I was recently working with a realtor who was preparing an offer for a client. She was working diligently on her information gathering (recent sales, condition of home, termite report, etc.) and wanted to talk with the seller's agent to ensure her preparation was sound. Our loan pre approval was complete, and she had her per approval letter already in hand as part of her personal checklist of prep work.
Unfortunately, this sellers' agent was not easy to reach, and our realtor had left several voicemail on both the home and cel numbers, without a return call. The issue was fairly simple.....return a call and you likely have an offer coming!
The location of the home was a high demand area, so some of this was not unexpected - perhaps the seller was getting overwhelmed with offers and was too busy to return a call?
The first thought that occured to me was "I wonder if the seller realizes there are missed calls, and in turn likely missed opportunities of additional offers?" How would you feel if you were the seller?
How do you solve this in a dignified way?
Out of total blind luck, the sellers' agent called while I was at our realtors' office. He was shockingly rude, with no apology about the poor coordination and said that offers were being collected the next day. He was not particularly warm or engaging, and I had to also wonder what his broker would think if they witnessed this.
Our industry moves quickly, and we are not the manners police. It is high cost to give someone a lesson on manners, but in this case, I had to wonder what our realtor would do. She took the time to write an email to the broker of the office, indicating the facts only and that she had a viable offer coming. She asked the broker to speak with the seller's agent, and to make sure to see that her offer was forthcoming.
Lo and behold, the seller's agent called and apologized! He had recently lost an assistant, and was short handed and overwhelmed. It was remarkable to me that he was able to recover, but sure enough, our client ended up having their offer accepted!
How do you retain your dignity when others are losing theirs?
I was very impressed with our realtor, who did her normal diligence, and took an additional step to inform the broker about the circumstances. Moreover, she took great care of her client AND found a way to make the deal work, without blasting the seller's agent.
Certainly, the Real Estate industry is challenging enough to not also have to develop your inner Oprah, but like many realtors, you have to have skill sets that take care of your client as well as others.
What can you share about this? How do you solve coordination/etiquette matters when a deal is in the balance? I thank you in advance for your time to read the blog, and especially for your commentary.
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