The article, New task for Valley agents: Consoling panicked sellers, from the Arizona Republic, reports that in today's swollen, stressed-out housing slump, about 57,000 Arizona houses are sitting on the market while sellers sit biting their nails. And real-estate agents, who once lorded over dinner companions flush with commissions, now have their hands full talking sapped sellers off the ledge. "People call me four to five times a day - that's standard right now," says Neil Brooks, an agent with Century 21 Arizona Foothills. "I console them and I counsel them and I tell them we've got a game plan. It's the unknown - the unknown that just drives people bananas." Already, selling a house is an instrument of torture ranked with death and divorce as one of life's most stressful moments. And it's not just selling a house. It's selling the nest - a big pile of nerves, memories and money - and the nest egg, too, as a house is often a family's biggest investment. "I still think that, deep in their souls, when (sellers) put a house on the market they expect that they're going to have people come and look at it and get offers. And you know what? That's just not happening right now. It can be 30 days or more before you even have a showing," Bryant says. "I like to think I'm an empathetic person, but it's not like I end e-mails with smiley faces right now."
For more information, see http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0309realtortherapy09a1.html
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