The Title for this Blog was inspired by my recent experience with an unhappy home seller. Well, I should call them a 'Home For Saler', because with their lack of flexibility and obsessiveness with perfection, their home is going to be FOR SALE for a looooooooong time, not SOLD.
I recently watched one of the hardest working, most dedicated agents take a severe verbal beating from her seller. Why? The photos weren't good enough (they were professional, and they were good). The ad on Craigs List said 'Patio' when it was clearly a 'Porch'. Certain kitchen features were left out of the description. On and on and on and on. The house had been on the market for over 6 months, the seller had purchased the home through another Realtor, paid too much in hindsight, and now it was all the listing agent's fault that it was not selling. I work with many agents, and this agent gives her listings adequate coverage, more that most agents I work with. I was astounded when we talked, she wanted to change everything around to make him happy. I did say 'You know, if we do all of this, he's going to come up with something else, you've got to set some boundaries'. She said she would, but we made all the changes he requested, and sure enough, in a few days, there were more complaints. Petty things, nothing major. This continued for about 4 weeks, until he fired her and hired one of those discount brokerage firms. And guess what? The photos taken by listing agent #2 were AWFUL!
Why didn't she call it as she saw it? Why didn't she say in one of their conversations "You are clearly unhappy with my service, but I think your unhappiness is displaced. I know how it feels to overpay for a home, I've done it myself. I understand you want your home sold, and that's why I took your listing, I want to help you sell it. But I can't help you if you treat me as though I am the enemy. The market is your enemy. The shrinking pool of qualified buyers is your enemy. And the longer we stay focused on what's wrong with me and not what's wrong with your list price/condition, the longer this home sits here and you have to make payments on it."
What's the worst that could have happened? He fired her right then and there? Fine! A seller who is unable to listen to reason during the listing is not going to be any more reasonable during negotiations, inspections, appraisal issues, or closing issues, so take that pink slip with a smile and RUN. Send the 2nd agent in a sympathy card, because they are going to LOSE with that seller!
My next experience was directly with a seller. She was concerned because her home is buried on Realtor.com, it does not stand out well, and she's getting zero showings. Of course I talked about price with her, but that went way over her head. It's an exposure problem, she tells me. Fine, I can help with that! Even if your agent does not have a Showcase Listing subscription to Realtor.com, I can create a virtual tour site that will give it the little red rotating house and all will be well. Or so I thought. Within 3 days of discussing the project, I am getting emails at 5am with remarks in all caps 'I EXPECT TO HEAR BACK FROM YOU TODAY'. Panicked, unreasonable emails. The writing is on the wall. I've got to set some boundaries. My email started with this sentence 'I want to be sure that our services match your expectations, so here is what we are going to deliver', and I spelled out what would and would not happen. After I sent the email, I wondered what in the WORLD this poor listing agent had been subjected to, and why on earth is she still carrying the listing? It's got to be weighing her down!
The photo feature of AR is down right now, but if I could insert a photo, it would be one of Wile E. Coyote holding a surrender sign. Is that you? Or are you more like Daffy Duck, and you get very angry and start yelling at everyone? Or are you like Tom in Tom and Jerry, taking what is yours, and running with it? (Your amazing service, your integrity, your time). I say be like Tom, and run like crazy when respect and good manners go out the window.
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