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Bad Deals Only
Bad Deals Only episodes
- The Spring Market Is Breaking Our Brains | Bad Deals Only Ep. 9
Spring offer season is here and it is melting everyone's brains.
Nick and Seth open on the whiplash of happy new-client calls and festering problem calls, then dig into a condo market drowning in inventory, a starter-buyer pool that is frozen in place, and the real math of renting versus owning. Plus a run of genuinely unhinged bad-deal stories.
In this episode:
- Condo inventory exploding while two-beds get passed over for three-beds at the same price
- Rent versus own, run live: a $420k East Boston condo against $2,700 rent
- The buyer pie chart for a $750k Winthrop single family
- Why the entry-level buyer is now closer to 40 than 27, and why so many sit stuck in lease-renewal limbo
- Listing edge: golden-hour photos, fewer clickbait images, and lockbox versus accompanied showings
- Bad deals: the agent who ghosts at closing, the agent who sold the wrong house, and a divorce that triggered a refi rescission
- An ex-wife's attorney dropping a lien on the property at the closing table
- Marry the house and date the rate, plus Nick's Aqua Bounty stock run and a safe full of "$18 million" in nickels
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
1 hr 9 min - Rates, Deals & Real Estate Chaos | Bad Deals Only Ep. 8
Everything actually happening in today's real estate market, minus the spin.
Nick and Seth break down mortgage rate volatility, why deals keep falling apart, and the real conversation buyers, sellers, and agents are having behind the scenes.
In this episode:
- Where mortgage rates are actually heading
- Why deals are falling apart right now
- The truth about competing offers
- Real estate horror stories from the field
- Zillow estimates versus market reality
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
1 hr 38 min - The $150 Toaster & the No-Show Agent | Bad Deals Only Ep. 7
A blizzard, a missing toaster, and a buyer's agent who never showed up. This one earns the name.
Nick and Seth get into the February snow lull, why septic and Title V testing grinds to a halt in winter, and how to get a listing sold anyway. Then the main event: a deal where the buyer toured the open house three times with the listing team, produced their own agent at the last minute, asked for $100,000 in repairs, and turned the final walkthrough into a seven-hour solo marathon during a blizzard. All over a countertop microwave they kept calling a toaster.
In this episode:
- Title V and septic: winter perk-test delays, the two-quote standard, and paying the bill out of escrow
- Tight inventory, getting listings ready early, and working off-market and pocket listings
- Why rates jumped from the high fives back to 6.5 on war and inflation news
- The "seven out of ten boxes" rule, because that is what you can actually afford
- A full buyer-intake role play, from work-from-home space to narrowing down towns north of Boston
- Why exclusive buyer agency matters, and firing the client who wants to shop three agents at once
- The Florida "on or before" closing controversy and what specific performance really means
- The bad deal: the no-show agent, the $100k inspection ask, the seven-hour walkthrough, and the $150 toaster saga
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
1 hr 35 min - Referral Fee Traps & Handshake Deals Gone Wrong | Bad Deals Only Ep. 6
How tech platforms quietly flip the commission structure and sell agents back their own clients.
Nick and Seth dig into the referral-fee machine taking 30 to 40 percent off the top, why handshake deals get people burned, and what actually protects you when someone refuses to pay after closing.
In this episode:
- Compass, Coldwell Banker, and the future of mega brokerages
- Zillow, FastExpert, and referral platforms taking huge cuts
- Getting burned on handshake deals
- Protecting yourself with contracts and mechanics liens
- What happens when someone refuses to pay after closing
- Snowstorms, Super Bowl slowdowns, and market timing
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
1 hr 19 min - Snowmageddon: Boston Can't Handle Snow | Bad Deals Only Ep. 5
Everyone says they miss snow until it actually falls on Boston.
Nick and Seth break down why Massachusetts is objectively terrible at snow removal, how half an inch turns the city into a crisis zone, and why New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont quietly run laps around us every winter.
In this episode:
- Why Boston panics at the first flake
- The unhinged history of space savers
- Snow removal scams and contractors who vanish mid storm
- Why the rest of New England figured this out years ago
If you want snow, drive north. If you want beaches, universities, and heart transplants, welcome to Massachusetts.
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
1 hr 13 min - From Lobster Sauce to Lawsuits | Bad Deals Only Ep. 4
It starts with lobster sauce loyalty and ends with how real estate deals actually die.
Nick and Seth open on New England Chinese food economics, then get into why today's deals fall apart. Not over price, but over inspections, unrealistic expectations, and buyers feeding inspection reports straight into ChatGPT.
In this episode:
- Why inspection timelines keep stretching longer
- How AI is reshaping buyer behavior, for better and worse
- Normal wear and tear versus actual deal killers
- What good agents do before the inspection ever happens
- Why some inspectors write reports that read like horror novels
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
1 hr 12 min - Bad Deals Only Ep. 2 | Inspections, Parties & a Wire That Never Existed
Holiday chaos, inspection fights, and a wire transfer that never actually existed.
Nick and Seth break down why inspection negotiations go sideways, how repair requests blow up clean deals, and what the latest Massachusetts inspection law changes mean for buyers and sellers. Then it gets personal with holiday party politics, RSVP lies, and a cash buyer story you have to hear to believe.
In this episode:
- Inspection negotiations, repair credits, and earnest money confusion
- What the new Massachusetts inspection law changes actually do
- How agents make simple deals harder than they need to be
- The cash buyer, the generous parent, and a wire that never existed
- Holiday party politics and RSVP lies, for good measure
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
56 min - Bad Deals Only Ep. 1 | Why Real Estate Deals Fall Apart
The deals nobody wants to admit went sideways. Welcome to Bad Deals Only.
Real estate attorney Nick Nardone and Boston broker Seth Williams pull back the curtain on what actually happens when a transaction starts to unravel. Inspection chaos, permit disasters, and agents who torch a clean deal over nothing. This is the messy reality of buying and selling in Massachusetts.
In this episode:
- Why so many deals collapse after the offer is signed
- Inspection surprises that send buyers running
- Permit problems that quietly stall a closing
- How the wrong agent sinks a deal that should have closed
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
1 hr 5 min
About Bad Deals Only
From the publisher's feed
Bad Deals Only is a podcast about bad deals, bad decisions, and the lessons that come from them.
We break down real estate deals gone wrong, business mistakes, financial missteps, and everyday decisions that cost more than they should. Each episode dives into why these deals failed, what people missed in the moment, and how to avoid making the same mistakes yourself.
This podcast covers real estate investing, business strategy, money management, work culture, negotiation mistakes, and the hidden costs behind decisions that look good on paper. No gurus, no fake success stories, and no pretending hindsight is obvious.
If you are interested in real estate, business, entrepreneurship, personal finance, or learning from other people’s expensive mistakes, Bad Deals Only delivers honest conversations, strong opinions, and practical takeaways.
New episodes weekly.