Rob Johnstone Calgary realtor Rob Johnstone defies his "Reputation Built on Trust" Calgary, Alberta Canada

This story is a complete factual account of a real estate deal that fell through.  Because Calgary realtor Rob Johnstone did not do anything illegal, filing a complaint with the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) would not have any effect.  

However, just because he was acting in accordance to the law, does not mean he was acting ethically.  I felt that this story should be shared with all potential Calgary home buyers, sellers, brokers and Calgary realtors so that should they have any dealings with Calgary based Remax Mountainview real estate agent Rob Johnstone, they at the very least have my experience to ensure a smoother experience when dealing with this realtor.

On Friday August 26/2011, we were interested in purchasing a property listed by Rob Johnstone.  The listed property was 1121 21st Avenue NW.  MLS number was C3490218.  I was actually leaving for Vancouver that night so I had to have my realtor meet me at the airport in order for me to complete the transaction and have his deposit cheque ready.

The property in question was a rental property with existing tenants.  It was also a full size lot on a street and neighbourhood in Calgary known for infill developments.  The lot was priced at 425 000 which was a fair price for Calgary infill properties.  When we saw the listing come up, we immediately made an unconditional offer for $415 000.  

The offer was signed at 5:45pm and left open till August 27th/2011 at 11am.  The next morning we were contacted by Rob Johnstone and he gave us a verbal counter of $422 000.  We took some time to think about it and again, verbally countered with 418 000.  Rob Johnstone took it back to his client and after a few hours, called back and verbally accepted $418 000.  

The final signing was done at 9pm August 27/2011 on our side.  Rob Johnstone informed us that his client was at dinner and a comedy show, so please keep the offer till the following morning so that he could sign it in the morning.

Of course, come Sunday morning, Rob Johnstone called us to inform that they had received another offer and that we had a chance to up our offer, or else they would be accepting the other offer.  We were unable to come up with an offer that was higher than the new offer they received and as such, we lost out on the property.  The infill property ended up selling for $430 000.

Normally I would chalk this up to a lesson learned and that we should've insisted on final signings at the time, rather than trust Rob Johnstone.  However I felt I had to fill a rip off report warning all other Calgary realtors and potential home sellers and buyers after visiting Rob Johnstone's website at www.calgaryhomepros.com.  

On www.calgaryhomepros.com,  Rob Johnstone boldly displays his slogan.  "A REPUTATION BUILT ON TRUST".  Upon seeing this, I felt that a public record of the failed transaction was necessary as clearly, Rob Johnstone does not know what his on slogan means.

Had he put a different slogan, something more akin to "Getting the best return at all costs" I wouldn't feel as mislead by Rob Johnstone.

This is a factual account of what happened with this deal.  I have only my signed contracts to corroborate my dealings with Rob Johnstone.  Since the deal was mostly done verbally, it ends up becoming a he said she said and as such, there is not much else I can do, aside from posting this publicly so that all Calgary realtors, potential home buyers, sellers, brokers and any other real estate industry members, can learn from my experience.