I recently received a call from an owner asking me if I could find a buyer for his vacation house. He said he needed a buyer soon or bank was going to foreclose. He gave me address so I could research price, market, etc. He said had been trying to sell for a couple years, gave up, then rented it out, tenants quit paying and took a few months for them to move out. Seller is now desparate. ( I did suggest the possibility of a short sale)
Well, I go to look it up under " Withdrawn", or " Expired" and can't find it. This property is a couple hours South of here, so I log into Richmond and Charlottesvile Associations of REALTORS. Still nothing.
I call owner back. He says" Oh, I have it listed, but the agent hasn't had any showings since it's been on market. The grass is a foot tall, etc" So I look up " Actives". Still it doesn't show up in MLS. Call owner again to verify right address. OK. Now he tells me that "the agent has it advertised on his web site, www homes near the water . com " or something similar. What? I need to log into agents web site to find it. I tell owners it's no wonder you aren't getting any showings. " How the hell is any buyer or agent going to know what your agents web site URL is so they can log in to see your house? Zero! He tells me," Well, the agent has his web site on his business card, it's a nice web site" Again, I can't believe what I'm hearing.
I can't help him unless he wants to get rid of his current agent. If not, this is a foreclosure waiting to happen.
There are close to 30 Associations in VA, some only cover a few counties, some parts of counties, others cover several counties and States. How many agents that might have a buyer looking for this type of property are going to know to log in and search from the Associations web site in the area the sellers property is located? I think, not too many. And some associations don't even offer a property search to the public or other agents. You have to be a member to log in and search.
Many of the buyers near this property are from Northern VA, DC, MD. So when choosing an agent, doesn't it make sense to list with an agent that gives your property the largest coverage in the area where most buyers are coming from? This is one type of scenario where I think using a local agent is working against the seller.
For an example, I just looked up " Actives" residential in Bedford County in MRIS, 3 listings came up as " Active". I did the same search from CARR Charlottesville Association of REALTORS and 26 " Actives" came up in Bedford County. I've never had a seller ask me what Association I was a member of. They just assume a local agent is best. So if I was selling in Bedford, I would assume that I would want an agent that is a member of CARR vs being a member of Blue Ridge Association for example. Unless, most of the buyers in Bedfore are coming from Northern VA and DC.
So, if taking a listing like this, do you pull up 100+ public records to see where the absentee owners actually live?
" Where do Buyers Come From?"
Comments(23)