WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET CREATIVE!
The other day, I read an post by Glen Gaspar entitled Are some of our fellow agents violating our Code of Ethics? and it got me thinking about what I am seeing in our local MLS.
With the market such as it is... deals have been harder to come by. I am sure that many of you have thought of some creative ways to get your listings noticed. My mom always told me: I'm a tea-bag person ... I work best in hot water! Well, I think many of us are that way. When times are tough, we get creative in order to make things happen and that's good! However, I have to wonder ... could some of us have taken it too far? Don't get me wrong, I'm ALL FOR CREATIVITY, but I have seen some things that I feel in my gut are not ethical.
Please read the following scenarios and let me know what you think:
Scenario #1 ~ Recently, I received an email from a listing agent advertising an open house and new bargain price. It happened to look like an exceptional deal and was in the price range and area of a buyer that one of our agents was working with. I forwarded the email to the agent in our office and recommended that he tell his buyer about it. Well, he was going to be out of town for the weekend, but decided to tell his buyer to go ahead to the open house. He told her to let the listing agent know that she was working with him as her buyer agent. (Normally, I wouldn't advise a buyer going on their own, but it seemed like an extremely good deal, so we thought it best that she see it rather than possibly miss out on such a good deal.) While at the open house, the buyer gets the high-pressure pitch from the listing agent. This doesn't turn her off because she has already fallen in love with the home and is prepared to pay full price. She meets with her buyer agent and they write up the full price offer. Well, that wasn't enough! The listing agent kept pushing for more & more to the point that this (very mild-mannered lady) buyer was nearly put off to the point of walking. Long story short... she finally closed at several thousand dollars over asking. (and this wasn't a high priced home, it was a starter priced condo) We don't believe that there were other offers as this went on for quite a long time. Certainly, if there were other buyers they would have just gotten it over with and taken the other offer. After all was said & done, the listing agent tells the buyer agent that their office attended a seminar where they learned a strategy whereby they list property below market value with no intention of selling it for that price and work people into a frenzy to over-pay. I thought that was called a "bait & switch". I do admit that the agent certainly seemed to do a good job for her seller, but at what cost?
Scenario #2 ~ In reviewing listings to update a market analysis for one of our listings, I noticed a listing that was priced way below the others in this condo association. At closer inspection, it was noted in the remarks that "seller would entertain offers between $140,000 - $175,000". Wow... that's quite a range! Now, it was in the MLS listed at $140,000. What do you think buyers are going to offer? Duh! I questioned whether or not this was against MLS rules. Certainly seems sketchy to me! However, after calling and asking the direct questions, I was told that "it does seem very odd, but we don't have rules against it". I started doing some research and found that there are quite a few listings that are in the computer this way. Some agencies put in the high end of the range, some put in the middle, but one almost always put in the low end of the range... with the exception of 1 listing that showed up at the high end of the range with the disclosure "broker interest". Hmmmmmm ... does that seem fishy to anyone else? I am certain that the idea here is to get as much interest in the property as possible, but I have to question how ethical it really is. Seems to me that any buyer (and especially in a buyers market) would obviously offer the bottom range or lower - AND - Any Seller that would not really consider an offer at the low end of the range shouldn't have it listed and / or advertised at that price. So, who is this practice serving?
SO... Buyer, Seller, Agents & Brokers BEWARE! Know that these strategies are being used and arm yourselves with knowledge so you'll be prepared to deal with these types of strategies. Remember that saying that begins?: If it sounds too good to be true...
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