Marilyn Finkelstein was terrific. She sold my home in 2 days. We were pleased to work with Marilyn because of her responsiveness and expertise with real estate. She called me back or texted me back any time I had a question. She was good about giving us tips about how to present the home, and was able to find a buyer from another agent in her office very quickly. All that was excellent, and I'd recommend Marilyn again in a heartbeat.
However, the transaction went sour from there. The real estate team recommended an attorney, Steve Gerson, and his title
company to handle the transaction. This attorney and title company discovered a lien against the property, the existence of which predated my purchase of the home. This was discovered approximately one week prior to closing. Mr. Gerson's advice was to file with the title insurance. However, this did not seem "kosher" to me. I asked a real estate attorney friend to look into this lien. It turns out that this lien was wiped out by a foreclosure that took place prior to my purchase. Mr. Gerson insisted that I file with the title insurance, asserting that the lien was not wiped out because it showed up with the City of Davie. My attorney thought it was superfluous, but advised me to do so to move forward with the title insurance while she contacted the City of Davie, who confirmed that indeed the lien was wiped out. The title insurance company also agreed that this lien was a non-issue and didn't require a claim. This was a giant waste of my time, as the buyers purchased title insurance from a subsidiary of my title insurance, and they would have written the policy over this issue in the first place without me being bothered or having to hire an attorney. I'm also an attorney (in a different field) and my time is valuable. I don't take kindly to it being wasted.
The second issue was the post-occupancy agreement. My attorney asked for it as soon as she got involved, approximately a week prior to closing. It was provided two days prior to closing. Gerson's office provided a form from 1997 (whichis what the contract was dated.) The outdated form was missing essential terms, such as the per diem rate and time, legal relationship issues, condition issues, etc. My attorney had to re-write it the day prior to closing. Indeed, Mr. Gerson explained it to the buyers at closing.
The third issue was the actual closing documents prepared by Mr. Gerson's office, and reviewed by the Reader transaction
coordinator. The address was wrong on the HUD and all the essential forms. Also, the office failed to pull my loan payoff, and so my
attorney had me doing that the day before closing.
Finally, and throughout, I felt as though the transaction coordinator was coordinating more with the buyer's attorney and title agent than me. I'd complain, and she'd give him advance notice of my complaint. Unprofessional. Both the buyer and myself were told the day of the closing that there needed to be a walk through. We both had to scramble to get this done prior to the closing. Anytime I shared my concerns with the transaction coordinator, she took them straight to this attorney. Luckily, my attorney was able to scramble and save and correct everything. Finally, also the day before the closing I was getting frantic texts from the transaction coordinator to sign an addendum to the contract, which I refused to sign because it was incorrect.
At the end of the day, I thought Marilyn was amazing. However, this whole transaction process was last minute and uncomfortable. I'm working with Re/Max Direct to buy the new house, and the process is much smoother. Everything is being prepared in advance, the contract was done correctly (even though there were multiple back and forth offers and counters) and I feel as though I don't need to have my attorney involved to supervise.
As an attorney myself, my reputation is everything. I do not let documents out of my office unless I make sure they are perfect. My work is such that documents can be done in advance so that the experience is seamless for the client. That is what I expect in return. I believe that Marilyn Finkelstein is a wonderful realtor with a depth and breadth of experience that really isn't available in South Florida. I hope she chooses a different attorney and title company whose work is on par with her own. If given the opportunity, I would use her again, but insist on a different title company and attorney.