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38 Comments on Wading Into The "Feedback" Debate Waters.....Is It Really Feedback You Want?
When I work with buyers I enjoy giving feedback and always try to be honest with listing agents. It is funny to hear when they pushback though: "those stains in the carpet will come out with a good cleaning," or "the price is the same as what the house next door sold for just last year," or, "the planes don't usually fly that low over the house." Some agents and owners just don't want to hear the feedback.
On the listing side, I'll try your approach. I don't harrass buyers agents for feedback, because there are only a couple of local agents who I know I can trust to give me useable and valuable feedback anyway.
Hi Karen~ I give feedback as a professional courtesy. Sellers expect it so I will provide useful feedback on every showing. But, I do believe that if you don't get an offer, they probably just aren't interested!
Karen - I have mixed feelings about this. I have always felt that getting feedback from the buyers to the seller is helpful and I have worked to get it after showings. What used to be a courtesy call after a showing has now morphed into the listing agent having to call the showing agent and ask for feedback anytime they want to know how a showing went. Most of us have gone to a showing service that solicits feedback by email after the showing. Still.....some agents even ignore this.
You have made some good points though, or as someone commented on another post some weeks ago...they said when you get no offer that is your feedback.
I'm with ya sistah.
I email for feedback and if they don't respond I am not wasting precious time to hear "it wasn't for them."
On the buying side, I dislike being debriefed, interviewed and interrogated by a listing agent with too much time on their hands.
Come on in Karen, the water is find. "Feedback is a waste of time." And I think you for supporting the confident in the fold.
Karen, You offer a professional courtesy … I do not. It is a waste of time for me to tell a listing agent what they already know and decides to ignore the elephant in the room.
Karen:
I like to hear what the buyers feel about the home and to confirm that they actually did see it. But I like your idea of asking the buyer's agent if you can negotiate to come to an agreement. I'm going to try that approach.
Karen, that's brilliant! When working with buyers, I always ask for the sale. Why not just ask it from the buyer's agent? I love that and will be using that line in the future. Thanks for the great selling tip.
Good thoughts on both sides of this issue. It's too bad that so many sellers need to hear about the price issue from more agents than just their own, but it does seem to be that way.
We always ask for feedback and tell the sellers that we will ask 3 times and if no response from the showing agent we forget about it and move on as they obviously aren't putting in an OTP. For the sellers I have noticed that it doesn't leave a good taste and fuzzy feeling for that showing agent. We always provide feedback.
Sellers can be so traumatized by info provided by the listing agent that they just need to hear it from it from more agent.
Sue of Robin and Sue
Karen I do believe in the value of feedback. Sure a contract would be better but seller's like feedback. I warn them upfront that they probably won't get it, but they are curious. I don't view it as an attempt to get another agent to do the job of the listing agent. Some things that others can point out, may not have been obvious detractions from the property. It could be something(s) very simply rather than a glaring detraction.
The neverending feedback story. For the most part, it couldn't be a more waste of time, for both the listing agent and the buyers agent. That being said, some industry practices are difficult to eliminate.
Like you, I provide some feedback only as a professional courtesy.
Rich
100% Agreed.
I don't do it because it defies agency law. I keep reading "the seller wants it". Well if the seller wants it, why do we put a buffer on it? Why not just leave forms that don't require our identity and a shoebox with a hole cut out of the top so we can give them an anonymous feedback form right then and there in the house and give them the real honest truth.
The truth without an agent buffering or interpreting the message for them. It's because people don't want the truth and feedback is used as a marketing ploy where the list agent can turn into a puppet master and fall back on the "well your feedback is saying you are overpriced".
Just grow a pair people and tell them what it is like up front. If the house smells like tinkles, tell them, if they want to stand firm on price & it's too far out of reach to sell, don't take the listing.
It is really that simple.
I will also say it again..."Amen" Fill out the email feedback form (3 clicks, stop calling me, check your email feedback form, stop calling me...did I mention no calls please
Dick Beals
There was another post recently ranting about feedback....which I am sure prompted your post as well. :) My response is the same. It is all about the expectations when you take the listing. If you are honest with your seller about whether or not you will pursue feedback, there is no issue. Sellers know that the only feedback that matters is an offer. Otherwise, you are right. They have already been told. One way that feedback can help though is by using a broker open to get it. After I list a home, I immediately have a broker open house, with food of course. I create comment cards for the agents that are required to be entered into the drawing for the prize. Questions I ask include: paint selections, clutter, smell and price. Overall, if there is something that the seller and I have discussed that they are refusing to change, this is the way to overcome it. I use these comments to get everything done prior to the first public open house. It is a great tool for stubborn sellers that think that buyers will overlook some things.
Hi Karen, Very refreshing take... I agree that it is a waste of time!!! BUT,most sellers want to hear what the people who saw their house are saying about it sooo.......
If someone wants "feedback" I suggest they put a microphone next to speakers -- and turn the volume up real high! How's that for feedback?!? I think you're right, Karen. The call is just to engage the buyer's agent. If they use what the buyer's agent tells them to manage their listing / the seller, it's a show they need to grow a pair, as Renee suggests. I have no obligation to the listing broker/brokerage to inform them what they need to be doing for their listing/seller representation.
Hi all....I guess I'm not getting my notifications again....uh oh.
Renee....too funny. You and Carla don't pull punches, guess that's why we all get along so well. :)
Karen:
I just posted the opposite opinion in a post earlier and it was a 225+ comment fire storm so I understand your position. I will look at your two points here:
So if you are so insistent on feedback it's one of two thing:
1) you are not confident that you have the credibility with your seller and need feedback to make your point.
I seek feedback by email from each showing, and will only email twice, if no response I appreciate that they must be much busier than I am and wish them great success. Trust me. my brokerage does not lack confidence at all and usually they only reason a seller uses any agent is that you have credibility with them so I am not sure what your argument is there but it is your position. The feedback is for the SELLER, not the listing agent. Every seller I have worked with (and granted I have not worked with as many as most agents here) asks for the feedback, that simple. Everyone usually wants feedback, and it is interesting that in this profession I have found that people who would otherwise give unsolicited opinions and feedback on everything under the sun, clam up when their feedback is sought. I do find that strange.
2) You are really trying to use feedback as an excuse to speak to buyer's agents and see if there is a deal which can be worked out.
Not at all. Again the feedback is for the SELLER, not the agent. I can usually determine that the purple velet wall paper in the master bedroom with black lights is an issue, but a deal will be worked out if a deal can be worked out, the feedback is a separate issue.
@Carla #35-Again, the SELLER always wants to hear what a potential buyer thought, and it is just a professional courtesy. It seems that exclusive buyers agents seem to feel this way more often than listing agents. If you chose not to give feedback that is your choice and I understand. I will still ask you for it though.
Just my humble rantings. Thanks for listening.
Great advice, love the let's make a deal approach! I ask for it mostly to show the seller that I am paying attention, engaged and focused on selling their house. Yes they rarely tell me something I don't know, but sometimes they do. Just because you list a house, doesn't mean you will see it the way every potential buyer will. For example, a recent listing of mine had a smallish bedroom. I did not think it would be a big deal, but it was! I'm not perfect - shock! it was at least a dialog to have with my seller and he knew I was paying attention. Oh, and I give feedback as often as possible.
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