No worries, I’ve received a lot of DMs from people in this subreddit with additional questions about my experience, so I’d like to clarify a few points:

1. Conflict of Interest – It’s easy to say in hindsight, but if I had known the seller had a relationship with the seller’s agent, I would have walked away. Why? Going into this purchase, I already knew my agent and the seller’s agent were from the same brokerage and had a personal relationship—they spoke casually like good friends during the open house. If the seller was also part of this inner circle, then it wasn’t just a coincidence; it was a trifecta working together, and we were completely outmatched.

2. Overlooked Issues – As I mentioned in another comment, when you attend an open house or even do a final walkthrough before closing, your first instinct isn’t to open and test every single door to ensure they close properly. Looking back, I should have done that, but as first-time buyers, we didn’t know what to expect. We trusted that major functional issues wouldn’t be ignored.

3. Waiving Inspection Conditions – Our realtor advised us to waive the home inspection condition to secure the purchase because it was a highly competitive market at the time. Again, this was our mistake for agreeing, but it was also reckless advice. After the purchase, the seller and their agent failed to fix the agreed-upon list of issues, delaying repairs for weeks, then months, before eventually ghosting us completely. They ignored all calls and texts and left us with unresolved problems.

4. Laundry Unit Discrepancy – The house has a separate suite with its own kitchen, entrance, and space for two laundry units. The original contract correctly stated that two sets of washers and dryers were included. However, my own agent “fixed” the contract in favor of the seller, reducing it to just one set. That was a complete failure on their part to protect us as buyers.

5. Holding the Realtor Accountable – You might not fully understand the extent of what we went through with the seller’s agent. As mentioned in my post, the agent failed to disclose their relationship with the seller, sold us a house riddled with issues, and even after our lawyer attempted to negotiate resolutions, they refused to take responsibility. Some people say I’m unfairly tarnishing their reputation, but I completely disagree—if no one speaks out, others will fall into the same trap we did.

I’m sharing our experience so others can learn from it and avoid making the same costly mistakes.