Knipe Realty

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My husband and I are buying our first home.  Before picking out a realtor, we'd been referred to Cassie Strickler with Knipe Realty from an online inquiry on Redfin.com.  She impressed us with how prompt she was and willing to go see the property that day.  Since she possessed all the qualities we wanted in a realtor (professionalism, promptness, availability, friendly) we decided to sign with her.  She has been a huge help and super pleasant to work with!  We put in an offer on the townhome we first looked at and then found out that the HOA was going to take far too long to process necessary paperwork required for us to use our VA loan. She assisted us in pulling our offer, and was very patient and available to take us to look at several other homes.  She suggested we look at a house that we weren't even aware was for sale and it turned out to be our perfect house!  We are now in the process of purchasing this home and are very pleased with how easy Cassie made this whole experience.  

I am not a big fan of realtors

Tom Ogden became a friend

He was relentless in his hard work and dedication to meeting my needs

I could go on and on.   But its really simple. If you want

an individual who is bright, real, and interested in your needs,

who follows through, and makes himself completely available to you Tom is your man.

I have worked with several realtors in my life

Tom was by far the best

If you think I know him-your right

I got to know him and observed a real person ---by far the best realtor I have ever worked with

If your looking for a smiling phoney -tom is not your man

If your looking for a bright, energetic individual, who thinks go no further

My experience with Mr. Ogden was outstanding!!!

I met Kim at a local Starbucks in the vicinity of the house hunting area on a Monday morning around 9am. We set out together, with Kim acting as chauffer as she drove me around the Portland area. All together we spent roughly five hours our first day together, looking at properties and eventually finding a home I wanted to make an offer on. Kim was on time and very congenial in manner.  

Once the home was found, Kim made a phone call to the seller’s agent and informed them we wanted to make a bid on the home. The listing price on the property was at $195,000; after she called I placed a bid on the home for $185,000. As this was a bank owned property she informed me at that time, the bank was unwilling to do any repairs on the property so we could negotiate for price only. This was completely fine as I am fairly handy.  

I met Kim the following day to give her a check for earnest money and to sign the bid documents she had made the previous night. I waited 3-4 days to hear back from the bank. Kim got a call around that time, and the bank said they would counter at $190,000. I agreed to the price pending the home inspection clause.   That night Kim scheduled a home inspection for a few days from then. Things went smoothly during the inspection. Kim showed up on time [a few minutes early in fact] and stayed for the four hour duration of the inspection.
 
After the inspection, Kim asked me if I was ready to sign the home buying documents.   I told her I wanted to continue the bidding process now that I knew there were some additional and unexpected expenses that would need immediate repairs. It was at this point I had my first negative experience with Kim. She replied saying “The bidding is done. The bank won’t do any repairs. You have to accept the price you agreed on or walk away.” I told her I would think about it and call her in the morning. I went to the hotel to read over the contract documents, calling an attorney to have them looked over.  

To put it succinctly: Kim lied to me. The clause in the contract clearly stated that repairs and FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS were to take place after the inspection if deemed necessary by me. This was Kim's own contract, which means she fully understood it and knew she was being deceitful.

Calling Kim in the morning I told her I still wanted to negotiate the price. She told me, once again, that I could not and that I had already agreed to the $190,000. I told her she could either send my new bid in for $180,000 or I could just as easily walk away from the property and find a new realtor. I then asked her to send the bank a copy of my home inspection report, and then to list roof repairs in the addendum so they could see why I was asking for the price reduction [I wasn’t just being greedy].  

Kim proceeded to send the addendum, but with much complaining saying things like they [banks I assume] never do this, and it will probably just be rejected because all they look at are the numbers, etc. She also informed me that the bank would never ask or want to see a copy of the home inspection. The bank does not want to be liable for the property, and they can’t do that if they know what is wrong with their properties. She also refused to list the reason why I wanted the price reductions, stating I was forbidden from [some unknown higher authority] listing any specific defaults with the home [such as the roof repair] I have to admit, I know nothing of real estate except what I have taught myself through this experience but even to me it sounded untrue at the time. This just seemed to be a tactic she could use with the bank, being overly vague thus increasing the chance the bank wouldn't accept my lower counter-offer.

The following day I received an email from Kim again, saying that “…and weirdly enough they would like a copy of the inspection report. I had to provide an email summarizing the conditions and what I termed safety hazards to support the price reduction.”  

In the end, the price was agreed upon. I have my home and Kim has her sales commission. She never apologized for out right lying to me about being able to further negotiate the price point, for trying to force me into a sale, or for lying about [or possibly her own ignorance of] the bank’s supposed unwillingness to be held liable for their own property.   I understand real estate agents are working for their commission, and I expect some reluctance to drop the sale price down too low. However, that does not excuse her behavior and blatant falsehoods regarding my own rights as a buyer. I would not recommend Kim Griggs of Knipe Realty to any hopeful home buyers within the Portland, OR area. Ever. Buyer beware.