AveryHess realtors challenge Facebook attack on their integrity

AveryHess real estate agent Theresa Marshall at her desk. Photos/Roger Bianchini

Allegations made on the Facebook site “What’s Up Front Royal” have raised the issue about how such online sites are monitored for disparaging; even potentially libelous comments posted live online.  “What’s Up Front Royal” administrators verified that once a complaint about the accuracy and veracity of the “Tyson Cole” posts on their Facebook page was lodged by the AveryHess agent and management, the stream was pulled within the first day of its posting.

However, AveryHess realtor Theresa Marshall, herself personally attacked as the agent on the failed sales contract referenced by “Tyson Cole” feels the damage had been done since the allegations of deception by her, the seller of the parcel on Northview Avenue in Front Royal, whom she points out is 93 years old, and her company were allowed to generate an online conversation for even a short period of time before being pulled.  And as illustrated in screen shots of that conversation sent to Royal Examiner, a number of people appeared to take “Cole’s” allegations of a conscious effort to conceal known structural issues at face value.

A review of the stream also showed that one person in the construction industry and not associated with AveryHess challenged the “Tyson Cole” allegation of intentional non-disclosure of information.  That challenge was made by Michael Whitlow, who is also a member of the Front Royal Board of Architectural Review.  Noting he was familiar with the property because he too had looked at it, Whitlow cautions “Cole” “to be very careful” in posting such allegations and questions his reference to building codes over 40 years old.

Two screenshots of the removed Tyson Varrati/Cole ‘What’s Up Front Royal’ Face-book stream: above includes photos posted by Varrati identified as old foundation repairs in the basement of the Northview Ave. home; below construction professional Michael Whitlow cautions ‘Cole’ on his accusations.

Marshall identified the person posting as “Tyson Cole” as Tyson Varrati, a disgruntled potential buyer of the Northview Avenue property.  After inquiring about the deleted “Tyson Cole” stream, we received an e-mail address from a “What’s Up Front Royal” administrator for “Tyson” (tvarrati@…) with the suggestion of contacting him directly.  We opted for initial contact by e-mail rather than with the phone number we had received from the realtor, reporting our contact with AveryHess for a potential story challenging his accusations.

The Cole/Varrati allegation was that the seller and agent consciously withheld information about a foundation issue with the property Varrati was negotiating to buy.  Marshall and Front Royal AveryHess Managing Broker Tracy Wenger deny that allegation and believe the circumstances of the contract negotiation prove their point.

Having gotten the realtor’s side of the story, we submitted a series of questions to Varrati concerning his past experience in real estate contracts, as well as what factual basis he had for his posted allegations of willful concealment of known information by AveryHess agent Theresa Marshall and the seller.

We received this reply from Varrati: “I’ve gone ahead and forwarded your statements to the national Realtor association for their review of the statements made. – No comment thanks for the heads up.”

Royal Examiner replied, expressing some confusion as to why a reporter’s set of questions seeking his side of the story and any factual substantiation of his claims against the agent and seller would be forwarded to a realtor’s association.  Included in this reporter’s reply was the observation that: “My questions were to YOU, about YOUR experience in real estate transactions and the public allegations YOU made that are contended by those targeted to be false.  I don’t believe a realtor’s association is capable of answering questions directed to you such as:

• Have you ever been involved in a real estate transaction before?
• Did you pull a $30,000 foundation repair # out of thin air?
• Why would the seller and agent not try to conceal previous foundation patchwork in the basement if they were trying to hide something related to that patchwork?”

We received this terse reply eight minutes after hitting “SEND” with that second inquiry to Varrati:  “Please do not message me again.  This is a formal request to cease communication.”

In that vacuum of any willingness to support what he had posted about AveryHess, its agent and their sales client on the Northview Avenue contract involving him as the potential buyer, we are left with AveryHess real estate agent Marshall and Front Royal branch chief broker Wenger’s perception of what went wrong.

Above, the AveryHess Front Royal branch office; below, Marshall by the company sign on North Royal Avenue.

The AveryHess story

Of the negotiation on the Northview sale, Marshall explains, “The buyer (Varrati) wrote an offer for my listing where the house was being sold AS IS.  This means buyer is accepting the condition of the house as it stands and the seller will not make any repairs to the house.  The buyer was aware of this and knew the house needed repairs.  The offer price was $171,000 and seller was giving back $5,000 to buyer for closing costs, net amount to seller was $166,000 – below fair market price (the last tax assessed value was $190,000 Marshall told us).

“The contract was contingent on the buyer completing a home inspection.  After the report was given, the buyer requested to have a company further investigate the foundation.  Originally, the buyer asked for JES to perform that task.  The seller first agreed, not knowing they were going to give him the report and estimate, not the buyer.”  Marshall explained the seller rejected the idea of the inspection report being turned over to him, rather than the buyer who was the foundation inspector’s client.

“The seller was accommodating to the buyer and extended the home inspection contingency to allow time to find another foundation company to inspect.  Their estimate ($16,250) was sent to the seller by Mr. Varrati requesting to be remedied or he would void contract.  At that point, the seller could have released the contract, voiding it.  However, the seller opted for a second opinion on repairs.  The second estimate came in lower than the first by over $4,000 (high end of $12,000, low end of $10,000); so the seller countered back to buyer that he would increase the price from $171,000 to $183,000 to include the cost of repair.  Then at closing, seller would pay for the repair directly to the company that came in with the lower estimate.  In the end, buyer did not want to proceed with the contract, so contract was released with no default.”

Marshall also addressed one of the Facebook posts in which Varrati/Cole claimed the Northview Avenue home would not qualify for a “conventional loan” without the repairs first being done.

“An appraisal was delayed due to the buyer’s request for further inspections on the foundation; so his claim the home wouldn’t qualify for a conventional loan wasn’t true because the appraiser hadn’t even been to the home.”

Of another online accusation, that the company withheld the now-known foundation information after Varrati pulled out of the contract, Marshall explained the disgruntled buyer appeared to be referencing the property’s subsequent listing.  And while “foundation repair needed” wasn’t included in the re-listing advertising the property for sale, she said when a potential buyer expressed interest the foundation issue was immediately disclosed as required.

The bottom line

In conclusion, Marshall told us it was important to her to publicly challenge the Varrati/Cole posts after the fact because she hopes that every person who read or participated in the stream as it went up live will know both sides of the story, so they can make an informed decision on what the truth is.

“As a Realtor, I take great pride in providing exceptional service to each and everyone I work with even going above and beyond my obligations. Those that know me know that I’m an honest and trustworthy person – validation of that can be found in testimonials of previous clients.  AveryHess is a remarkable company and I am the agent I am because of the training they have given me – and that training does NOT include withholding information or any other questionable professional practice.  Furthermore, the allegations from the Facebook post pertaining to AveryHess, myself and the seller, are entirely untrue.”

Front Royal AveryHess branch Managing Broker Tracy Wenger adds, “I believe he was approaching this property as a regular sale, not as a discounted fixer upper; for this I blame his buyer’s agent for not informing him that the “ARV” (after renovation value) would be in the $230,000 – $250,000 range.  This property is for a more sophisticated buyer, someone who is a contractor or an experienced investor.  I think he became angry because he must not have realized the discount he was already receiving and he wanted more of a discount, and when he didn’t get it he attacked us.”

Of the company’s training and methods, Wenger says, “At AveryHess we have training three to four times a month.  We pride ourselves on the fact that our agents are informed, not only in regard to the code of ethics, but we study the terms of the contract on a weekly basis.  I have just become an instructor for Moseley to teach principles of real estate; now in our office we will be offering real estate licensure classes.

“We also teach a lot about managing our client’s expectations; had Mr. Varrati been our direct client he probably would not have been so upset because he would have been informed about the value of the property.  We know that a lot of communication with our clients is the key to a smooth transaction.  Our most important goal is to make sure that our clients have a successful transaction.”

Theresa Marshall and Front Royal AveryHess chief broker Tracy Wenger