SIBCY CLINE INC REALTORS

The buyer has certain upgrade options, such as refrigerator choices, hardwood, finished basement, and a finished deck room. Our first obstacle occurred when we asked our first question, if the upgraded refrigerator came with a filter. The Sibcy Cline rep didn’t know. It took 2 to 3 weeks to get this answer. We should have taken this as an omen.When we finally reached the point of contract talk and financing, we were given a copy of a blank contract to show to our 401k administrator see if this would be sufficient paperwork for a withdrawal, which it was. Having the contract, we decided to read it; now the real trouble began. We were faced with a contract so poorly written that an eighth grader would have been ashamed to claim authorship.There were things in that contract that we weren’t told, and things that we were told that weren’t in the contract. For example, we were specifically told by the Sibcy Cline rep that the 55 and over and no children restriction would be in the contract; the contract stated nothing about this. We were told that you had to place 1/3 of the total cost down at the beginning of construction; the contract stated 1/3 of total plus 100% of upgrades, which makes absolutely no sense since it would have the buyer paying 133% of the upgrades. We were told that you could come in with two pets; the contract stated one The HOA fee amount was not stated or the means of its determination; it was just up to the Masons, with no other review; no community Board, no background material on reserve funding, etc. A Durable Power of Attorney was expected; a Durable Power of Attorney by definition is one that goes into effect upon execution and “endures” into incapacity. Who in their right mind would turn over power to govern their own affairs while they’re still capable?The most egregious piece of contract news was that if the buyer left, that 82% refund mentioned was of the “Base” cost, not any “upgrades”; the upgrades only returned 50%, which could come to a substantial additional lost, and did for us. Not one person had stated anything about this previously. The paperwork that we were initially given by the Sibcy Cline rep stated nothing about this, only the 82%. The Masons’ website states nothing about this, only “82% of sales price”. This represented, at $43,000 worth of upgrades in our case, an additional loss for us of $13,700+, that is, over and above that 18% loss, and not one word was dropped about it until we came upon it in the contract. This is quite a piece of news to be sitting on and sliding in at contract time, particularly when you’re dealing with elderly folks who may be more trusting or not as discriminating in their reading. We presented our contract questions to our Realtor, who forwarded them to the Reps, who then forwarded them to their Supervisor. Over a week later, this Supervisor emailed back with virtually none of our questions adequately addressed. She did state that we could call the Masons ourselves and they would be happy to answer any of our questions. I did just that, called the Masons in Louisville, spoke to an Assistant who advised that we needed to speak to the CEO and said that she would have him call. Waited for two days and no call came. Three times I called and spoke to that Assistant, outlining the problem, and no call was returned. Then, this same Supervisor who advised us to call the Masons contacted our Realtor to see if she could now answer our questions. Evidently, the Mason CEO couldn’t be bothered with us but found the time to call this Supervisor and wake her up. So, the net effect here is that the same person who didn’t answer our contract questions and advised us to call the Masons called back wanting to know if she could now answer the questions she hadn’t answered after I called the people she instructed me to call who wouldn’t talk to us. Is this a scream or what? These people actually draw a paycheck every week. We have the documentation to support our claims; original paperwork from Sibcy Cline, download from Masons’ website, emails. We finally threw up our hands at this ineptitude and walked away. This summary can’t even begin to touch the level of frustration that we went through with these people. It’s so bad that you can’t be sure if it’s gross inefficiency, laziness, outright stupidity, or some brew of all of these ingredients. These people are an insult to anyone who has ever had to use their intelligence to make a living.