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Homeowner Kills Real Estate Agent, Authorities Say

July 2, 2008 RSS Feed Print

As if the housing market wasn't scary enough already, a 73-year-old man in Michigan has been arrested in the murder of his former real estate agent.

From the Associated Press, via BusinessWeek and The Real Estate Bloggers:

A man upset about a property transaction fatally shot a real estate agent in the head during a meeting Tuesday morning in the victim's office, authorities said.

[Muskegon County Prosecutor Tony] Tague said [alleged gunman Robert Arnold] Johnson plotted to kill [Troy] VanderStelt, took a .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun to the real estate agent's office, got him preoccupied with some paperwork in a conference room, stood next to him, pulled out the gun and shot him once in the temple.

"We believe this was a planned-out execution-style murder of the real estate agent," the prosecutor said.

Tague told WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids that Johnson believed that VanderStelt took advantage of him in a real estate deal. Johnson bought a house through him in 2005, then recently decided to sell it and went to a different real estate agent. The second agent told Johnson that, because of the slumping housing market, the home was not worth what he had paid for it.

Tags:: real estate,; crime

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Sounds like you have had a bad experience with Realtors.
I would like to say that not all Realtors are uneducated and inexperienced. While I have had the usual academics I also have
lived and worked in my community for 30 years keeping up on local
planning and land developement. I do know the zoning laws and a bunch more. I would not sell a property to someone who could not afford to buy it and would disclose all events past and present that would effect thier value. I have negotiated my commission and I have paid for Seller expenses that were unforseen. I have never been in mitigation or litigation. The commission that we recieve is dispersed in many different ways. Our clients can relax knowing that they have someone that is looking out for thier best interests and believe me as a Sellers agent or Buyers Broker I work very hard. Yes, there are those in this profession who only think of the money, but not all. So please dont diss on all of us.

Darlene of OR 10:47PM September 28, 2009

There are four groups that are reguarly taken advantage of in the real estate market.
1. The very young or "first time homebuyers" (which is agent code for 'suckers').
2. The older buyer or anyone who pays "cash" without getting an appraisal (by an appraiser that they pay for themselves, not one referred to by the agent).
3. Minorities (or Non-english speaking immigrants).
4. Out of state buyers, who aren't aware of local pricing. A 1500 sq. ft. house in Kansas doesn't sell for the same price as it does in California (Florida, Atlanta, or Chicago)..so don't always listen to the agent that tells you to "bid high".
There is nothing wrong with renting for a while when you move into a new market area. Watch what homes are selling for, not what they are listed for. Pasers on stun, good luck, Kirk out.

Capt. Kirk of KS 10:20PM July 27, 2008

Hello Amy, I hear your argument. But please do not attempt to bring pity for evidently what you consider a measly 1.5%. Don't assume every non-realtor who is selling their own home is just like most other cattle who want their hand held and sweet nothings whispered in their ear.
I am well aware of how the real-estate offices and staff breakdown their glutinous 6% of the sale price of someone’s home. Evidently you feel that you rate more for all your tremendous services and cost. What is your cost Amy? How much is your annual licensing fee? Do you have, and if so how much is your liability insurance? How much do you personally pay out in advertisement? What is the average amount of miles and gallons of gasoline for each house you sell? Do you even know? When the office that you work for advertises property in bulk that it is under its umbrella, just how much is spent in advertising dollars per house in the sales inventory?
Tell me Amy what is the total mean cost to sell one house?
I understand not all realtors are of the same quality. But please understand not all people selling their homes are blind lazy sheep.
Concerning the hours of training realtors go through, if you seriously desire someone to respect your training, give full disclosure as to exactly how many weeks you have been trained in selling someone’s home. If your training comes from the normal (in my area) 4-6 weeks in night school, don't expect a large amount of respect. When realtor’s licenses or diplomas are presented at legitimate universities after four years of study, at that point we could probably begin to discuss your training in earnest, and the commission percent of a realtor selling my home.

John of FL 3:41PM July 19, 2008

Homeowner Kills Real Estate Agent, Authorities Say

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