Initially, I was hoping to do the no showings sale that Mark Spain advertises. All of those offers were nowhere near what my property was worth. I still allowed them to sell my house. It ended up being a bad experience so I sent the following feedback to Mark Spain Realty. Good afternoon, I agreed to a 5% commission—2.5% for my agent and 2.5% for sellers agent. My agent slid in a clause to pay an additional $695 to him which takes the commission over the agreed upon 2.5% At the time of signing, I was put under the impression by Mark this was a standard fee for closing. It is, in fact, not a standard fee. My home was already providing $22,000 to my agent. Further, no offer sheet until the final offer referred to this fee as an additional brokerage commission for Mark Spain Realty, but was cleverly listed as a “Transaction Fee”. This alone is deceptive, and this provided no opportunity to realize what was happening along the way. There were multiple changes to the list price which would have afforded me the opportunity to remove that clause. Additionally, I provided night time pictures because Mark Spain Realty did not. It was included in Mark Spain’s listing with my permission and I had to attend one of my own showings because my agent was in training. Both of these are tasks the realtor I paid should have done, especially for the amount I agreed to pay in commission, yet I did these on my own. Further, my agent with years of experience estimated that the findings from the buyers inspection would cost me $500. While I understand he is not an electrician, I certainly didn’t expect him to be off by 6X, with these repairs costing me $3,000. On top of all of this, I was told by my agent that my house would sell for $950K by Christmas. My house sold for $880K in March. For the reasons set forth above, this fee is entirely unconscionable, and I respectfully request the fee be returned. Mark Spain Realty declined to refund the fee.
Mark Vescio
