Christopher Iacobelli

Reviews 3

ME

Megan Abshari

Chris Iacobelli lies. He didnt recommend Elves de Souza to me as a painter. The house Chris sold me was 15 yrs. old. Its kitchen and bathroom cabinets were falling off and peeling. The bathrooms were covered with white subway tile and were moldy in the corners. He told me, "Megan, Elves is your guy. He can do everything for you. He has a bunch of Brazilian guys working for him who do good work. He is honest." Yup.... Elves de Souza was fined $2000 by Manatee County Code Enforcement and was prosecuted by the FL. State Attorneys office, placed on 12 months probation and 100 hrs. community service and ordered by the judge to give over $16000 in restitution to me all because he came to my house as recommended by Chris Iacobelli, posing as a licensed general contractor! Does that sound like an honest man to you? These are the kinds of people Chris Iacobelli recommends, associates with, uses and lies about! In fact, Chris Iacobelli took me to one of his flip houses in the Rivers subdivision of Lakewood Ranch to show me Elves de Souzas subcontractors who were laying ceramic flooring in it. He told me to ask Elves to send me the same guys to do the work in my bathrooms because they laid good tile. Now, he is lying about it all. Chris told me, "You see how much cheaper Elves is than the other guys you have gotten estimates from?" I had gotten quotes from 2 other contractors I had found myself on Angies list or through my neighbors but I went with Elves de Souza because Chris Iacobelli recommended him to me. If my super star licensed realtor in Lakewood Ranch who is the God of investment in the area was telling me this guy is licensed, good and honest, then Id be a fool not to use him, right? especially since he charged less too! Well, wrong! Thats the whole point. Chris Iacobelli cant be trusted. He doesnt care how his direct role caused tremendous level of damage to my property and my familys life, well-being, health and finances. If he was honest and had integrity, he would have done something about it. Just saying that he is sorry doesnt make it so! Words are cheap. Actions are what count. Chris Iacobelli is responsible for the damages caused to my property! He is responsible for misguiding and misinforming me about the costs associated with the repairs and remodeling of the fixer upper house he sold me. Despite the fact that I insisted that the costs were much larger than what he was leading me to believe, he continued to sell himself to me as the expert realtor and advised me that if I used the contractors he uses, I would be able to get the 3 bathrooms, the kitchen and the master bedroom wall remodelled well within 1 month at a the very reasonable prices offered by Elves de Souza. None of which were true! When I confronted him on the phone about this, he replied, "Well, Im not God. I cant know everything." How can you trust a realtor who sells himself to you as the super start expert agent on the one hand and then on the other hand excuses himself easily by a cop out like that! The issue is Chris dishonesty and lack of integrity. If you cant trust someone, then what is left? Most peoples homes are their #1 financial investment. Would you trust it with someone like him and his associates? Chris has invited the readers here to go to Zillow to see all the good reviews he has there. Yes, please do go to Zillow as Ive now added my true review of Chris Iacobelli on Zillow as well so the public is informed and aware. Chris Iacobelli is part of the problem in our community of allowing unlicensed contractors to rip people off by recommending them. A licensed realtor in FL should not ever recommend an unlicensed contractor to a homeowner nor should he use them on the houses he flips and sells to the public. That is just unethical and danger to the public, you and me!

GE

George Hardman

Mr. Chris Iacobelli embodies all the qualities and experience a buyer or seller seeks in a real estate agent. I hold Chris in high esteem and without reservation recommend his services. When recommending a person or business; my integrity and word is at stake; therefore this review was not taken lightly. Chris demonstrated integrity and was true to his word in every aspect of the home buying process – he genuinely cared about my happiness. I am very pleased with the results. I moved from Washington, D.C. to Florida and Chris wasn’t the first agent I worked with – HE was the agent that provided patient, calm and professional guidance and his easy going personality was a plus – he was a joy to be around. His knowledge of the area, home trends, and new construction opportunities combined with preparation, thoroughness, and professionalism engendered my confidence and trust. I purchased a new construction property. He took the time to explain each part process and negotiated with the builder – the result was the purchase of top quality home at an extremely fair price. Chris was available throughout and present at all meetings with the builder; he responded to all my communications in a timely manner. He explained every piece of paper and he LISTENED. His positive attitude, honesty and commitment were refreshing as was his awareness of the value of my time. After the sale was complete he was available and to this day if I have a question he is there to help me. The success of this transaction was based on his efforts to form a true relationship with me and a commitment to my goals and ultimately, my happiness. As we looked at homes and new construction sites, Chris would recognize each person by name. This demonstrated the importance of relationships to him and his business approach in general. HE TAKES THE TIME TO DEVELOP AND CULTIVATE RELATIONSHIPS, as he did with me, which goes directly to his creditability and the respect other players in the industry have for him. The dividends of these relationships are passed on to his clients. He is well connected and respected in this business; his experience gained over many years cannot be underestimated when making purchase of this magnitude. The fact that he is a top producer is well deserved. Yet, I wasn’t another DOLLAR sign to him; rather a person who had needs and he was there to help meet these. I have friends who have used him based on my word and he will represent me on my next transaction(s). Chris is a man of integrity, easy to work with , a savvy businessman and results oriented; high praise indeed!

ME

Meg A.

This Realtor was dishonest. He "highly recommended" an unlicensed contractor to me for the remodeling at one of his listings that I purchased. The contractor, Elves de Souza of Elves Painting & Remodeling took my money and ruined the materials I purchased to remodel 3 bathrooms, a kitchen and the master bedroom. He caused over $40K in damages to my home. Chris Iacobelli told me that he had been using Elves de Souza for all of his investment houses for the past 4-5 years, in and around Lakewood Ranch and Sarasota. Can you imagine a licensed Florida Realtor highly recommending an unlicensed contractor to a client/homeowner? As the result of this realtors dishonest practices, my house has been a construction zone for the past 8 months. Not only was his "star contractor" unlicensed, he also left my house in shambles. Moreover, Chris Iacobelli lead me to believe that he was a savvy real estate investor and professional, and knew everything there was to know about real estate in this area. At the time of the purchase of the house he had listed, when I pointed out all the areas of the home that needed repair, remodeling and renovation, he mislead me to believe that everything would cost significantly less than 1) what I imagined, 2) the inspector and his recommended contractors estimated the costs to be, 3) most mainstream consumers believed the costs to be. If you intend to purchase one of Chris Iacobellis listings, before the sale I highly recommend that you pay for a thorough inspection of the property and demand that all problems and defects in workmanship be fixed by a licensed contractor of your choosing. Under no circumstances allow Chris Iachobelli to choose who completes the repairs. If youre using Chris Iacobelli to represent you as a buyer, do not expect to get the best sales price on the house you choose to purchase. He is only interested in making the highest commission possible and will attempt to manipulate you into quickly making an unwise decision. He will misrepresent what repairs cost, recommend cheap, unlicensed contractors, and outright refuse to negotiate on your behalf as is his duty under Florida law as a licensed Realtor. If Chris Iacobelli was willing to take advantage and defraud me, a disabled, single mother that moved to Florida to improve her health, consider what he might do to you. I will NEVER trust this Realtor again.

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