Lesson Learned From My Very First Listing
My very first listing was so interesting, I could write a series of short stories about many aspects of what happened. No worries, I will stick to just one this time, one from which perhaps most new agents could benefit and learn.
Just to set the stage: the home was in a nice, private location, with a brook in back; pleasant property; the structure itself somewhat neglected (one of the bathrooms functioned only as a stuffed storage room, for example), but fixable; it offered great potential space (3 bedrooms with a possibility for 5), 2 fireplaces, 2-car garage, nice square footage, convenient to town, schools and amenities.
No need for further details regarding the property to demonstrate my point.
I was a little aggressive on the price, but not because I was a newbie in real estate and wanted the listing. I actually believed in the home’s value and Wall Street trading experience certainly helped with my sense of what the market could bear. It was a lively market at the time. The price point was attractive and for what it’s worth, the listing indicated “as is”.
Immediately, there were many showings and an offer. That one fell through quickly as the buyer, a single woman, realized the home was too much for her to take on on her own.
Now we’re finally getting to my lesson learned. In comes a call: “we’d like to see the home right away”. Okay - even seasoned agents fall for this one: we hasten to run out to show our listing, always hoping this will be THE buyer. The right thing to do is to meet first, discuss, verify, get paperwork signed and so on.
In Connecticut, we’re a buyer agency state, which means that the buyers need to sign either a Buyer Agency agreement to show that they have proper representation or if the buyers decline representation, the agent needs to get a signature to that effect on a document called: REAL ESTATE DISCLOSURE NOTICE GIVEN TO UNREPRESENTED PERSONS.
We meet at the property and before the couple starts poking around, I try to have the conversation we should’ve had in the office regarding representation. The wife declares with GREAT finality: “We are NOT signing ANYTHING”, by which she meant not the Buyer Agency agreement, nor the Unrepresented Persons Notice, all of which I brought with me.
My thought process at this point: okay, this is still legal for me to show since it is MY listing and it’s okay for me to show my own listings.
We carry on. The husband seems cautious, asking lots of questions, expressing concern about some of the work that needs to be done. The wife loves the home. She seems to be the boss. She winks at me behind the husband’s back and whispers: “we’re buying this house”.
Great! My first listing and I’m on both sides of the quick sale; win/win!
NOT so fast. The very next day I get a call from… a COUSIN, who just happens to be a realtor and who of course claims to be the Buyer Agent. No agent was ever mentioned by the buyers, nor any paperwork to that effect produced by the newly-emerged buyer agent.
Feeling confident that I could demonstrate “Procuring Cause”, supported by the timestamp of the electronic lock box that I clearly opened for the buyers,
I approached my broker regarding the issue. She suggested I contact the corporate attorney (this was a large state-wide brokerage). The attorney suggested that for a clear-cut case I would need to produce the Unrepresented Persons Notice with the buyers’ signatures. Failing that, the argument for Procuring Cause could still be made, but would have to be settled in court.
Well, at that point I just wanted to service my sellers, my very first sellers, to be sure and just get on with the transaction without legal complications from me. The sale went through quickly, at nearly 99% of the asking price and without any further impediments. The so-called Buyer Agent never even saw the property, nor did he show up at the closing. Got his co-broke check.
LESSON LEARNED: DON’T IGNORE ANY DOCUMENTATION. It’s there to protect the consumers primarily, but the above story is a good example of how it can also protect realtors.
You never know when a friend, COUSIN or some other relative might crawl out of the woodwork to claim credit for work you did.
Note: Image courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.com
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