Real estate agents evoke clients who were there to spy, not buy

She contacted me and said, “There is a house in East Hampton that I would like to look at.” It was very well maintained, with a starting price of just under $ 3 million. But a strange thing is that she and her boyfriend specifically told me that they didn’t want a house with a pool, and that this house had a pool.

Another unusual thing is that she brought a friend to see. Most of the time, when he showed her a house, it was with her boyfriend. They were a couple for a while, probably 10 years.

When we arrived for the exhibition, the hostess was leaving. The two kind of greeted each other, but in a very uncomfortable way. After the screening, we were in the yard with the seller and the customer said, “You know what? I’ll go back and take another quick look before we leave. “

She stayed inside for a few more minutes than you might think for a quick look. When we were leaving, she said: “The hostess is my boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend. That’s why it was a little uncomfortable – I didn’t expect it to be there. “

I know a little about this couple, and she is the jealous type. She was a hair dye customer, and customers tell a little more than they would tell someone else. I put things together and thought: “Ah, now I understand”. I had the feeling that she thought her partner and ex were still seeing each other. She had tied me up to put her in that house to check things out. I think she had no intention of buying, she just wanted to snoop.

I still do hair dye and go to town one day a week to do it. It keeps me in the game.

Ban H. Leow

Real estate agent, Brown Harris Stevens, Brooklyn

We had a list for a cooperative in Fort Greene. The seller – who did not live in the cooperative and was in no hurry to sell – had a friend who was going through a controversial divorce, with a son and a husband who wanted full custody.

By the kindness of her heart, the saleswoman said to her friend: “You know what? I have a spot available. Why don’t you stay there and just pay for public services? “

We weren’t very nice about it because we preferred to show a vacant property. But that was what the seller wanted, so we said, “OK, just so she knows that we need access to show the apartment.”

Then I get a call from a man who said he is interested in buying the cooperative for his daughter. He says: “I will not be able to go to the exhibition, but I will send my daughter”. We were like, “Sure”. He looked genuine.

The daughter came to see the cooperative. We didn’t suspect anything until two weeks later, when we received a subpoena and was told to appear in court. Apparently, the “daughter” was a private investigator sent by her husband to report on the ex-wife’s living conditions. She filmed everything in the apartment. We didn’t know, but she had a secret camera during the screening.

As the apartment was temporary and was not fully furnished, the husband used it against his mother, like, “Our son was in a very bad situation”.

And I am responsible because I was the agent on the list. He said there was evidence of other things: cards that he claimed were sent by a boyfriend.

When I told the saleswoman, she was furious. She called her husband and threatened to sue him. After that happened, his lawyer told us that we didn’t have to appear in court. But we took the cooperative out of the market, because who knows what else it could do?

The couple went to court and have shared custody. It’s been about a year now and the seller is saying that maybe she’ll put the co-op back on the market in the spring. If people come up with an excuse, we can’t control it. We have to adhere to fair housing rules.

—Edited from interviews