REALTORS® are the referees, for good reason.

I had a listing in Hollywood, with a seller I had known for ten years.

We took a contract within a week, and the buyer asked for my seller’s number, in case he had any basic questions.

As we went through the transaction, the buyer started emailing the seller directly, copying the REALTORS®. Then he started calling and texted the seller.

It sounds harmless, assuming that everyone’s intentions were good. However, when money’s involved, things get sticky.

The buyer started making demands of the seller, which started annoying him.

Then he told the seller that we were closing in the afternoon, instead of the morning. (My seller was driving to Georgia that same day.) My seller called me freaking out, because the buyer never told anyone else about changing the closing time.

The buyer couldn’t start changing times, so we had to bring him back in line.

At closing, the buyer was supposed to give the seller a check for the chairs, but then decided that since the house wasn’t clean, that the seller should just give him the chairs. The seller was packed up with his truck and boat, and had left the chairs in the house. He had no choice but to leave them for the buyers.

If this buyer had just let his REALTOR® do their job, and went through her, instead of contacting the seller directly, the whole process would have been a much more pleasant experience.