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A Changing Market is No Excuse for Bad Behavior

Reblogger
Services for Real Estate Pros with CyberSunshine, Inc.

KUDOS to Randy for saying what so many people are thinking but afraid to say.  It's great to know that there are still those of you out there who are dedicated to your job and committed to treating other people fairly. At least you can sleep at night knowing you did the very best you could, regardless of how you were treated.

Original content by Randy L. Prothero 2021016812

When the market was hot, it seemed like people were crawling out of the woodwork to become real estate agents and loan officers.  They had little to no training and no experience, yet they had a license.  The market was hot, everyone was making money and it seemed like clients were willing to forgive and forget.  It was a royal pain in the neck for the rest of us who had to deal with them.

Now that the market has changed, many of them are still lingering around.  This last year, I have seen worsening behavior among many part time/ hobbyist agents.

  • Phone messages and e-mails unreturned.
  • Messy and incomplete contracts.  Some agents refusing to submit offers in writing (more on that).
  • Not pre-approving or pre-qualifying their buyers.
  • Not appearing for scheduled showings and not calling to cancel.
  • Rude to other agent's and their clients. 
  • Listings without photos or accurate information.
  • Not following timelines.  Commonly because of one of the following reasons.
    • Don't know how to read a contract.
    • Busy with their other job.
    • Lazy or just don't care.

One of the tactics I am seeing more of is agents fishing for price.  I have gotten several calls from agents making verbal offers on my listings.  They expect the seller to accept the price, before they will consider writing an offer.  No mention of any of the other details of the offer or even if they have a qualified buyer.  The main reason for this is they are offering a ridiculously low price and they know it will most likely not be accepted.  I am sure they are making dozens of these calls.

In the last month I have had several agents no-show for appointments on my listings.  One of my listings has sellers that are an 80 year old couple.  My sellers take extreme pride in their home and go out of the way to be sure the home is ready for all showings.  Even after I tell agents to call if they are not going, and explain that my sellers are in advanced years, we still get no call.  Three no shows in the last month; two of them did not return my messages.  I have had no-shows on all of my listings.

Behaviors like this damage the public's view of our profession.  When you consider how much money is involved in these transactions, there should be no excuse or tolerance for unprofessional behavior.

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