Real Estate Agent Rant

[Texlexic]

Sorry if this has been beaten to death elsewhere; I need to vent badly!

So I'm selling the house my ex (not married) and I shared, living here by myself. I have an agent listing the house, etc., on the market about 3 months now. My agent texted me at work today, another agent wanted to make an appointment to show it between 5:30 - 6:30 today. Okay fine, I rearrange my after work schedule so I won't get home until after that.

Got home at 6:30, started unwinding, and the agent and his clients show up. I pulled him aside and asked when the appointment was for, he looks at his form and says "5:30 to 6:30", I ask him what time is it now? He says 6:30 like it's what he meant in the first place. I let him know that isn't what it means when I have to rearrange my schedule, he starts yammering about traffic and stuff. Now he knows I'm angry, but I let them in and explained a few nuances. When he left, he pretty much just threw his card at me.

I feel bad now, and know I need to be flexible, but this isn't the first one to completely miss their "window". I value the opinions expressed around here, so let me have it straight - am I completely wrong to expect "professionals" to be able to keep an appointment at the right time? My agent is always prompt.

[Bugsinrugs]

This is just the beginning. You will come home and find all your lights have been left on. Not to mention the realtors that will just drop by.
Good luck with your sale.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

... Not to mention the realtors that will just drop by.

This.

Sometimes a realtor will call from your driveway asking for an appointment now.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

For sale by owner.

[Baz]

I believe in the old saying Fool me once.....

Next time when an appointment is made - STRESS in NO UNCERTAIN terms....you need a FIRM FIRM FIRM FIRM FIRM commitment for that time frame - or the appointment will be null and void.

Sometimes it's just a matter of stressing something to someone - so there's a minimal chance for a misunderstanding.

Did I say FIRM?

FIRM!!!

[jhynesrockmtn]

Your response should be directly related to how bad you want to sell the house and the condition of the market where you are. In a hot sellers market you can stick to your guns but otherwise you are selling a house and need to be flexible. I would also assume that a late appointment isn't always the agents fault. I was married to a realtor for 20 years and I know there are those out there that lack a certain level of professionalism and integrity, BUT clients are a f'ing pain in the rear and jerk the chains of their agents all over the place.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Texlexic

Sorry if this has been beaten to death elsewhere; I need to vent badly!

So I'm selling the house my ex (not married) and I shared, living here by myself. I have an agent listing the house, etc., on the market about 3 months now. My agent texted me at work today, another agent wanted to make an appointment to show it between 5:30 - 6:30 today. Okay fine, I rearrange my after work schedule so I won't get home until after that.

Got home at 6:30, started unwinding, and the agent and his clients show up. I pulled him aside and asked when the appointment was for, he looks at his form and says "5:30 to 6:30", I ask him what time is it now? He says 6:30 like it's what he meant in the first place. I let him know that isn't what it means when I have to rearrange my schedule, he starts yammering about traffic and stuff. Now he knows I'm angry, but I let them in and explained a few nuances. When he left, he pretty much just threw his card at me.

I feel bad now, and know I need to be flexible, but this isn't the first one to completely miss their "window". I value the opinions expressed around here, so let me have it straight - am I completely wrong to expect "professionals" to be able to keep an appointment at the right time? My agent is always prompt.

Just a couple points:

1. Was the guy late for his appointment? Yes. Was it the really end of the world? No. Stuff happens, especially if that "buyer" wants to look at several properties in one day. It's a bit different if your (listing) agent makes an appointment with you. There should be little to no variables in that scenario. However, a buyer's agent is frequently carting their clients around all day from property to property. They usually will try and nail down a showing window, but even that can be a challenge with variables that are out of their control. Will their clients take 10 minutes or an hour to go thru each of the 5 properties they are viewing that day? Will an owner of one of those properties corner them and talk their ear off about how great the home is for 20 minutes? Hard to predict. It can be a challenge to say the least. Just be happy you are getting a showing. My advise would be to simply live your life like normal, and when someone does show up to view the house, just take a walk/drive/etc.
No need to "rearrange your schedule".

2. If your property has been on the market for 3 months and hasn't sold, it is either overpriced or grossly under-marketed. The former is true 99% of the time. Sorry, that is the reality. If your current agent doesn't have the balls (or ovaries) to tell you, or if they promised it would sell for at least $X amount, you should probably be shopping for a new one.

3. If you want to prevent agents (and their prosective buyers) from just "showing up" you can opt to not have it on lockbox, and shown by appointment only. That way you will know that strangers aren't traipsing thru your home without your knowledge/consent. However, just keep in mind that it can/will have an impact on showings.

Also, in most cases, the reason for those "short notice" appointments is due to the agent's client's schedule. The bottom line is that if you are genuinely interested in selling your house, you should be as accommodating as possible, and not get bent out of shape by every little "inconvenience". Otherwise, the entire process is going to drive you mad, regardless of how "professional" the parties involved are.

Good luck with the sale.

[Bill Douglas]

LOL love 'em or loath 'em.

I knew a real estate guy who I used to give leads to. I'd be chatting with someone in the neighborhood and if they mentioned the were thinking about selling their house I'd mention it to this guy and he would give me $200. Ha, a girl who was part of our car pool said to me the next day "It was so amazing - like it was meant to be. You know how said I was thinking of selling my house, well a real estate guy came around last night..."

[Z-man]

We had an open house about a month ago. An hour after the open house was done and the signs were down and everyone was gone, there was a knock on our front door. A couple asked if they could see the house. I showed them around and explained everything.

A week later they put a bid on our house and after some negotiations, we came to an agreement on the price. We are now out of attorney review and officially under contract. Closing is set for Aug 28th.

When selling a home, you are inconvienced a lot. But you never know who is going to put in that offer!

-Z-man

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

Your response should be directly related to how bad you want to sell the house and the condition of the market where you are. In a hot sellers market you can stick to your guns but otherwise you are selling a house and need to be flexible. I would also assume that a late appointment isn't always the agents fault. I was married to a realtor for 20 years and I know there are those out there that lack a certain level of professionalism and integrity, BUT clients are a f'ing pain in the rear and jerk the chains of their agents all over the place.

Exactly. Fortunately we have only had to sell one house, but we lived such that we were prepared to drop everything at a moment's notice for a showing. House always clean, lawn always mowed, etc. It sucks, but that's part of showing a house.

[sprio]

Another consideration - last time we made a long distance move, we watched listings online as well as worked with a broker. We flew in a couple of weekends over a four month period and looked at as many as 15 houses in a day - it's easy to run behind with a schedule like that.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

2. If your property has been on the market for 3 months and hasn't sold, it is either overpriced or grossly under-marketed. The former is true 99% of the time. Sorry, that is the reality.

3. If you want to prevent agents (and their prosective buyers) from just "showing up" you can opt to not have it on lockbox, and shown by appointment only. That way you will know that strangers aren't traipsing thru your home without your knowledge/consent. However, just keep in mind that it can/will have an impact on showings.

Also, in most cases, the reason for those "short notice" appointments is due to the agent's client's schedule. The bottom line is that if you are genuinely interested in selling your house, you should be as accommodating as possible, and not get bent out of shape by every little "inconvenience". Otherwise, the entire process is going to drive you mad, regardless of how "professional" the parties involved are.

Good luck with the sale.

All very true.

We sold our home in June 2013. Home was on the market for a total of 6 days. Open house was scheduled for 2-5 pm on Saturday. We arrive home at 5:30 and there are cars and people coming and going. We turn around and get some frozen yogurt. Return home at 6:30 and our realtor is saying goodbye to a family that submitted an offer. We ended up selling to another party who made an appointment for the next Monday.

Selling a home is a giant PITA. If you're living in the home at the time it's understood that your schedule and privacy will be compromised. Most agents don't like the flexible schedule thing either - they have lives too - but ultimately they cannot control all the variables.

3 months is a long time. Not knowing your area/market I would seriously investigate the real estate activity and comps. Summer is normally an active time to sell. If realtors are not showing your home it will remain unsold period. I know my local market has retracted substantially since last summer. Inventory is pretty good but homes are not selling unless they are bargain priced.

Good luck with the sale.

[legion]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

Your response should be directly related to how bad you want to sell the house and the condition of the market where you are. In a hot sellers market you can stick to your guns but otherwise you are selling a house and need to be flexible. I would also assume that a late appointment isn't always the agents fault. I was married to a realtor for 20 years and I know there are those out there that lack a certain level of professionalism and integrity, BUT clients are a f'ing pain in the rear and jerk the chains of their agents all over the place.

This. Three years ago, our house was on the market for a year and a half. We got as little as a half-hour warning for showings, and the couple that eventually bought the house was there for 2+ hours each time they came to look. It was a weak market and I had to bend over backwards not to offend agents or buyers.

[legion]

Originally Posted by sprio

Another consideration - last time we made a long distance move, we watched listings online as well as worked with a broker. We flew in a couple of weekends over a four month period and looked at as many as 15 houses in a day - it's easy to run behind with a schedule like that.

We did 40 houses in two days when were looking in Atlanta last month. Some houses we would pull up to, say no, and not even go in. (We found the pictures often hid the local topography. Like we wouldn't figure out that the "flat" 1 acre lot was a steep hillside when we saw it.) Some we would spend 45-1 hour in. She had each day laid out in half-hour increments. We were usually WAY off schedule just 2 or three houses in.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by legion

We did 40 houses in two days when were looking in Atlanta last month. Some houses we would pull up to, say no, and not even go in. (We found the pictures often hid the local topography. Like we wouldn't figure out that the "flat" 1 acre lot was a steep hillside when we saw it.) Some we would spend 45-1 hour in. She had each day laid out in half-hour increments. We were usually WAY off schedule just 2 or three houses in.

How does the freedom feel?

[legion]

Originally Posted by red-beard

How does the freedom feel?

I'll let you know in two weeks.

[Gogar]

Answer the door in your underwear. Problem = Solved.

[Texlexic]

Thanks for the great advice, all (except Gogar:-))

We started at the price set by a pro appraiser, and have dropped $5k twice. It's just a reality of the local market.

What sucks the most is, I've been here almost 8 yrs, never so much as late with a payment, and will still end up $20k underwater if it sells today. And, from what I've read, that will look the same as a foreclosure on my credit rating.

So, I've made my last mortgage payment here, and couldn't care less how big of a turd the bank has to eat. And, I'm in no hurry to "own property" again, for a measly $3000/yr tax write-off. I can save more than that renting a lux condo bicycle distance from my office. AND, get that 914 I so lust after...

[look 171]

The bigger question is, do you want to sell your house? let em' walk through it and enjoy your beer or whatever you are drinking and continue to watch porn. Why does it bother you, I always fail to understand? If my house is for sale, the more people that come through, the better unless its after 8 or 9 pm. Other then that, i really don't care. Just don't show up at 7am on the weekends.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Texlexic

Thanks for the great advice, all (except Gogar:-))

We started at the price set by a pro appraiser, and have dropped $5k twice. It's just a reality of the local market.

What sucks the most is, I've been here almost 8 yrs, never so much as late with a payment, and will still end up $20k underwater if it sells today. And, from what I've read, that will look the same as a foreclosure on my credit rating.

So, I've made my last mortgage payment here, and couldn't care less how big of a turd the bank has to eat. And, I'm in no hurry to "own property" again, for a measly $3000/yr tax write-off. I can save more than that renting a lux condo bicycle distance from my office. AND, get that 914 I so lust after...

Ah, well that certainly paints a better picture of your frustration/anger over the whole situation.

The only way that actually selling an "underwater" property would affect your credit is if you are not coming to the closing table with the difference. So, that tells me that you are trying to sell it via short-sale. I don't know what the price-point/market value of your home is, but $20k seems like a relatively small amount of money (or negative equity) to be trashing your credit over. You might see what the local rental market is like, and consider turning it into a rental if the monthly "hit" would be manageable (potential net rent vs. current mortgage payment).

If you can find a cheap rental for yourself while renting out your current property, you may ride out that $20k negative equity deficit to a net-zero or even positive equity position.

If you are dead-set on selling it via short sale, then I would drop the price to the absolute lowest that can be justified/articulated via comps/BPO. You will not be netting anything at the closing table in that scenario, and you have zero interest in what the house actually sells for at that point. Furthermore, if your agent doesn’t have an offer (or several) in hand within the first week on a short-sale, he/she is doing it wrong. Also, a short sale is certainly going to trash your credit. It isn't as bad as a full-blown foreclosure, but it’s close. The saving grace with a short-sale is that banks will lend to you (again) much sooner than if you had a foreclosure on your record (like 2 years vs. 5+ years). Just make sure you are familiar with your state's anti-deficiency laws, and know what your potential tax implications will be.

OH, and FYI: It is very likely that the bank won’t be “eating” anything at the end of the day (tax payers in general will). Actually, if you were paying PMI, you are probably going to be making them money.