07:30 – The client wanted an idea of what the house could sell for once it was finished and Melissa felt she couldn’t offer her a number because it wasn’t a finished product
- 08:05 – 2 hours after closing and throughout the weekend, the client was bombarding her with texts and calls, sending pictures and her complaints about the house
- 08:45 – The client was unhappy and wanted to get out of it, somehow
- 09:20 – Melissa told her that she can’t “un-sign” the papers
- 10:00 – Melissa decided that she could no longer work with the client
- 10:29 – The client flipped out and wrote Melissa a bad review in Zillow
- 11:09 – The client’s new agent was Melissa’s ex-boyfriend
- 11:33 – The property was listed, then withdrawn, then listed again with a different agent
- 12:22 – Leigh’s takeaways from Melissa’s story
- 13:35 – “The market is so fluid”
- 14:23 – Contact Melissa Kennedy through email at MelissaKennedy@Northwood.com or at 412-527 -4393
3 Key Points
- Having a great track record with previous clients does NOT guarantee a great experience with your next client.
- Do NOT blame the agent for your carelessness and please don’t harass them; they have lives, too.
- The real estate market is never steady—you cannot price, today, a product that isn’t finished.
Credits