Ok, so I took a listing yesterday. Great house priced right, clean and ready to be sold. So what's the problem? The problem is, I am now the third person to have this home listed. These poor Sellers have been on the market for 10 months and have never had a showing! That's never, as in nada, none, nobody, no interest, zippo! These Sellers started packing back in November and have been patiently waiting for the all elusive Buyer. They are desperately wanting to move back home to Puerto Rico to be near family. Where oh where have all the Buyer's gone? I guess the real question should be, where oh where have all the professional Realtors gone?

Now my market, Poinciana FL, is teeming with "Realtors". They are definitely easy to find. They're everywhere. The magnetic sign companies have made a fortune off Realtors in Poinciana. "Call me", "Free CMA", "Visit my website", "If I don't sell it I'll buy it", "You've called the rest now call the best", "No money down", "See if you qualify today!" and on and on and on.

So, back to my Sellers. The first time they listed for 6 months. The company was a combination, Mortgage/Real Estate Services, set up. Not a discount Company, but a full service, full commission organization. The Sellers thought this would be a great choice since they did the mortgages too. No unqualified Buyers with these folks! The only problem was they didn't tell the Seller they weren't part of the MLS and they over priced the house by about $30,000. So needless to say, no showings, no sale. The Sellers wasted 6 months of their time. I bet the Company received lots of Buyer leads off their sign though. Mortgage loans and Buyers. That's what they were after and that's what they got. Good for them, bad for the Sellers.

Next the Sellers moved on to a huge National Chain. Good choice of Companies, bad choice in Realtors. Again over priced by $30,000. No showings and no sale.

So, yesterday they made a good choice, they called Tutas Towne Realty and as always, they reached me. I met with them and pulled out my CMA to discuss pricing. Now as a Professional Realtor, preparing and presenting an accurate CMA is what we are supposed to do. Well, these folks had never, ever, seen one before! Ok, If you didn't catch that, here it is again, never, ever, seen a CMA! Been on the market for 10 months with 2 different companies and had never seen a CMA. That's never, as in nada, none, zippo!

Now, I have been doing this for quite a while and go behind other Realtors often, as a major part of my marketing is going after expired and withdrawn listings. I love them. All ready made the decision to sell, just need someone that can help them. Anyway, it never ceases to amaze me how many Sellers have never seen a CMA. They arrive at pricing by telling the Realtor how much they want and the Realtor says "OK." Folks, this is unethical. It is our job as professional Realtors to advise Sellers on pricing. In my opinion, this is the most important responsibility we have. Sellers are depending on us. They are hiring us for our market knowledge. They are making plans based on the equity in their home. They are planning their retirement, purchasing other homes, paying off debt or like these folks just wanting to go back home to Puerto Rico. False hope. That's what Seller's get when you are not honest about pricing. False hope. Is there anything worse than this? False hope.

I never want to be known as someone that dishes out, false hope. Maybe some Sellers won't want to work with me because of my honesty about pricing. But I can't control that. I can control my professionalism. I can be honest with Sellers, whether they want to hear what I have to say or not. And I can choose not to give people false hope. Can you? Will you?

I think I will get me some of those magnetic signs. Mine will read...........Call Broker Bryant, for the truth and nothing but the truth.