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How Not Using a Realtor® Cost Him Thousands of Dollars!

By
Real Estate Agent with McGraw Realtors

Money Down the Drain!So here’s the scenario. I have a nice buyer family who has sold their home in another state. They are moving to my area and are excited to find a great home. So we go looking at homes after scouring the MLS. But we can’t find anything that they really like. Day 1 finishes as a dud. On day two we go look at a few homes then return to the office to see if there may be something we overlooked during the first go around.

Sure enough, a listing popped up in a great neighborhood. But there were no pics in the MLS and there was no disclosure either. Sure, the information said that the home was updated, but without the pics it would be hard to know exactly what that meant. So we call up the seller to see about a showing. He says we can come out, so we do. And when we get there, we find a delightful home. It is updated and done so nicely. It has granite, new windows and a gorgeous master bedroom. My buyers decide to make an offer. We return to the office, write it up and I present the offer a bit later that day to the seller. He tells me that they’ll look over our offer, but they may be getting another offer also. “Okay, let me know!” I tell them.

The follow up conversation where we should have begun negotiating this offer blew me away. The sellers had received that second offer. And they took it! And they took it without even letting me and my buyers know what was going on. This is the mistake that possibly cost this seller thousands of dollars. And here is why. A Realtor® would have guided the seller into a multiple offer negotiation, which is the very best situation you can imagine when selling your home. The reason this did not happen in this situation was because Mr. Seller paid some amateur a couple of hundred bucks to put his house into the MLS. This is why there were no pictures and no disclosure. He had sent them in, but they never made it to the listing. Like he said, “I guess you pay for what you get!”

Do you ever! No pics almost made us not even consider the home. No disclosure was scary. And not negotiating multiple offers was a Rookie mistake. My buyers were ready to come up on their offer. And I’ll bet the other people probably would have been too.

Oh well, there are lots of other homes out there and I’m sure we’ll find a wonderful one for my buyers. Hopefully, the next seller will have professional help representing them!

Originally Posted at: My Owasso Home

Posted by

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Information and content in this blog is original to Bob Haywood

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Contact:
Bob Haywood
Bob Haywood
Owasso, Oklahoma REALTOR®

Tulsa, OK REALTOR®/ McGraw REALTORS®
Bhaywood@mcgrawrealtors.com
(918) 272-7272

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Anthony Daniels
Coldwell Banker - San Francisco, CA
SF Bay Area REO Specialist

Good enough works for some people and ignorance is bliss.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Jun 01, 2011 05:58 AM
Christine Smith
Buyers Brokers Only LLC - www.BuyersBrokersOnly.com - Canton, MA
Exclusive Buyer Agent & Attorney, Canton, MA

You raise an important point here - always best to have representation.  Lenn has an important point too; without knowing what the other offer was it is hard to say.  Also, if he is not paying any commission on that second offer it's possible that he is still ending up ahead.  Just playing devil's advocate here.  Of course, there is no saying what else will transpire over the course of the transaction that could cost him money - deadlines, disclosures and all the other thousands of things that come up during a sale that he may be unprepared to deal with.

Jun 01, 2011 06:06 AM
Bob Haywood
McGraw Realtors - Owasso, OK
BobHaywood.com

Christine - You bring up good points.  And you bring home the basic point - he doesn't have ongoing representation and this could be costly.

Jun 01, 2011 06:26 AM
Antoine Pirson
Caldecott Properties - Oakland, CA
When integrity is important to you too

I think the board of realtors should not allow a realtor to list a property on mls without representation. They could refer these "listers" to the hundreds of websites that are NOT part of the mls. As a Realtor, I am paying for the priviledge to use the mls system. If the client wants to pay for "consulting" is maybe another thing. The board of realtors should make that very clear to all agents.

 

Jun 01, 2011 06:43 AM
Jim Courtney
OklaHomes Realty, Claremore Oklahoma - Claremore, OK
CRS, GRI, AHWD

I agree totally on the MLS only listings agents. We have a few in our area don't we? Shame that the money the seller "saved" on his listing he lost in negotiations. I don't think I will ever understand this type of situation. :)

Jun 01, 2011 06:57 AM
Michael Liew
Keller Williams Realty Landmark - Fresh Meadows, NY
Let me help find your dream home today

Did the seller accepted a much higher offer than yours? There is no guarantee that your buyer is coming up plus sellers like selling to someone they like to having in the neighborhood. 

Jun 01, 2011 06:58 AM
Bill Gillhespy
16 Sunview Blvd - Fort Myers Beach, FL
Fort Myers Beach Realtor, Fort Myers Beach Agent - Homes & Condos

Hi Bob,  Excellent post and comment thread.  He saved a few bucks and lost a bundle !

Jun 01, 2011 07:27 AM
Michael Eisenberg
eXp Realty - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham Real Estate Guy

People just want to get in the mls, pay a small fee and you know you get what you pay for, in this case not much.

Jun 01, 2011 07:35 AM
Sandy Acevedo
951-290-8588 - Chino Hills, CA
RE/MAX Masters, Inland Empire Homes for Sale

Thanks for a great post I would like to add that expecting to pay for professional services should guide us in other fields as well. I was debating a DIY project and have now just decided to go with the professional because of your post. Thanks.

Jun 01, 2011 07:50 AM
Irene Kennedy Realtor® in Northwestern NJ
Weichert - Lopatcong, NJ

We'll never know if the lack of photos might have cost the seller even more offers, Bob!  Hard to accurately know what this might have cost the owners.

Jun 01, 2011 07:58 AM
Deb Espinoza
Stage Presence Homes, San Diego Real Estate - Ramona, CA
GRI, Broker, SRS,ABR ePro, SFR, CNE

God post Bob- and a great story to include in your listing presentation. I too was wondering what bee got up Gold Team's bonnet.. snarky indeed :o) LOL

Jun 01, 2011 08:41 AM
Kathleen Vetrano
RE/MAX Gateway - Falls Church, VA
Helping YOU Achieve YOUR Dreams

There is a reason to use Professionals and this is a good case study as to why. 

Jun 01, 2011 09:20 AM
Brad Rachielles
CENTURY 21 Peak, Ca BRE# 01489453 - Upland, CA
REALTOR, CDPE, Upland, CA

Bob,

Thanks for the post. Lately, I've not seen much of the limited service format... just an occasional listing... but no competitive listing activity. They may be OK as long as the client knows what the rest of the transaction is all about. I'm not certain that such clients are getting that training. In this market, almost 60% of the sales are either Short Sales or REOs. Neither catagory are for the feint of heart... or a client that doesn't know the ropes. Even experienced agents find changes all the time that we KNOW just can't be part of the D.I.Y. seller lexicon.

Blog-on Bob. Always enjoy your contributions.

Jun 01, 2011 11:16 AM
Amy Bly
Great Impressions Home Staging/Interiors - Montville, NJ
Styling Homes for Selling and Staying

I did not even know there are "listing agents" who can do this type of thing for a very discounted rate and service. Coming from a family of all r.e. agents and having bought and sold several homes, I would never want this type of agent to represent me . . . I know from experience all the things that can go wrong. Thanks for sharing this story!

Jun 01, 2011 11:26 AM
Kelly Mac Group (619) 319-7010 San Diego Beach and Luxury Realtors
Keller Williams La Jolla - La Jolla, CA
San Diego Beach, Coastal and Luxury Homes

Most of those "limited" service listings are frustrating.  I just showed a home that said "Do not call list agent, arrange showings and negotiate offers directly with owner.  Then, fax accepted offer to list agent."  Well, we never got to that point.  Trying to show the home was such a pain, no lockbox, busy owner, very limited showing opportunities, etc.  By the time we got there my clients already had a bad taste in their mouths.  We arrived, the owner was late, the house a mess.  Ugh.

I hope you found a terrific home for your buyers and are under contract now!

Jun 01, 2011 12:25 PM
Patricia Aulson
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOME SERVICES Verani Realty NH Real Estate - Exeter, NH
Realtor - Portsmouth NH Homes-Hampton NH Homes

Thank you for getting this out to us today.  I enjoyed the read.

 

Patricia/Seacoast NH & ME

Jun 01, 2011 12:55 PM
Michelle Francis
Tim Francis Realty LLC - Atlanta, GA
Realtor, Buckhead Atlanta Homes for Sale & Lease

Bob, 

Interesting.  In a number of cases, the amount folks think they "saved" by not using a Realtor is less, or non-existant.  Unfortunately, it can be hard to quantify or they realize after the deal is done. 

All the best, Michelle

Jun 01, 2011 03:03 PM
Karen Feltman
Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, IA KW Legacy Group - Cedar Rapids, IA
Relocation Specialist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I agree that the pay for the MLS only model is just FSBO, and you are right....they could have received more for their home.  But in the end, they sold it, just not to you and your buyers. No matter who had it listed this can happen with an inexperienced listing agent or a compelling difference in terms.  You will not know what the offer was that they accepted until they closed.  Sometimes sellers decide to take a lower offer due to other personal reasons.  I am sure that you will find your buyer another home out there!  Good luck.

Jun 01, 2011 04:09 PM
Nathan Tutas
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc. - Davenport, FL
Your Central Florida Real Estate Expert

I agree with you 100% on this. The part that really kills me is that the seller will probably never know he just cost himself big time!

Jun 02, 2011 05:20 AM
Justin Dibbs
Fairway Independent Mortgage - Ashburn, VA
Mortgage Advisor

Oh well, he got what he deserved.  Some folks just aren't able to be helped.

Jun 02, 2011 05:25 AM