Unethical/Dishonest - Carolina Plantations Real Estate

NOTE: I'm the angry customer who was holding large yellow sign in front of Carolina Plantations Real Estate. I've never done this before. You can be confident this business has done something wrong when I have to go to this level.

COMPLAINT: My wife and I were looking for a 1/2 acre lot in the area, so we signed a buyer's agent contract with John O'Connor at Carolina Plantations Real Estate. We would later regret this decision. It didn't take long for John to clearly breach our written contract on one property and steer us away from a second property that was probably offering a lower buyer's commission than he wanted. We filed two complaints with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission against John and his boss, Doug Terhune, who somehow feel these actions are acceptable.

DETAILS: As our buyer's agent per the requirements of a signed contract, on 3/11/2022 we asked John to see if the owners of 556 Barrington Pl SW, Ocean Isle Beach, NC 28469 (Zillow Link) would like to sell their property. Last year, this property was listed with Ocean Ridge Plantation Real Estate Sales and apparently the listing had expired. We shared our strategies and financial data on what we were planning to offer on the property. John then contacted the sellers and surprisingly offered to list their property in a greedy attempt to capture both buyer and seller commissions, despite the fact that we had a signed contract between us that specifically states that John and his "firm" will not act as a dual agent. John and Doug Terhune feel this action is acceptable. Since we contractually indicated on 2/19/2022 we do not want a dual agent arrangement and our financial details and strategies were known to John, we can no longer competitively make an offer on this property, which was our first choice to build our dream retirement home.

Additionally, John agreed to provide video of another lot for sale near Sunset Beach, NC. Despite reminders via email and telephone for weeks, John never did provide any further details or video on this property. Actually, John provided nothing at all on this property. This property was FSBO with a small commission offered to a buyer's agent. John obviously steered us away from this property while happily answering all our questions on every other property we inquired about.

When I discussed the breach of contract with John's boss (Doug Terhune) he immediately requested that our conversations only occur in writing. Doug also attempted to create false conflicts in my prior interactions with his "firm". The bottom line is all the evidence is there in writing. Check the contract. We signed a "no dual agent" contract and our buyer's agent then voluntarily entered into a dual agent situation on a lot we were interested in. Why do we even sign these contracts if buyer's agents are going to breach them. John voluntarily became a dual agent on 3/26/2022, which breached our contract.

Many realtors are unethical and dishonest, just like Carolina Plantations. Obviously, Carolina Plantations, John O'Connor, and Doug Terhune should be avoided to ensure other buyers like me are not a victim of greed and breach of contract. My best advice is to avoid all realtors, if you can, and only buy and sell FSBO. I've done both and it doesn't take long to realize realtors are an unnecessary entity that only serves to take their rubber-stamped cut of every home/lot purchase.

Questions, comments, or criticisms? Email me