Slick Rick

So last week, Slick Rick calls me after I innocently inquired what my Calera home is worth. Slick works with Mario and his delightful, yet timid, minion Bruce--who happens to be the bright spot in Mario's entire organization. To back up, Slick sent me an e-mail with the following (in this order):

Hi I am Slick Rick

I charge 6 percent to sell your house.

I sold a house in Calera three years ago so I know the area.

What do you want to sell your house for?

After some gentle nudging and suggesting from me that I needed to know what the home is worth before I decided what I wanted to sell it for, Slick threw out an outrageous value of $98,000 for my four bedroom, 2,500 square-foot, 10year old home.

And that is where the fun began.

After explaining to Slick I thought the home was worth more and giving him logical reasons why, Slick responded, telling me he was the expert. His e-mail was full of condescending snark. He also re-iterated he charged 6 percent to sell my home. And sign here so we can get this party started.

I was amused by his e-mails, primarily because I already knew I wasn't going to hire him. Ever.

Playing along, I told him I recently put my home in Alabaster for sale at a rate much higher. I explained the type of home and neighborhood (giving specifics) were similar to this one in Calera.

Slick wrote me back saying, "Did you get any calls on it?"

Me: "No. But the agent I hired to list the home did. I got a rental application on it before we got a contract. So it is a rental for another year."

At which point Slick apparently woke up and did some research and realized I own more than two homes. And all of the sudden his attitude changed. I have homes! I want to sell them! As far as he was concerned, he could be the guy who does this for me.

Then I got another e-mail. He said perhaps his comp was low. Perhaps we might have started off on the wrong foot? And what was my phone number? He would love to chat with me and find a "solution" to help me sell my home. Let's talk!

I gave him my number and said he was welcome to call, but as far as I was concerned, the house was going back up for rent and at this time it would not be going up for sale. And, I know you will be shocked by this, but I haven't heard from him since.