There's this enormous, I might even call it, "stately mansion" at the top of a hill, as you enter in to one of Seattle's more prestigious neighborhoods. Since the street approaching it is an elevated arterial, it's one of the only ways in or out of the neighborhood. So, I can only guess that several thousand cars drive by the sign on any given day. A local agent's two-post sign prominently displaying his name and brand has been parked in front of the home since. . . wait for it. . . JUNE 2006! Yup, we're sneaking up on five and af half years.
Guess whose house it is? Wait for it. . . oh YEAH it's the listing agent's house, or maybe one of his immediate relatives- you knew it would be, right? Think he's actually trying to sell that house? Hmm, I'm gonna guess NOT. Think he's trying to burn his name into the retina of every unsuspecting passerby? that's probably more like it. But wait. . . would you hire an agent who took five years to sell your house? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't.
I did a transaction with an agent several years ago, who was having a tough time making the house available to show, due to a single-parent/ young child, tenant-occupant with a pit bull (for starters). I did end up managing to show it (and sell it), but I still remember the agent telling me in a phone call "I don't care if it takes a year to sell it, it means people are driving by my name and phone number every day, free advertising ha-ha." That, as a seller, is not a sentence I want to hear coming out of my listing agent's mouth.
If you're thinking about buying: please think twice before driving up to a home with a for sale sign in front, getting excited about it, and just calling the number on the sign. You may end up on the phone with the most wonderful, conscientious person you've ever met, but don't assume because the house looks nice, the person who answers that call is too. And fellow agents, please with the gratuitous signs, you're just making us all look bad (publicity we certainly don't need).
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