This was the unfortunate comment left on a voice mail to a very good friend of mine when they decided that selling their home was not the right move for them at this time. These close friends of mine had made a smart purchase three years ago when the real estate market had hit it's bottom and now they are reaping the rewards of having quite a bit of equity built up. I had listed their home for sale a few months ago on the chance that they might be able to find a slightly larger home with a pool before Summer.
After taking them out to view a dozen or so properties and after careful consideration of all their options they decided to stay put and do some renovations to their current residence so I canceled their listing. I made sure to delete all of their personal contact information in the MLS listing as I know there are plenty of sharks circling the waters ready to pounce on unsuspecting homeowners once a canceled or expired listing registers in the MLS. I even warned my friends that they would most likely receive plenty of marketing materials from other agents asking for their business now that their listing had been canceled.
However, somehow agents found access to both my friends cell phone number and her husbands. They each received an onslaught of phone calls from over thirty real estate agents within days of me canceling their listing. A few agents were courteous merely asking my friends to think of them if they were to ever re-list. But the overwhelming majority of agents that called my friends were not only high pressure salesmen but extremely relentless, rude, arrogant, and downright unprofessional. One agent called more than ten times in a row before finally just leaving a voice message with their high pressure sales pitch. A few agents relentlessly called my friend and her husband back and forth until one of them finally answered and read them the riot act for being so rude. But one agent actually said the statement "Are you ready to list with a REAL real estate agent?"
My friend was so appalled she asked the agent for their full list of information including website information and social media information to which the agent gladly provided thinking this phone call was leading to success. Instead, after gathering all of the agents information my friend simply informed him that she is very close friends with me and would never use any other agent to buy or sell a home with and not only that but she was now going to blast this agents information all over her social media as someone that should never be used by anyone because of how unprofessional they were.
Homeowners; Be aware that if you ever cancel your listing when selling a home you will receive a lot of marketing and advertising materials from other agents promoting themselves in an attempt to get your business. If you truly were unhappy with your representation then you'll have ample opportunity to review other agents information to perhaps find a better fit for you if it's your intention to re-list your home for sale.
Agents; I understand we have to market ourselves. It's the business that we are in. But never lose sight of the fact that your high pressure sales tactics are going to do more harm than good most of the time. My friends were prepared to receive (and discard) all of the marketing materials from agents once I canceled their listing. What they weren't prepared for was the non-stop, sleazy tactics of the overbearing business practices some agents choose to employ. You don't need to tear others down to build yourself up. If you are that confident in your abilities then that's good. But don't assume someone canceled their listing or let it expire because they were unhappy with their agent.
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