Curiosity got the better of me today. I was reviewing some Expireds around the area I serve, primarily those listings that had sat on the market 180 days or longer. I always wonder about all the myriad of reasons of why something doesn't sell like price, condition, location, poor marketing, lack of staging, bad curb appeal, the water tower in the backyard, etc. But today my brain wandered to the for sale sign out front that had the name of Mr. or Ms. Smug real estate agent on it.
What I mean by that has to do with steering. Real estate is a people business and Realtors know other Realtors(and their work habits, ethics, and reputations). Steering for fair housing purposes is illegal. But I have heard if buyers commissions are below 3%, or FSBO's don't work with agents, buyers reps drive by the house.
But what about slimey salesmen (or women)? Someone in the past that left a bad taste in your mouth. The "superstar" who is full of gimmicks. Who has more tricks up their sleeve than Houdini. If you've had to go to arbitration to get your fair share of a commission from them how likely are you to want to work with them again? I think in many markets there are a handful of these, what shall we call them, charlatans?
So do you as a high integrity Realtor steer clear of those listings (if possible), because of the "likeability factor" or ethics of these representatives? I would think it might only be human nature to deal with only agents that are worthy of working with.
So maybe when picking up an expired listing, you can subtly say to the home seller, the problem was with your former agent. But that's off the record!
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