Today I have the opportunity to work with a buyer. Not just any buyer. An honest to good, repeat customer, prequalified, knows what he wants, no bull buyer. By no bull, I mean: I have a list of what he wants to see, in the order he wants to see them, plus five alternate homes to see, in the event the homes (1-5) don't pan out.
Yesterday I hopped in my car to preview the homes on the list. I turns out the homes 5-10 (the alternates) are in one gated community by Divosta Homes - Village Walk of Bonita Springs. I thought, while I was there, I'd preview the alternates or at least get to the bottom of their occupancy issues. If we decided to see them I wanted to be able to walk right in. The experiences I had trying to get information about these homes was amazing.
- Agents that don't return calls.
- Agents that aren't in the state, as in for months, they live here seasonally.
- Agents that haven't got around to putting a key box on the house (It was listed in August 06).
- Brokerage offices that answered the phone "Hello". The main phone number. "HELLO!".
- Agents that gave me the "go ahead" and I got there and there was a coded box on the house not a supra. I wasn't given a code.
- Agents that acted like they were a friend helping the list agent. This one stumped me. I figured they must have bill collectors calling and they're paranoid and just pretending to be someone else.
- All but one of these VACANT homes didn't have a flyer box with information. The one that did have a flyer box had a MLS report with the price x-ed through and a new price scribbled on.
- Most had no directions to the home in the MLS. It's a brand spanking new community - not on google maps.
- One agent (who my call was forwarded to) was so relieved I called back to ask another question. She did try to call me, but got some place called "XYZ" on mistake. Uh, XYZ was the name of her brokerage, serious, she didn't recognize her own brokerage name, phone number or receptionist.
My decision after seeing the alternates. Two will not be shown. I explained to one agent that sellers aren't growing on trees and I refuse to make my buyer wait for someone to show up with a key for a home where there are a dozen identical properties available that are ready to be seen. Another home was $70,000 more than any other home, and it offered less features.
I will be showing an one extra home which was not on the list. My voicemail: An agent called me back on one to say the owner has two properties in that neighborhood and one had a price reduction to fit the budget, plus upgrades, plus a few bonuses the seller was throwing in. I called he back, thanked her and let her know what a great job she did and explained the situation with the other homes.
I feel bad for these sellers. They don't even know what is NOT being done for them. There are fine agents, with listings in that same neighborhood, that offer their sellers FULL SERVICE real estate. Color flyers, visual tours, floor plans, they answer the phone or offer courteous return phone calls, the MLS is complete with directions and proper fees. I know, because I have a listing in this community and I'm delivering for my seller. I can't imagine engaging in a negotiation with some of the "listing agents" I spoke with. If they can't manage a vacant home, I can't imagine them managing a negotiation, sale and closing.
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