ATTENTION LISTING AGENTS

By
Real Estate Agent with Forefront Real Estate/ Forefront Mortgage

OK, I normally try not to vent here. But I'm afraid that if I don't, the top of my hairless head may very well blow off. So here goes:

Attention Listing Agents!!! Attention Listing Agents!!!...

The slightest bit of professionalism would be greatly (and at this point, refreshingly) appreciated. You are not any busier than anyone else. We all have a million things to do. And the rest of us don't care what your office assistant is up to.

GOD, I feel better. Now here's what led up to my momentary meltdown. Yesterday, I was setting some showing appointments (say that a few times fast). On one, the instructions were to "Call listing office for key" . Well now THAT seemed easy enough. When I called the listing office, a woman that sounded suspiciously more like a grandmother than a receptionist answered the phone. Why, do you ask, would I draw such a conclusion? It was a combination of her voice tone...AND THE SCREAMING BABY SHE WAS OBVIOUSLY HOLDING WAY TOO CLOSE TO THE PHONE. So, through the teething screams of a toddler, I explained that I was calling to find out how to get a key for showing. The very pleasant, patient, elderly woman then informed me that I needed to call the listing agent's cell number...HUHHHHH?

Attention Listing Agents!! Attention Listing Agents!!!...

If you instruct us to call your office (?), make sure that your baby sitter, I mean receptionist and you understand who we are to call, and where YOUR key is. And just as an aside, you might have her put the baby down when answering the phone.

Soooooooooo, I call the listing agent's cell phone at about 11:00am and got a voice message. I explained who I was and why I was calling. I asked if she could call back and give me instruction. May I see a show of hands out there of the people who think she actually called back?? Anyone...hello? No? I decided to email her as well. Keep your hands down. That didn't get returned either. At 7:30 last night, I decided to text this agent. It was the only electronic medium left for me to pursue. At 8:04, I got a text back...Yiipeeeeeeeee!!Whooooo-hooooooo!!! She's Aliiiiveeeeeeeeeeee!! The message read:

" I'm sorry. I've been so busy today. We've had tons of offers on that property. I thought that was already on hold". I kid you not. If this were an isolated case, my Irish wouldn't have gotten up so much. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Literally more often than not, REO/Short Sale listing agents are very,very long on excuses and very, very short on professionalism.

Comments (6)

Tony Hager
United Realty Texas - Denton, TX
Broker

All I can say is Amen. It makes all of us look so unprofessional when half the "Active" homes we send our buyer clients are not really showable due to the fact the listing agent was supposedly too busy to change the status, or should I say the assistant in the office they always blame.  In my opinion regardless who was suppose to change it, the agent is responsible.  I also like when you actually do get hold of these busy agents you hear sounds of shopping or something else going on in the background besides work, but they were too busy to respond or update the MLS.

Jan 26, 2010 01:34 AM
Geoff ONeill
John L. Scott Medford - Medford, OR

I had this happen with 2 units next to each other last Saturday.  One agent answered his phone, and I still have not heard back from the other.  My buyer was trying to decide on which property to buy.  Guess which one we're in contract on?

Jan 26, 2010 01:39 AM
Mike Carlier
Lakeville, MN
More opinions than you want to hear about.

My suspicions are that the agent has a day job and can't take calls between filling bags with groceries. 

Jan 26, 2010 01:40 AM
Satar Naghshineh
Satar - Amiri Property and Financial Services Corp. - Irvine, CA

I'm guilty of this. Here's our problem...We have an offer (or many offers) and we sent one to the bank. We are waiting for the bank to respond to the offer to see how they respond. At this point, we don't even know if the buyer is still around. Although we are supposed to put it in "backup mode", we need the days of market to accumulate and to show active so the BPO can reflect this info.

Now here you come and want to see the property. The reason why you don't get a quick response, is because we don't need you at this time until we know what the bank wants and if the buyer is still around.

Is it unprofessional? Yes. However, just move along to another short sale listing is all I can say.

Jan 26, 2010 07:28 PM
Pat Palmer
Forefront Real Estate/ Forefront Mortgage - Upland, CA
Realtor - Upland, CA 91786

United Realty, Geoff & Mike: It seems that grocery stores are a recurring theme. Go figure.

Satar-Some how, I'd bet you feel neither guilty nor have the conscience to do so. Hopefully, you'll find your way out of the business as quicly as you found your way in. I think it's safe to assume that will happen when you realize that neither this busienss, nor the rest ofthe world, revolve around you.

Jan 26, 2010 11:43 PM
Satar Naghshineh
Satar - Amiri Property and Financial Services Corp. - Irvine, CA

It's just one of the many evils we have to deal with in Short sales. I try to educate buyer agents on how to probe the short sale to see what exactly is going on. If you get no response by the listing agent, it's because your buyers are not needed.

"I think it's safe to assume that will happen when you realize that neither this busienss, nor the rest ofthe world, revolve around you."

You mean it doesn't? I must have missed the memo. ;)

Jan 27, 2010 02:10 PM