Listing agents used to have all the glory in our business, and now it seems they have just a lot of headaches. The saying used to go "List to live!"  I often wonder if that still applies with so many homes sitting on the market waiting to be sold?  Many of my friends in real estate are going crazy with listings these days.  First of all, you can list many homes, but only a few seem to be selling.  Instead of homes selling quickly, they take forever and then the negotiations from hell begin.  In the meantime, irate sellers call the listing agents and vent on their lack of showing activity, and contracts.  In my books that is adding insult to injury.  That's bad enough, but many of these homes are also sitting vacant, but vacant homes brings on another set of problems. 

In a normal slow market occasionally the listing agent would have to go out to a vacant home on a regular basis, and dust, wipe down counter tops, change a light bulb or two, vacuum the rugs, blow leaves off the front walk, sweep, pick up occasional mail or packages, and even throw some bleach in the commodes.  It is a normal part of our business.  In an exceptionally slow market the problem becomes more involved.  Lawns, leaves, weeds, watering the lawn, faded paint, windows, and stale smelling homes becomes a bigger issue.  If we are carrying a lot of inventory we can multiply the headache of one vacant home, to several in our listing inventory.  Now it be comes a nuisance, but does not end here.  What about emergencies?  Leaky roofs, floods, water damage, home burglar alarms going off, keys missing from the lock boxes, vandalism, lightening strikes, or a broken window?  Now the the listing becomes a burden.  There is always a problem when meeting vendors, getting price bids, or even meeting the police to discuss an incident that occurred.  It is very time consuming and in no way a productive use of time. 

When an agent shows up at a home to meet a vendor, or an insurance adjuster...time is lost.  TWe must consider what is lost.  Travel time to and from the property, and gas is one thing...but we also defer doing business with any other clients.  We are robbed of our time.  An agent in one side of time of town cannot be showing a buyer on another side of town.  We cannot answer a phone or email inquiry while we are conducting face to face conversations with a plumber over a leaking pipe in a crawlspace.  Another item to consider is cancellations and 'no shows' when a vendor does not show up.  Now we have a 'do over' and more time is lost and rescheduling is a must.  Remember, the seller is counting on you!

Before we take listings, we need to stop and think can we sell them? Does the seller have the funds to keep the home's utilities on, keep the grass cut, and the home cleaned?  The listing agent needs to think it through carefully before taking the listing.  It is a lot of work.  Do I need the extra responsibilities? What is the probability of the home selling?  Most of all we have to ask the question "Is the seller really motivated?"  The reason I say this is that it is part of the business that only experience can teach us.  To veterans in real estate this have happened more than once after jumping through hoops of fire...the sellers can sometimes be reluctant to negotiate at all! Surprised?  It happens all the time, and that really can smart after all the effort the listing agent placed into the deal. 

When taking any listing my own experience shows me it is smart to have an 'exit clause'  if the seller does not fufill their obligations