Good story to learn from - thanks for sharing it!

Sooooo true Mary... Sometimes you just have to cut the losses and move on.. For sanity sake at least.  Best wishes

LOL...I had Lillie's HUSBAND for a client one time...every day was a new opportunity to beat me up!  Finally, I told him I would be happy to find him an agent with whom he would be happier and I let him go.  He was furious at my firing him - said I was doing a GREAT job, why wouldn't I continue?!!  Aarrgghh - never again! I'm with you - life is too short to waste on unhappy people.

I find it incredibly difficult to fire a client or to turn down a listing partly because I'm so competitive and partly because I love a challenge.  However, I'm improving - I turned down a listing from an acquaintance because she wanted to pay me a flat (minimal) fee without a corresponding decrease in the services she wanted: lots of photos, virtual tour, "featured home" spot on my website etc.  Her reasoning was that "you might want to see your sign in my yard" and "I've taken all but one of the classes required to sit for my real estate licence".  I felt so much better when I said "no".  Good luck to the agent who works with her.

Hi Mary,

I loved your warning to RUN! RUN! RUN!!!  I think most of us that have been in business for awhile have had a "Lillie" story in our careers, and for those who haven't they should certainly take your warning.

Have a successful week.

Michael A. Caruso

Minette, what a beautiful name!  It takes all kinds to make the world go around and Lillie was one of those! 

Kim, you are soooo right, sometimes it's better to run than stay.  I have never had another Lillie, THANK YOU LORD!

Susan, I had to laugh at your reponse.  You know what I am talking about!!  Best of luck.

Ann, you are like me, basically an easy going person.  But sometimes you have to say, I Have Had Enough!  And 99% of the people are terrific!

Michael, I agree.  Every REALTOR has a LILLIE in their life at sometime or another.  I hope we only get one per person!!

Mary,

I have had a few "Lillies" over the past years.  They are all sweetness and light when you sit down to sign the listing contract, then they do a Jeckyll & Hyde on you and you are caught totally off guard.  Of course, they don't show their colors until you've already spent a bunch of money! 

Mary

We all run into clients like "Lillie" in our careers no matter how careful we are. I try to be as gentle as I can , I hate to use the word "FIRE" so when I conduct my "Listing Appoinment" I explain that the seller may be "Re-introduced back into the Real Estate market" if our relationship is not satisfactory to both parties.

That usually gets their attention :)

Carol, I am so thankful I have only had one Lillie.  I have been in real estate since 1994 and that was my only bad experience.

Laura, you have a great idea.  I have only had one Lillie and she pushed me to the limit!  But your take is great.

Good post, Mary. You feel better now, don't you!

Barbara,

I do feel better!  Thanks for listening to me throughtout my ordeal!

I have fired customers/clients before and sometimes you just can't get rid of them.  I have told sellers that it is a two way street - you are interviewing me and I am interviewing you and your property.  They usually don't think about that.  I have turned some down and they ask why and I tell them that I would rather let you down now than wait 6 months to do it.  That sometimes works to get them to realistically look at pricing it right.

Larry,

You are so right, I have never looked at it like that, but so true! 

Mary, recently I was invited to a realtor luncheon.  When I found out it was "LILLY", I ran.  When sellers start acting like your Lilly did, I fire them too.

Mary, You know what is REALLY tough about the "Lillies" of the world?  1.  They usually don't even know they are being so difficult - that is just how they are? 2.  You spend so much time trying to make them happy, they take so much of your energy that you could devote to other clients, they end up costing you money.

Kay,

Thanks for the approval, Lillie pushed me to the limit!  Run Fast!!!

Audrey,

You are so right!  She drained my emotionally!  I don't like to get angry, but sometime I can't help it!

In some form or another whether it's realtor, seller or not we will find Lillie out there.  Though we had Gabrielle Nemes, who cost a lot of money to her brother  my husband by stealing it and now we saw her blog and profile as a successful and doing a lot of good things as a realtor. I don't  want her fired or something just do the right thing. I hope and pray she does. Thank you for listening. Lyn Nemes

Oh how true, we have all had our "Lillies".  I have fired a few clients too.  Sometimes it is better for your mental health than taking daily abuse from a basically unhappy person who wants everyone around them to be miserable too.