So I was browsing through homes for sale in Alpharetta, GA online for a client of mine who is relocating. FSBO's are not excluded from that search. I see a home on Craigslist that I want to go preview. Now keep in mind that I leave FSBO's right where they are. If I see one I am interested in for a buyer, I go preview. If it's not a good fit, I keep it moving. Good fit or not, I leave my card as I do with everyone. I offer my assistance if they ever have a question and go on my merry way. I am not in the business of keeping things that do not wish to be kept. If they want to list, they will find an agent. Simple as that.
I contact the seller about setting up an appointment to view the home. He tells me about the home and I disclosed that I am indeed an agent and that I am looking for my buyer. He lets me know that if my buyer is interested and I bring him a full priced offer, he will pay a 3% commission. Fair enough. As I am in conversation attempting to find out more about the house....BAM....it starts.....ranting about how he isn't listing the house and his bad experiences with REALTORS.
Side note: I mention REALTORS because this was the word he used. In my mind I'm thinking about the branding done for REALTORS and how REALTORS are suppose to be more trusted and the code of ethics REALTORS are suppose to adhere to. Obviously, this isn't always happening which is a reason I chose to no longer belong to an association but that's another blog. The point is, the hard work that goes into branding the title continues to be tarnished and if you are an agent, you're automatically seen as a REALTOR by the consumer. The real estate agent and REALTOR are no different in the eyes of the consumer, at least this has been my experience.
So back to the this seller's nasty experiences. I try to tell him that I am not interested in listing his house and everytime I tell him that I am not interested in listing his house, he tells me he's not listing his house. Then he hangs up on me. No matter how much I try not to take this stuff personally, getting blamed for the actions of others just seems to bug me. I wanted to interrupt him and tell him to stop his b*t*hing because I wasn't the one who ate his cookie but I kept my professionalism. Adding to that, I understood where he was coming from. He felt the need to be on guard. At this point, I didn't know the detail of his experiences. I only knew that he had bad experiences with REALTORS and they must've really been bad from his tone and his eagerness to express his dislike of REALTORS in our conversation.
He calls me back a few minutes later to tell me when I could come view the house. AGAIN, he goes in on his rant about REALTORS. Mind you, I only asked what time I could view the house since he had only told me the day. This time, he got a little deeper into his experiences. One stood out to me and gave me the 'AH HA' moment I needed in fully grasping why this man was on the phone ripping me a new one when all I wanted to do was view his property. Apparently, an agent sold him a property they knew would be condemned and did not disclose it. That would leave a nasty taste in my mouth too. Again, he hung up on me and I never got my question answered. I had to call him back for the time which he didn't have and he said he would get it from his tenant.
I happen to think that be it business or personal, I am high in the ethics department. I am a true believer of karma and my soul comes before any chump change commission (all commissions are chump change when it comes to your soul vs. Universal Law in my book). I wanted to tell him about how I operate and how I work FOR my clients come hell or high water because something about this conversation made my ego feel attacked. On top of that, my profession was being attacked...AGAIN.
The unscrupulousness of the small group of evil doers that exist in not only our profession, but in every profession has trickled down to sit in my lap and the laps of agents who actually do care about their clients and doing a good job once again.
Have you ever fallen victim of the emotional baggage of a consumer do to the actions of another? How did you handle it? What did you do to turn that around?
Make no mistake, I will speak to this man again and I will turn that experience around some way or another. My conscious doesn't want him seeing red everytime he knows someone is an agent. It just doesn't sit right with me....
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