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REALTORS® Can Be The Worst Sellers

High Priced Home I have run into several listings that are over priced and under marketed. When I checked the tax records, I found it belonged to the listing agent. In a couple of cases they belonged to agents in the area, who I consider pretty good agents.

Yet when it comes time to sell a property they own, they seem to forget everything they know about selling homes. Over priced is a common theme among many agents who sell their own properties. It is a case of do what I say and not what I do.

I just got a response to clean offer I submitted Monday. The agent was also the seller of the condo. My clients offer was $4000 less than the last closest comparable unit. The last comparable unit had two parking stalls and this one had 1 parking stall. The offer was $5000 less than the highest, nicest unit sold in the last 6 months. My client had a good down payment and a strong bank letter from a local funding lender. A buyer we all dream of.

Did we get an acceptance which any agent would have recommended to their client? No
Did we gat a counter offer? No
We got a rejection.

No Sale No, this is not a seller's market. We are in a much stronger market than most parts of the country, but give me a break. I am sure that same agent would have been bouncing off walls if one of her clients did the same thing in the same situation.

I have read other blog posts that suggest that when an agent sells their own property, they should get another agent to represent them. I am not sure if this is always necessary, but in some cases it may be the best medicine.

Posted by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® on 09/12/2007 03:33 PM

Comments (42)

real estate sales, real estate, hawaii, listings, condos, agency

Originally posted at: Hawaii Randy's Real Estate Opinions: REALTORS® Can Be The Worst Sellers

This post has been included in Hawaii Information

42 Comments on REALTORS® Can Be The Worst Sellers

SEP

2007

Randy, I just recently showed a Realtor's personal house on 5 acres. You would have thought that there would have been a plat or survey in the house so we could get the lay of the land or there would be one on line. Amazing isn't it!!

I agree. We are not in a seller's market. Agents tend to forget that when they list their own property. Good luck with that!

Be careful Randy...I've got one now that is going to arbitration because of procuring cause. Offer rejected with no counter, next thing I know buyers are working with owner agent to purchase said property. It closed a month or so ago.

I showed 2 homes just last week, that were disclosed they were "agent owned" and both were overpriced.

Hard to believe agents, who should be attuned to the market and prices, can be so far off the mark.

Just as others have commented already, if anyone should know the market, a Realtor should! Again, I believe it goes back to seller motivation.

Yeah...we got some weird ones flying around...mine's almost over...hey...party Sunday! I need a break from unnecessary crisis action going on.

There is a local realtor here who had his house priced $50,000 above market and wasn't even including any of the appliances!These weren't even top of the line..they were more like 1950's retro!He is the 1st one to complain when someone else is over priced..geez!

Realtors need to think like agents instead of buyers or sellers when buying and selling property for themselves. It can be really hard to separate emotions out of the transaction. In some circumstances, agents would be better off hiring somebody to represent them who is not emotionally tied to it.

Marchel - That agent probably does the same for their clients also.

Chris - We will just move on and find my client a better home.

Mary - Not only procuring cause, but I would question the ethics of the other agent.

Bill - I see it regularly. I was just having this conversation with a loan officer the other day and here is another one.

Gary - She definitely does not seem motivated. Possibly she didn't have any listings so she wanted to keep this one around. :)

Sally - I am looking forward Sunday

BLR - That is the funniest part that he is the first one to complain when someone else is overpriced.

Ginger - I absolutely agree, if they can not separate to emotions they really should hire another agent.

Hi Randy, it is amazing. I just sold a home in a market I am not licensed so I did use a local agent...the first had a my way or highway attitude "after" the contract was signed. It did not sell and the agent was in it for cash only and didn't care...no cash though either. Highly recommended but not by me. Then I went another direction. I hired another agent that was less experienced and taught them how to sell my property. I did the brochures, laid out the advertising even took the property photos. We sold in less than 30 days after wasting six months with the first Realtor. Being a broker in another market and understand the marketing concepts and doing the necessary comparables to know where you should be makes a huge impact on your opportunity to buy and sell. The problem you can not over come greed. Nice post.

Randy,

If you can't sell your own home as an agent then how in the world can you sell RE?

It doesn't make sense to me as long as the agent discloses in the listing owner/agent and on the sales contract Lic. Realtor(R) I sold my own primary residence and investment properties..never had a problem on my end.

I would also add that sellers who USED to be agents are also horrible clients...in fact, I think they're worse than current agents. Some agents know how to depersonalize the transaction, they stage their homes, appropriately price them, and they're a pleasure to sell. Some agents have a chip on their shoulder whether it's their house or not. I'm betting this agent is only hoping to catch a buyer on her own so she won't have to pay a buyer agent.

What are the chances the agent is just trying to generate business from a sign on a property they have no intention of selling?

Randy,

I know what you mean, they should know better.

Randy,

I know what you mean, they should know better.

Randy,

I know what you mean, they should know better.

YOu brought something that ,They use to do that thing here in colorado, many agents list their home with other agents,

Ray Saenz

SEP

2007

I'm selling my own home right now, sort of. My wife, soon to be ex-wife wants us to sell it. I want to just buy out her half of the equity but she isn't cool with that (emotional/sentimental she says). Bah, I bought it before we were married, the deed and mortgage are both in my name only and I don't want to have to get rid of my 5.825 interest rate for a 7.5% rate right now. I have it 5% overpriced and I've turned down 2 offers so far (one rather acceptable offer.) Now don't get me wrong, if someone offers what I'm asking I'll jump on it. You never know motivation, I don't really want to sell. I told the agent who brought the second offer I wasn't a motivated seller and he still kept trying to beat me down on price.

Randy...

I can't wait to see the answer to Lisa's question. That could be the case you know. I have seen that before happen before.

By the way...Realtors are bad at selling their own properties. We have sold several but we find ourselves on the other side of all of this. We're just too nice :)

When we buy personal property we submit our offer at full price just cuzz we don't want to negotiate. We just want the Seller to hush and sell us the house. Pretty bad huh? :)

TLW...ROAR!

SEP

2007

Randy,

I recently sold my own property.....way below market :) I had listed it with another agent for 6 months but they couldn't get it sold, well, actually neither could I, until I agreed to do a 2 year carry-back. Your points are valid, and it really is amazing.....especially the "do as I say, not as I do ." :) :)

Brandon,

I hope everything works out for you with the sell and the BIG "D". I was sorry to hear things weren't working out.

Randy, Very interesting. I never ran into a transaction that was agent ownes. I may be selling my house next year. I hope I don't make a jerk out of myself lol! Thanks for this post!

Hey it's cool. I believe I could sell the crest for $35. Well, maybe $3.50

Thanks Chris. Unfortunately I'm not even generating good leads on mine. My neighborhood doesn't allow directional arrows so that doesn't help either.

SEP

2007

Gary W - Being realistic is the key. You demonstrated that.

Neal - The problem I see on a regular basis is so many agents treat their own property different than they would a client's. If you can treat your own just as professionally; than there is no problem.

Leigh - Good point about ex-agents. There is a reason why most are ex-agents.

Lisa - I have seen those.

Christopher P - They should.

Ray - There is some wisdom in doing that.

Brandon - You are definitely not a motivated seller.

TLW - I have seen several agents over price their homes because they have no listings and are looking to generate calls.

The one I live in was a full price offer and one I was in escrow to buy a year or so back was full price also. It fell out because of legal issues the seller had.

Kathy - I happens. I am sure that if I list my own, I will be very careful not to fall in that trap.

Christopher - We will find a better home for my client. In the end he will be happy, just not there.

Diane - If you are concerned about it, I am sure you won't.

Brandon - Are you listing it to sell or just to generate leads?

I'm getting a divorce. House is in my name only (mort. and deed) and I have a 5.822 Interest Rate I'd like to keep but my soon to be ex wants to sell. I have it overpriced so if someone comes along willing to pay asking price I'll sell, but my preference is to rent out a bedroom and pay my wife her half of the equity.

That's why I say I've had 2 offers, one not so bad one but not what I wanted. I told the other agent I wasn't motivated and what my bottom line was to try to save him time. I guess he didn't believe me because they kept countering at lower prices. He got mad that I wouldn't negotiate and the buyer walked (which I was fine with).

It's amazing how that works. We can't take our own advice. Those of who can will close the sale.

SEP

2007

Brandon - You have motivated me to keep my wife. LOL

I do not understand why they would get mad if they are not offering a full price.

Ray - That is for sure.

SEP

2007

Randy...this is a curious tendency, but I didn't see a comment with the explanation that would ring truest with me.

I'm so busy helping other people with their money that I put off balancing my own checkbook...know what I mean?

Maybe the Realtors are so busy with their own stuff, but they're willing to let themselves down...

Tough to find balance, eh?

Joey - I have the same problem with time. I am sure that has nothing to do with overpricing their properties though. I do agree that some as mentioned in the comments are just putting them in the MLS because they are short of listings and are in no hurry to sell.

SEP

2007

Hi Randy,

I think this is one of those cases where the agent was emotionally overcome by GREED...and, I say that because it is something that has happened to me first hand. Maybe part of it is us living in fantasyland thinking we are gonna get a better offer. Usually, the first offer is sometimes the best.

There are advantages I suppose to having another agent represent you if you owned the property but once that control is handed over - it's one of those things that you have to let go of. Of course, if not handled well or, if the seller/agent is over-critical of the other agent - the deal could fall apart and the two who were once friends are now not speaking to each other. Know what I mean? The seller/agent associates blame on the agent he hired to handle the affair.

The topic is certainly one of which we should keep in the back of our minds as we decide to list properties that we own as agents. Maybe hiring a good agent we don't know is the answer, who knows?

-Keith

Randy

I am wondering was it need (to recover a certain dollar amount?) Or Greed. Depending on when it was purchased. On the "flip" side- with so much available inventory, it should NOT be too difficult to find the buyer another property.

SEP

2007

Keith - It is definitely something I will be careful of in the future.

Allison - The property will not appraise for what she is asking. I am not worried about finding the ideal property for my client.

Randy, these scenarios are so commonplace and expose the Realtor-owner as to their competence. With the advent of the Internet and public search sites it's very easy for the general public to ask, "If they can't sell their own property, how well are they going to do with mine?" I think your blog proved the point, quite adroitly.

SEP

2007

Andrew points. They are not helping their reputation.

SEP

2007

Great post. Seems that for liability reasons you should not sell your own listing yet agents still do it. And as far as getting a qualified buyer with an offer on the table!.......it's that seller's loss. They may sit on that property for lots more time. See you all in LV for the NAR convention!

Christin Griffin

SEP

2007

Christin - I will be in LasVegas for the NAR. Hope to meet you there.

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