RE/MAX A C A Realty (Carstairs) - Carstairs, Alberta

Jennifer B.

My husband and I had a terrible experience with Darrah Selanders, even after previously being repeat clients as buyers.
1. Darrah waited until the very last minute at contract signing to notify us that she charges MORE than a standard commission, but failed to advise us what value-added service would be included for the extra cost. She CHOOSES to charge 7% / 4% rather than a standard 7%/ 3%. Doesn't sound like much, but an extra 1% on $470K is another $4700 that isn't in your pocket.
2. When the first home inspection results were presented to her, she advised us only about the single concern the potential buyers had and FAILED to advise us of the few other simple-fixes that could/should be done that were listed. Her words to us were "...otherwise it's pristine".
3. When considering to take down our listing to 'restart the days on market' clock in preparation for the autumn-rush, Darrah FAILED to mention that the listing had to be inactive for 15 days prior to being re-listed AND that this would extend our contract an additional 60 days. IF we had known these specific details, we would have made our listing inactive sooner, so that our contract would have finished on the date initially agreed to. This is another example of how Darrah withheld specific information that's required for clients to make informed decisions.
4. We were constantly prompting Darrah for feedback, and to ask her to follow up with buyers who had been through our house. We, as the clients were keeping track of interested buyers and their position on submitting an offer; it did not seem as though Darrah was doing this on our behalf as the Real Estate professional should.
5. In one potential 'deal' Darrah would not clarify/confirm whether or not she was acting as a Transaction Fascilitator. It was something we agreed we would discuss if the situation presented itself, but blanket consent was not given; consent to this change in representation was to happen IF/WHEN the situation happened. This meant that Darrah would potentially double-end the deal if it was successful, AND our current level of advocacy and representation would decrease...but we still had to pay her MORE at 7%/4%.
6. In one of the 4 unsuccessful offers, Darrah admitted she FAILED to advocate for our position in the offer in the manner in which we requested.
7. It is believed that Darrah 'let slip' privileged information about our home to one of our neighbours who is also a town councillor; information that was only available if you had read our home inspection report. This is information that only Darrah, the out-of-town Home Inspector, us the home owners and the potential buyers who had the inspection done would have known about. Darrah and this town concillor have worked together on various committees / projects related to town business in the past and admittingly have an established relationship, whereas any other involved party would have no need / opportunity to disclose this information to our neighbour.

In my educated position as a previously licensed Realtor, I would NEVER hire Darrah to list my home. In our recent experience, we feel that Darrah has no motivation to 'seal a deal' if it's not easy or uncomplicated. We found her lack of honest and transparent disclosure to be shady and unprofessional. She 'prides' herself on being a 'local expert' and charges extra for it, but provides below-average effort, service or results to show for it. When Darrah decided to terminate our contract, it was because "...this has become too challenging for me mentally and emotionally".
Darrah is not worth her 'extra' commission fee, nor the wasted time or multiple failed offers that presented during a seller's market.

SAINT B.

Phenomenally AWESOME!!!

Arlene K.

Dennis P.