Please bear with me, I have to vent right now.
I received a personal referral in June of last year for some folks who would be needing to sell their home this spring. We began talking about the process, about preparing the home for sale, about market performance, about timing, etc etc.
We had met a few times, establishing our game plan. We had spoken on the phone several times hammering out our details. I referred them to another agent in the town where they're headed, who took fabulous care of them and found the perfect house which even worked out with the ideal closing date.
An appointment was set for this coming Friday for me to go out and get the paperwork finalized, and get the house officially on the market.
Then, the phone rings yesterday morning. The seller called and said that he was in a dilemma. (Background information. They purchased this home as a to-be-built new construction property, had no agent when they went to the model-SO the onsite agent called his sister, who happens to be a real estate agent, to come out and represent them (i.e. get paid for nothing).) He had stopped by the model to let the onsite agent know that they were about to list the house with me (yes, he named me), and that if the onsite agent had any prospects who were in need of a home and nothing was available from the builder, then would he please send them over? OF COURSE HE WOULD! He immediately called his sister. Who, after 2.5 years and NO CONTACT with these folks, called them up and said that SHE should list the home, since she lives in that neighborhood and didn't they have SO MUCH FUN when she represented them before? And well, if they would use her, THEN her brother at the model would send prospects their way!
I am not one to slam my competition. They usually do a very fine job slamming themselves. So I put in my filter and said that he should just select whomever he felt would do the best job representing his best interests and who would take the greatest care of them. What else could I have said? That this agent and her brother are two self-serving snakes in the grass, and the entire real estate community knows it? No, if I say that, I'm just as bad as they are. DAMN!
I get another call today, telling me that they have decided to list the house with her. After all, she will be able to sell it faster since she lives in the same neighborhood. (Did I miss something in all of my education? Does the location of an agent's personal home dictate when his/her listings will sell?)
I was so mad, veins were popping in my head. But I still asked what I could have done differently to have earned the business. 'Oh, nothing, you were great.' But not great enough. I told him that I was disappointed, and wished them the best of luck and hung up the phone quicker than I usually do.
What really has me mad is that I met with these folks several times. Gave them tons of information. Gave them staging information. The whole works. At no point was I competing. Now at the last minute, another agent swoops in.
That old Alabama song keeps coming to mind...'Old Flame.' Remember that one?
"That old flame might not be stronger, but it's been burning longer-than any spark I might have started in your eye."
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