Admin

Do You Want To Sell That Listing? Return Your Phone Calls!

By
Real Estate Agent with Twin Oaks Realty, Inc.

Before I start complaining about the agents who haven't returned my calls in the last few days, I have to say with all honesty that there have been times when I wasn't as prompt about returning that call as I should have been.  Especially when it involved feedback on listings when there had been a larger number and I didn't really have a really strong opinion about what I had shown or previewed. I know that can and probably has come back to bite me both now and in the past.

That being said; this weeks experience has just about caused me to reach a breaking point. My Buyers, a young couple looking for their first home, hoping to still get in on the Tax Credit, decided that if we expanded our search they might have a better chance of finding a home that they could write an offer on and possibly get an answer on before April 30th.  Obviously we didn't want a Fannie Mae Loan short sale but we decided that with so many short sales there might be some that had a possibility of working. Very naive on my part after 32 years experience.

There were 5 homes they liked. Two of those homes when checked already had offers submitted and were taking back up offers. They also checked out on the Fannie Mae Loan list as belonging to Fannie Mae. One was a home that had been purchased, fixed up and back on the market. That was a good thing!  The last  two indicated they were short sales but neither address was recognized on the Fannie Mae Loan list.

At that point I called the Listing Agent who told me that his co-lister was taking care of that one.  I called the co-lister who told me he wasn't near his files, didn't know, was in a meeting and would call me back later when he had a chance.  No call.  Since the list had not recognized the loan I decided to go ahead and show.  The couple liked the house, of course.  Called the co-lister again.  Very cordial this time but was at an Open and again didn't have that file but would call me when he got back to the office shortly after noon. Again, no call. Called again and left a message with another number because I did not want to miss this call.  No call back.

That evening I sent an e-mail stating I knew he was busy but perhaps when he got my message he would be near his files and could answer the questions I included in the message.  No return message.  The next morning I left another call.  "Good Morning, I so sorry I missed your call yesterday and I know you are busy but if you could give me a call on my cell, xxx-xxx-xxxx, I have a couple interested in xxx Bland St and we really need to know the answers to a couple of questions before we take the parents to see it or sit down to write and offer. Thanks and talk to you later."  No call.

Guess what?  We did go ahead and look a second time, took a chance that the "no match" was correct, wrote an offer only to have the loan officer from her computer be able to tell us that it is indeed a Fannie Mae Loan. No chance we can have an answer before the 30th. What a waste of time!  How busy can an agent be?

Show All Comments Sort:
Tim Lorenz
TIM LORENZ - Elite Home Sales Team - Mission Viejo, CA
949 874-2247

In the down turns it is amazing how many agents and lenders put their heads in the sand and hope things will change.

Apr 14, 2010 05:46 PM
Chris Alston
Chris Alston (Keller Williams Realty, Silicon Valley, California) - Campbell, CA
Silicon Valley, California

So true...  It seems to happen often!

Apr 14, 2010 06:00 PM
Louise Speck
Twin Oaks Realty, Inc. - Plymouth, MN

That can't be just putting your head in the sand. Can you have so many listings that you just don't care, you know that it will eventually sell or....?

Apr 14, 2010 06:02 PM
Kathy Toth
Ann Arbor Market Center Keller Williams - Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor Real Estate Experts - Kathy Toth Team

Why can't you check that information for yourself? You can go on the CDPE site and enter the address for Fannie Mae. 

Apr 14, 2010 06:03 PM
Scott Lewis
The Bald Man Group - Post Falls, ID
REALTOR, e-Pro,CIA,IMSD,GRI & CNE

I think that everyone is going to come out the other side of this with stories!

Currently have a contract and went to do our inspection and the agent representing the REO didn't bother to have the house de-winterized (after a conversation the week before - and full knowledge of our inspection time and date) ... frustrating!

Apr 14, 2010 06:18 PM
David North
Coldwell Banker Bain - Duvall, WA
for a rewarding real estate experience

I left voice mail two days ago for the listing agent of a property that one of my buyers really wanted to see.  It took the agent over 24 hours to return my call, by which time my buyer had decided to make an offer on another property.  Would the buyer have made an offer on this agent's listing if we had been able to reach him to make an appointment?  We'll never know.

Apr 14, 2010 07:57 PM
Tom Priester
Paradise Sharks - Jupiter, FL
Paradise Sharks

AMEN! It is so frustrating at times trying to get some agents to answer their phones; whether it be to schedule a showing or to ask specific questions about the property. 

Apr 14, 2010 08:00 PM
Louise Speck
Twin Oaks Realty, Inc. - Plymouth, MN

Kathy, I did check the list which said there was no match. That is the basis for making the appointment to show the house again.  After the fact I read the FAC pages for the Fannie Mae Loan Check List and it does say that a "no match" can be because of a difference in spelling, etc.

As real estate agents here we have two ways we can get tax information and in this particular case the 2nd one, which I hadn't used, did list Fannie Mae as taxpayer.  That, too, is not a sure way to know because I have a Short Sale listing where both forms of reporting taxes show the home owner as the taxpayer.

The upshot of the matter is that I should have checked both tax avenues and didn't but in case it hadn't been shown on the 2nd tax record the only person who would have known is the agent who had listed the house, IF he/she had talked to the bank and asked the right questions.

Apr 15, 2010 01:53 AM