Nothing But Agent Bullying

Nothing But Agent Bullying

Over the past several years the public has been informed and educated on the bullying found amongst youths primarily in our schools. .Although the behavior of bullying is not new our youth do not seem to possess the skills or wills to overcome the effects of bullying. It is heartbreaking that some of our youth have found no other recourse but to turn to suicide to end the effects of bullying on their lives.

In my years of experience with real estate I have encountered only a few agents who attempt to utilize intimidation as a method of persuasion in their desire to achieve the end results they are seeking. They can be ruthless. They may raise their voices to an unacceptable level or make cutting remarks in an attempt to show their cleverness. All of these actions set a tone for the transaction which can cause the course of the transaction to not run as smooth as it should.

When someone keeps saying or doing something to have power over another it is bullying. And my newest experience is nothing but agent bullying. The course of the transaction had gone smoothly. We had the usual items on the agenda and all were agreed upon and settled including the closing date. A couple of days before closing I receive a call from the other agent that their client would like to close on Friday instead of Monday. I tell them upfront that I don’t know if sellers can close on Friday with such a short notice but I will inquire.

The sellers inform me that they have scheduled their move to work with the current closing date. They do not feel like they can be prepared to close on Friday. No problem, we will stick with the closing date as agreed in the contract. Back to the other agent I go. I let them know about the sellers’ circumstances which will not allow for them to close early. The next day the agent is back on the phone insisting that we have to close on Friday. Buyer wants to close Friday and we just have to do it.

Have to do it? What happened to the contract and the date which by the way your buyer selected? It doesn’t stop here. Seller gets a call from the showing service for a final walk through that day. Seller declines. They are upset. I get a telephone call from the seller who by this point is overly excited to say the least. They don’t understand. The walk through has already been approved for Sunday. The showing service is telling them that due to closing on Friday the agent has requested the new walk through time.

After calming the seller down I contacted the showing service, block all showings and change the settings to agent only for appointments. Send the email to the other agent highlighting the already approved walk through and advise them that I will meet them at the house on that day at that time. Now I have to jump in my car, drive over to the house and remove the lockbox from the door because the seller needs this level of comfort. Once back home I sigh with relief. The fire is out.

But another fire is already burnig. Before long I receive an email from Title with the HUD-1 and a request to call the office to schedule our closing for FRIDAY. First reaction - who received the email? Oh no - oh yes! It went to the sellers too. My phone is ringing. It is the sellers. Here we go again because somebody couldn’t put their big girl panties on and act like a professional.

The closing did take place on Monday all according to the contract. And fairly soon all of the fires will be forgotten as sellers are on their way to their new home. And the buyer is free to move in whenever they like. You know what they say. “All is well that ends well.” I sure would like to deal with a whole lot less bullying so that all is well in the middle. Real estate is a profession not a sport.