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Is this Listing Agent Serious?

By
Real Estate Agent with BAIRD & WARNER, NAPERVILLE

Today is April 12, 2007.

And, this morning I received the following email from a listing agent:

"You showed my listing at XXXXXX, Plainfield on 8/9/2006.


I have recently reduced the price on this listing from $599,000 to $598,000 and thought you may want to bring your buyers back for another look."

1) This is a reduction? If the buyers thought the property was OVER-priced at $599,000 would a thousand dollar "reduction" change their minds? NO!

Now, a five percent reduction to $570,000 might make the property more appealing.

2) I showed this property LAST SUMMER. That's 8 months ago. Would YOU assume that those buyers were still looking? Not me. Those buyers were "hot" in August and they made their decisions THEN.

When buyers are looking they generally have a definite time frame. They want to make a decision and close within 60 days.

3) I'm amazed that this agent still has the listing! Perhaps she's related to the sellers? And, she doesn't want to tell them what they need to do to get the property sold.

And, if you were the listing agent, what would you do to get the property sold?

Comments (11)

Jason Sardi
Auto & Home & Life Insurance throughout North Carolina - Charlotte, NC
Your Agent for Life
Hello Eileen, unreal!  I'm on the other side of the biz, but I will add that what I would do to get that property sold is to take a look at what that agent was doing, and do something completely different. 
Apr 12, 2007 02:25 AM
Elaine Reese, REALTOR® in central Ohio
Real Living HER, Powell Ohio - Powell, OH
Hah, this is funny. I've also occasionally received these types of emails from desperate agents. $1K isn't enough for this price range and buyers are HOPEFULLY long gone and settled into their new home. On the flip side, I probably do feel a little sorry for the agent as he/she probably has had a great deal of difficulty getting them to agree to even the $1K reduction.
Apr 12, 2007 02:27 AM
Leigh Brown
Leigh Brown & Associates, RE/MAX Executive - Charlotte, NC
CEO, Dream Maker - Charlotte, NC
I love it!  Not as funny as the one I got last week that reduced the price from $299,999 to $299,899 but hey.  Of course, that one had not been from an August showing!  Another agent who won't be in the business for long (hopefully).
Apr 12, 2007 02:40 AM
Ken Nimmo
National Real Estate of Prescott - Prescott, AZ
The agents job here is to get the property looked at. The agent can't always control what the seller will do. I have had sellers drop $500 every third day  until it dropped by $5000. My job was to keep the property in front of the Realtors. Don't get mad at the agent. The agent got you talking about the property. It may have even alerted another agent that hadn't seen the property. Give the agent a feather for working the listing and not posting and praying.... 
Apr 12, 2007 02:45 AM
Todd Clark - Retired
eXp Realty LLC - Tigard, OR
Principle Broker Oregon

I wouldn't be happy with a price reduction of a thousand on a $50,000 car. But a $600,000 dollar home, That agent might need a lesson in marketing.

 

Todd

Apr 12, 2007 05:18 AM
Don Fabrizio-Garcia
Fab Real Estate - Danbury, CT
Owner/Broker/Trainer - Fab Real Estate
Hi Eileen - this is funny.  But, you have to admit this agent keeps good records if she knew what day you showed the home on...last summer!
Apr 12, 2007 06:40 AM
Renée Donohue~Home Photography
Savvy Home Pix - Allegan, MI
Western Michigan Real Estate Photographer
I don't know if you meant it to be funny but it is!  I had a list agent call me for feedback a couple of weeks ago on a home I showed in OCTOBER!  Hello!  Client is closed and in a new home already!?!?!?!
Apr 12, 2007 04:02 PM
Eileen Landau
BAIRD & WARNER, NAPERVILLE - Naperville, IL
ABR, CRS, e-PRO

Renee,

Yes, meant to be funny...but also sad that this agent is so out of the loop!

Don,

She doesn't keep good notes, our MLS system will track every showing...thru Supra. All she has to do is go thru the list which even gives her email addresses.

Todd,

You're absolutely correct. Her reduction is pathetic. Just a poor ploy!

Ken,

If this agent was working hard why didn't she email me in August, September and October? I suspect her sellers said to do something and this is what she's doing!

Lee,

You just have to wonder what these agents are thinking. I suspect that these are agents who got into real estate within the past few years and don't know what to do about a declining market.

Elaine,

Yup...seems to me that buyers are "hot" for a limited or finite time period. She, the listing agent, should be concentrating on the more recent showings and TALKING to those agents on the phone.

Jason,

I guess that I'll have to write a blog explaining what you have to do in this market to get a home sold.

Apr 12, 2007 04:22 PM
Ann Cummings
RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH
Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Eileen - this made me laugh and shake my head, too.  I see stuff like this periodically and just wonder why on earth the agent involved even bothered.  That $1000 "reduction" isn't even worth the time it took to do the paperwork, never mind send out the emails that went out.  For a price reduction to be effective, they need to get it into the next price range - maybe they were never taught that?  What a joke reductions like that really are.

Ann

Apr 13, 2007 01:16 AM
Don Fabrizio-Garcia
Fab Real Estate - Danbury, CT
Owner/Broker/Trainer - Fab Real Estate

I never thought of her getting the info from Supra, but that makes sense.  But she still should have done so sooner!

As for small reductions, we have a number of agents in my marketplace doing that now - $500 or $1,000 each week or two.  The IDX automatic emails then send that listing out with the new listings to buyers who have signed up to receive listings via email.  (All new listings, status changes and price changes are included in those emails). The thought process is that this keeps getting the home in front of prospective buyers.  My thought is that they should price the home correctly to begin with...

 

Apr 13, 2007 02:32 AM
Eileen Landau
BAIRD & WARNER, NAPERVILLE - Naperville, IL
ABR, CRS, e-PRO

Ann,

This reduction doesn't help the sellers. I suspect that they need to be a whole lot lower.

Don,

Yes...she should have contacted me in August or September...and it's possible that she did call. I don't remember, and believe me when listings agents call for feedback I tell 'em. They may not like it!

Apr 14, 2007 08:12 AM