Randie Bonwell

“Unprofessional” doesn’t even begin to cover the fiasco that was working with the Bonwell Tanner group. Think, “The Regina George of Real Estate”. After being treated to gems from Randie such as, “I know that this sellers market (sic) is tough for buyers to grasp”, this upon requesting only two of the many issues brought up on the inspection list be properly addressed, as one was a possible safety hazard and the other was undoubtedly a code violation, and, “I was not able to obtain (one of the selling party)’s signature (which actually renders the document illegitimate), let’s just say anytime today as a response time”, it became clear we were not working with professionals. Prior to this back-and-forth, we received news that the buyer of our current home’s finances had fallen through… twice. Per Randie’s request, we immediately looked into a bridge loan and were pre-approved within 48 hours, but the timing of either obtaining said loan or relisting and closing on our current property would require a contract extension of about 2 weeks. After allowing the appraisal, agreeing on inspection report responsibilities and concessions, and confirming a time for closing on the house, all well after our current property did not close on the agreed upon date through no fault of our own, we found the house had been re-listed on MLS as “Active”, and were sent a Mutual Release Agreement. Because my realtor had conveyed that Randie was no longer interested in listening to anything she or her manager had to say, I called the Bonwell Tanner office directly for any information on what had happened to our contract. Karen graciously returned my call, but within about 30 seconds of my questions, told me in a harsh tone, “Let me save you some breath*. Your contract became invalid when your (property) did not sell on the date listed in the contract”. According to Karen, Randie had been begging my realtor for a contract extension when the contingency regarding the sale of our property was not met. I asked if there was a paper trail reflecting this, as my realtor is not in the habit of allowing her clients’ investments to fall through for such a strange reason. Karen said there certainly was, but was not at liberty to share the information with me. This translated to: there isn’t a paper trail. Because it didn’t happen. After a few more minutes of Karen venomously telling me that our contract was void (it wasn’t. Not meeting a contingency in a contract does not automatically void a contract, it simply gives the buyer or seller an opportunity to back out of said contract without being subjected to any legal ramifications), that they had been operating on “good faith alone”, and that we’d get my Earnest money back “eventually” if we did not sign the Mutual Release Agreement asap, our conversation ended. And I finally understood why so many realtors around town have horror stories of trying to work with these two. I’m not saying the sellers of this home owed us a contract extension. They didn’t. I’m also not challenging any of the five star ratings this firm has received from satisfied sellers, as I’m sure they’re unaware of these “tactics”. I just wanted to let whoever is reading this know what the other side of their transactions look like. Far from fulfilling their goal of being known for “always maintaining (their) values, ethics, and morals on the highest levels”, they, in fact, did nothing but lie, berate, and waste my time and money. Buyer beware. *the best part of this is she told my realtor afterward that she had, “just sit back and let me talk”. Ha!