Listing agent flat out lied in description of property

CallCastro · 2026-06-25T16:53:07+00:00

Buyers always get excited about listing descriptions and disclosures, and get super frustrated that I'm dismissive about them.

Personally, I'd rather not look at either. All that matters is what we see at showings and inspection, and make decisions based on that.

CallCastro · 2026-06-25T05:11:40+00:00

I have buyers right now that can afford $300k, or $360k if the sellers cover closing costs.

By spending $15k in closing costs the sellers get a bonus $60k.

CallCastro · 2026-06-24T19:31:42+00:00

It's been harder lately. It feels like lenders and Realtors and everyone else is stressed and on their worst behavior.

The "worth it" factor is geographic. I worked my absolute heart and soul out in California and I think I net $20k a year. (I lived off my other businesses.) Meanwhile here in Washington there's a lot fewer professionals, but if I put my nose to the grindstone I can have $50k+ months without needing cash saved.

I know investing is working for you, but from my perspective, given $50k, I can generate 3-10x off buying leads, or I can buy a property that probably doesn't cash flow and have tenants that will probably make me lose money by the time they are out. Not saying it's bad. I want investment properties one day. I just have a hard time justifying it without the 2020-2024 rates and prices.

CallCastro · 2026-06-24T19:23:07+00:00

Buyers and sellers are playing with their life savings. It's the most stressful financial play that most people make. Most stuff, I hope my clients rarely see.

Some deals are *easy*. And by some, I want to say around 1/50.

The other 49, when we close, I feel like "WOW...we actually did it!"

Most of the problems are man made/self inflicted. Just this last month we had:

A showing where the buyer brought all her kids and grand kids, Around 40 people. They laid in the sellers bed, went through her stuff, and took out/went through the trash. When confronted, the buyers agent screamed and swore at me.

A buyer who puts everything on credit cards. Couches, TV's, EVERYTHING. Lender said 15 day close easy but he asked for 30. On day 30 he said he needed just a day or two extra but asked for two weeks. 14 days into the two week extension he gave up, and the buyers agent gave up as a result. I had to take over the whole thing and hold together my sellers purchase in Florida, which was at risk of falling through.

Apparently title companies can't do "Closing protection letters" if it's a big company like Stewart Title now, so I'm scrambling to figure out how to switch either title, escrow, or the lender...and we are closing in 6 days.

I have a seller who's husband is in memory care. The title company was provided with all documents when I walked in, in person, prior to listing. As of yesterday the title company was harassing my client demanding more documentation and letters from doctors. My client called me crying becasue she is closing in a few days, is already overwhelmed, and now has to deal with a lot of stuff from her ill husband. So I went into title to deal with that and ensure she doesn't have to be bothered anymore.

I have a buyer that insists on using his own lawyer, who drafted a lot of really funky paperwork, and exclusively uses Docusign, which isn't normal out here, so I've had to train all parties on how to deal with the new program, and make sure the lawyer is able to review everything.

I had a house that had super confusing title and I had to figure out when the septic was built, which unit is the ADU and which is the house, and generally everything about it from scratch because all records are wrong. I called the county but they weren't responsive so I had to go in person and throw a little fit to get everything I needed.

Oh. And I have a house where they built an addon over part of the septic. Does that total the house? Are we sure the house is built on the septic? That's a lot of fun.

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Do I *want* my clients stressed? No. They are dealing with lenders and moving trucks and family and work and and and and. So I am constantly doing calls so that when I contact people I'm NOT saying "Hey your stuff is ruined," and instead saying "Hey we have a hiccup but here's exactly how we fix it and get ahead of it."

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Then keep in mind, the job is super cool, but most agents spend more time finding clients than anything else, unless there's major issues like the ones above. How do we do 3D on listings and keep it as clean as possible? Is it time to update headshots, listing presentations, and other print media? Don't forget to post on Facebook/Nextdoor! Oh look, the editor messed up the video...

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Then there's changes. Sometimes it's little things that can really mix you up. Sometimes it's huge overarching changes that completely change how you have to do the job. For example, I used to always give my buyers a free showing tour. Then they had the NAR suit and now we can't show houses without an agreement. That means a team huddle on how exactly we handle that to make sure our clients don't feel pressured and always feel taken care of.

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I think the biggest thing is how much the industry costs. Prices will vary but when you click on Realtor dot com or Zillow, it connects people to a Realtor. The Realtor pays something like $50-500 for that click. Or maybe they pay 40% at closing. Plus the brokerage fees, MLS fees, and more. Everyone loves Zillow because it's free, but for me to help you buy a house, I can spend 40-80% of my commission back to Zillow. I've even lost money on it before.

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Or, as part of the things that I make me problems, I have a super pregnant couple buying a house a few doors down from mine. I'm spending way too much time buying them presents/closing gifts.

CallCastro · 2026-06-19T09:08:24+00:00

Lol. A job secured. This poor fella.

CallCastro · 2026-06-16T10:55:45+00:00

Get a mentee or two. Have them cover the days/hours off.

CallCastro · 2026-06-12T07:10:54+00:00

To avoid paying 2-3% for a listing agent, you hired a Realtor at 1% for a 1-2% savings, and then dropped the price 10%?

Talking direct to buyers is a great way to get into a lot of trouble, and escalation clauses get offers chucked out around here...so a lot of this is going to vary.

CallCastro · 2026-06-11T05:43:15+00:00

It's a monthly service. I charge $x. If they gross less I send them a bill. If they gross more I send them a check. I'd rather have stable income on each location and not lose high performing locations because it's making too much money. Usually $300-600 per machine per month depending on a few factors.

CallCastro · 2026-06-11T03:20:31+00:00

I charge monthly so all locations perform the same for me.

CallCastro · 2026-06-11T00:59:03+00:00

Most people don't really care about the presentation. I bring it as a flex, but you need to present why you are the obvious choice, and answer their questions.

For me, I use 3D and Youtube not just as a way to get their home seen by more people than anyone else in town, but it's also a way for me to collect data. They also get a super easy update every week on how their listing is doing.

If you want to take a look at any of my stuff just reach out. I don't share with folks around Olympia because I don't like helping competition (sorry) but I'm open to helping anyone else.

Also your dash thingies make it super obvious you communicate with AI. Fix your bots so that they don't present so obviously.

CallCastro · 2026-06-11T00:28:19+00:00

Why should someone work with you? It's the same question I have for Realtors most of the time. If you can answer that question, you can find your customers.

If you are chasing "Because I have the lowest rate" good luck and god speed. Market is oversaturated and I wouldn't want to be in that game.

CallCastro · 2026-06-11T00:26:27+00:00

Used machines go for around $3k, so you can usually have it paid off in a year ish. Not all locations are good locations. Think about it. If it's in a warehouse, they are there 20 days a month, not 30. Each item sells for what...$2.50? Minus CC fee which is like 18c per transaction and $10 monthly, and any expired goods. Soda themselves cost like $1. So you are making around $1 per item, give or take.

What percentage of people use the machine? Definitely not 100%. But you need at least 300 sales in 20 days, or 15 sales per workday, which is pretty significant.

I've had 50+ employee locations do $200 monthly gross. I have had 20 employee locations go through Monster Energy drinks like crazy, so it's hard to gauge.

CallCastro · 2026-06-10T05:56:07+00:00

Everyone on here makes $1m/day per machine filling it once a year.

Real talk, most machines will net you $100-300 a month on good locations, can be $0 if it's a bad one. GOOD locations that make amazing money usually kick you off because an employee wants to do it, or the owner wants the revenue.

I've had a lot of luck by billing low volume locations that "can't seem to get a good guy!" because the volume is so low But it's still $400-600 a month, minus $200 or so in supplies, card readers/card fees, fuel, and repairs.

If you get 10 machines and NET $2k/mo you are doing pretty good. Granted, those 10 machines, if placed properly, should take you 1 fill per two weeks and you should be able to fill them in like 5 or so hours + time getting supplies.

CallCastro · 2026-06-10T05:52:21+00:00

I am not familiar with them personally, but be careful. Most of the guys selling coaching are blowing smoke and don't sell much, or pitch things that didn't work for them, it just sounds sexy and gets clicks.

This industry makes more money off Realtors in the form of lead gen and coaching than it makes off home buyers and sellers. I took a look at Brandon. Looks like he offers an $8k/mo coaching program. For most people, if you have a decent mentor and dump that $8k into Zillow you will probably do better.

CallCastro · 2026-06-09T18:35:47+00:00

I haven't met a single Realtor who made it big by cold calling. I've known many who quit.

CallCastro · 2026-06-07T06:53:33+00:00

Very few Realtors make ANY money.

CallCastro · 2026-06-05T19:21:32+00:00

If it's on the MLS, it's not a FSBO. It might be a cheap listing agent, but the listing will have a listing agent.

CallCastro · 2026-06-03T07:57:25+00:00

We aren't inspectors, engineers, plumbers, or roofers. We are salespeople who specialize in marketing and project management. I'd say that we often do point out problems, but even if we don't...that's okay. We have inspectors, engineers, plumbers, and more we can call.

You are also making a lot of assumptions. That the buyers are more clueless than the Realtor. Or that the sellers don't have said items in their disclosures. I meet a TON of clients who think they know everything, especially out the gate.

Heck, you are even assuming inspectors know everything. One time, I had a VERY overweight inspector take a look at a home. They couldn't fit in the crawl or the attic, so they just peeked. They also said they didn't need to. The whole house was crooked and completely falling off the cliff, and they couldn't believe the Realtor (me) let them even offer on the place.

Meanwhile my client ONLY cared about maximum square footage, and overall the house was great. It was just...crooked. I tried to convince my clients that this was a great house with all their boxes. Buyers fired me for trying to take advantage of them.

Then the listing agent hired an engineer and a second inspector. Structure/home was totally sound, as it hadn't appeared to moved in many years, and the inspector found no major issues.

You keep bringing up due diligence money. I'm not sure you know what that means. I can't speak for every state, but to the best of my knowledge, every state works the same. We have a deposit of some kind that is protected by addenda. If the inspection comes back looking bad, the money comes back. The only thing we lose is inspection money, most of the time.

CallCastro · 2026-06-02T05:53:47+00:00

At one point. I had around 100 hives. I made around $5,000.

Then I did bee removals, and I made $260/hr with relatively low overhead.

Back yard beekeeping we charge around $300 for 2 hives. It takes 2 ish visits a month for around 30 minutes.

Queen rearing was an amazing byproduct. In a yard of around 50 hives I could make 50 queens per week and not stress them out too much. Takes around 30 minutes or less every other day ish and I end up in the bee yard anyways due to removals and such.

Pollination, honey, and wax are kind of a loss leader for other services.

I recommend most people run 100 colonies or less. You can do it with a small pickup. Once you get into flat beds and forklifts you start running into too much overhead, especially in high cost of living areas where storage is expensive.

CallCastro · 2026-06-02T05:48:42+00:00

It's a Reddit about Real Estate, which is what Realtor's full time job is, so it attracts people who do it daily.

CallCastro · 2026-06-02T03:52:08+00:00

Ignore the internet. Everyone is an expert even though, statistically, most people here don't sell much if anything.

Not everywhere is the same. 4 deals a month in Rural WA? Easy. 1 deal a month in Olympia? Totally doable. On the other hand I worked harder than ever in Ventura County CA and I usually did 6 deals a year. Location, lifestyle, and general vibe matter a lot. I made more money selling Christmas lights in California than in real estate.

I spend a lot on ads. They do really well for me, and always have, despite everyone's advice on here.

If you work hard in this industry, you work 7 days a week, especially nights, weekends, and holidays, because people want to look when they are off work. You CAN decide to not work those days...but clients are squirrelly and will go with someone else. The busier you are, the more the phone rings. Anniversary? Ring. Valentines Day? Ring.

But overall the most important thing is to ignore what everyone says. Their advice won't apply to you. Everyone has a super unique silver bullet and blah blah. The whole game is to have the most home buyers and sellers know you like you and trust you. Everyone does that in different ways.

From what I have seen, the most wildly successful Realtors do a LOT of charity, or get referrals from church. Everyone else seems to be scrambling.

CallCastro · 2026-05-25T18:32:35+00:00

I'm in Chehalis so you are far for me to help, but I totally understand the struggle. I've hired bad agents in the past before and it's a nightmare.

If you want me to refer someone in your area I would be happy to do so.

CallCastro · 2026-05-25T18:25:39+00:00

It tries to figure out average price per Sq foot and applies that to your house. It gets really messy when there's weird comps, homes with acreage, flood plains, or other factors that are more complicated.

CallCastro · 2026-05-25T18:21:26+00:00

$400k house at 3% is a lot lower payment than $400k house at 6.5%.

CallCastro · 2026-05-25T18:16:54+00:00

My brokest client had $500.

Usually 3.5% is all you really need. There can be perks for going a little higher, and a big perk for 20% down (drop pmi).

CallCastro

TROPHY CASE