Get it Off the Market, You're Wasting My Time!

We woke up to a chilly 40 degrees outside this morning. Now for those of you up North, I know this doesn't seem cold, but for some us here in Florida, it's really cold!  We hear that the temperature will remain this way for a couple of days.

I'm on my way out to meet my first time homebuyers to look at some properties, this morning.  They are a great young couple, newly married last year. I helped her parents buy a house about 8 years ago. They chose to rent an apartment for a year to save up some funds and in anticipation of the declining market. Yes, our market has declined since that time. They are pre approved for a mortgage and will be receiving a $5000 bond from the State of Florida to assist in their down payment.

We are only looking at 4 houses this morning, as they are very familiar with the area in which they are buying and they have narrowed down the type of home they would like to purchase.  They have been scouring the lists I have been sending for the past year.

Well, unfortunately one particular house is on the top of their "to see" list today.  It is in the area they like, they have done a drive by and it is in their price range. Of course they can't make a decision until they get in to look at the property.

However, it appears that the listing agent may not have the same mindset about them seeing her listing.

I started calling for showing instructions on the property on Wednesday. The showing instructions are to please call before showing. There is one phone number listed for the agent and the company.  There is one fax number.  Since Wednesday, I have called the listing agent 7 times on the phone number to call for appointments.  Her voicemail doesn't identify her or her company when I dial the number.   NO RETURN CALLS!  I have called the fax number on the listing.  A LADY ANSWERED -WRONG NUMBER! I looked in the phone book, found 2 numbers under her name.  I called the first one - DISCONNECTED.  I called the second number twice - NO RETURN CALLS! I emailed her twice with the email address in the listing -NO RESPONSE!  I called the Board of Realtors and asked if she had a different phone than the listing - SAME NUMBER I CALLED 7 TIMES. The Board of Realtors gave me a different email address than the listing indicated. I emailed her there twice - NO RESPONSE.

Now, I'm stumped and a bit agitated by this time.

Either the house is for sale, or it isn't. I can't figure out the lack of response:

-maybe the listing agent is making so much money she doesn't need to sell this house.

-or maybe she's vacationing in the Bahamas and forgot to forward her calls.

-or maybe she moved out of state and forget to tell anyone.

-or maybe she got out of the real estate business 6 months ago and forgot she had this listing.

-or maybe she doesn't care that the owner is getting ready to drop into foreclosure.

THE LISTING AGENT IS THE OWNER OF THE REAL ESTATE COMPANY that this property is listed with. She is the broker!

Maybe her lack of response explains why this property has been on the market for over 380 days and the price has been reduced from $145,000 to $95,000!

My gut ALWAYS tells me in a situation like this, if it starts out this rough, this is an excellent indication of how the rest of the transaction is going to go - being a short sale, this lack of professionalism and response means this property doesn't have a snowball's chance in 'you know where' of closing.

GET IT OFF THE MARKET IF IT'S NOT FOR SALE!  You're wasting everyone's time.

This article is authored by

Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate

Melbourne Florida Real Estate News