bob ruff

Review of Keller Williams Realty - Seatt...

Fiduciary breach---another lesson in trust

Fiduciary breach---another lesson in trust

When recently married friends asked me for a realtor recommendation, I could not recommend Kris Murphy, and Daniela. I realized that I could not depend on them again.

My last transaction with Kris and Daniela has been bothering me for two years so I have decided to modify a review I wrote here 5 years ago.

5 years ago we purchased a house with the help of agents Kris and Daniella. At that time I was definitely a fan, as you can see under my moniker "tito R". So, when I put our duplex on the market, two years ago, I enthusiastically called on them again. Regrettably, I was too willing to relinquish skepticism and I put complete trust in Kris.

After one, week end open house we had only one "above asking" offer. It was the hottest buyers' market I have seen since just before the recession, maybe hotter. So I expressed some surprise that there was not more interest. Kris and Daniela reported that a conspicuous foundation problem had discouraged open house visitors and some just walked away upon discovering it. I had known for 35+ years that a couple of foundation supports needed replacing---they had been installed poorly 50 years ago during a conversion from single family. I assumed Kris would have told me that this would be a problem before we listed. It is immediately apparent upon entering the basement. As I said, conspicuous. Kris did not mention it---until it was too late and we were considering offers. I should have stopped right then and started over but there was pressure to continue and, foolishly, I did---and have regretted it.

I thought I knew Kris well enough to trust that she would put my interest first. I learned that one should be very careful about putting complete trust in any real estate agent. After I relinquished my blind trust in Kris I realized that they might have done a number of things to make a quick and easy sale e.g. encouraging listing before July 4th. It may be that the staging helped--I'm uncertain about that--- it was expensive. I must say they had good contacts for work they recommended and the house looked much better after some remodeling. But they encouraged me to choose from the offers we got the day after the open house weekend. Only one was above asking (5%) and asking was at the low end. I had told them we had 5 months to make the sale and don't understand the rush. Regarding the foundation problem, I'm pretty sure Kris knew me well enough to know that I would fix it, thereby delaying the sale. I have building experience and ability and would have fixed it--- I estimate a week--- so that means probably two or 3. What we lost in time would have been more than offset by a solid foundation.

I could be mistaken about some of the "rushed" things I suspect but the foundation issue is certain. To their credit, I think Kris and Daniela are reasonably honest and they are certainly professional. But the failure to warn about the foundation problem was a fiduciary breach and I believe it cost me. After the sale was complete I sent two messages expressing my dissatisfaction with not being warned about the foundation problem. I did not receive a response.