Howard Hanna

First off, let me start off by saying that if you ever purchase a home through a real estate office make sure that you do not have a realtor that is a listing and a selling agent for the home. That was our first mistake because all she seen was big dollar signs and became as greedy as she could be from that point on. It all started back in November of 2006. We had seen this house on the market on the internet and decided to come drive by it and see what it was all about. We had been looking for our dream home for close to a year and seen this one and thought it was interesting enough to look at it. We contacted Irene and asked to see the inside of it. She had set up a couple different appointments and every time we were scheduled to see it, she would call and cancel saying that the owner was unable to show it due to different circumstances with her schedule. We had pretty much decided that it was not meant to be and gave up on seeing it. In Decemeber Irene had contacted us and told us that the owner was vacating it and moving out because her husband was being relocated for work and that we would be able to finally get in and see it. I am not sure of the exact day but we had finally come out to view it. We walked in and Irene was already in the house. She had the fireplace lit and had the house toasty warm which made it extremely inviting. We walked around it and were both amazed at how it was almost exactly what we were looking for and Irene kept asking what we thought of it and told us that we should make an offer on it if we liked it since it was almost perfect for us. We made them an offer that was quite a stretch from what they were looking to get for it because we assumed that they would think we were out of our mind for offering such a low offer. I believe it was the very next day Irene had contacted us and stated they accepted the offer. Now that should have been a huge red flag for us but she told us they had taken the offer because they did not want to have the house sitting and on their books in the start of the new year. Okay we were nieve and fell for that line. Now keep in mind, the house is less than 2 yrs old, over 3, 000 sq ft in size, and has already had a previous owner. The previous owners never put a yard in on this house with 2 acres of land. The outside was a mess with weeds. We had met with Irene and told her that we would only purchase the house with stipulations. The house was very dirty inside and you can tell it was not properly taken care of. The carpets were filthy and smelled like animals and there was dirt, dead flies and cobwebs on all of the fixtures. The appliances were not cleaned either. I also knew about the Howard Hanna buy back warranty because I had previously purchased a home with that warranty on it. My husband at first was not keen on the idea of having that because he knew we would have to pay for it but I insisted on it and told him we would be insane not to because if anything were to go wrong within a year we could give it back to Howard Hanna and find another home. I had him convinced after that. Irene had told him that between the time of the purchase agreement and the closing we could take that out if we wanted to and would not be under any obligation to buy it and I told her we were indeed buying it. When we signed the first purchase agreement it was definately checkmarked and in it and it also stated that the we wanted the home professionally cleaned inside and out. She stated that that would not be a problem. We signed it and she stated that she would get it to GMAC which was the relocation company handling the property now. She contacted us the next day and said we would have to resign the papers because the utilities had some issue and they needed to be put into Howard Hanna or GMAC”s name and it was standard procedure. We told her we were extremely busy with work and holiday stuff and she stated she would meet us at a supply house where we were going shopping at so that we would not be inconvenienced. We once again signed the papers. Now mind you this is the point where she snuck out the Howard Hanna buy back guarantee. We never noticed because we took her to be a very honest and sincere person. WOW, WE WERE DEAD WRONG!!! She is by far the most manipulative sneaky person ever. We had contacted her a few days later and asked to view the house again and she agreed. When we got to the house my husband was checking everything out from one side to another. He had got into the basement and had noticed water leaking in the back corner of the house. SECOND MISTAKE. WE SHOULD HAVE RAN AS FAST AS POSSIBLE FROM THIS. He pointed it out to Irene and she stated she would contact GMAC and ask them to have it repaired immediately. We trusted her to do just that. She contacted us the next morning and stated someone was going there and fixing it that day. We told her we wanted a home inspection done before we were going any further. We met with her again and sure enough the water was still in the basement. She stated she would contact the contractor and have him come back and my husband had told her he wanted to be there when he did. She had recommended a Home Inspection company and he came out later that week. When we met with her and the inspector she stated the contractor had already been there and fixed the problem and the inspector would verify it was resolved now. Now once again keep in mind the yard is nothing but mud. The weather was freezing cold out and we took her word that it was fixed. She stated the contractor would be out once the weather cleared up better to do a final grade on where he had dug up and waterproofed the wall. We had noticed a week later that his fix was that she had hired some guy that she probably had known prior to this event to fix it and his specialty was not waterproofing or basement leaks but he was a contractor that installed paved driveways. This guy had melted the siding on the back of our house when he tried using a torch to dry the back wall out. It was absolutely hideous. We contacted her on that and she said she checked it out and everything was fine. Yeah right!! We still have leaks and it is over a year later now. When we contacted that contractor he told us that she said do whatever had to be done to make it look fixed because that was all that was required. She of course denied that. At this point we are both furious with her lies. I have contacted the owner of Howard Hanna and told him our full story. He could not even contact us back with a response. I was always a big Howard Hanna Fan but after this experience I am no longer nor would I recommend them to anyone. I have heard horror stories about this company. We sold our home before this one with www.forsalebyowner.com within 3 days of putting it on the market. We never dealt with idiots like these ones. We have lived in this house over a year now and our dream house is nothing more than a replication of the movie “Money Pit” and we will never again trust another realtor. They are all nothing more than car salesmen. Total BS”ers. Make sure if you get involved with a realtor you read every paper they have you sign and I mean over and over again until the day you get owner access.