While out at dinner last night, I couldn't help overhear a conversation one table over. As I listened in, I gathered that somebody was not happy with their listing agent and their house had been on the market for a long time. I controlled my knee-jerk reaction to hand out my business card. There is a time and a place for a Realtor to connect with buyers and sellers. Something was telling me it was not appropriate to approach them. Especially, since they were another agent's client.
But, I did start wondering about sellers who get so frustrated with their agents in this kind of market. Everybody knows by now that homes are taking forever to sell. According to local MLS statistics, in my market only 5 out of of every hundred homes on the market will sell this month. Then, I started thinking about all the listings out there, and WHY 95 out of 100 homes WON'T sell this month.
Sure, first and foremost - it's the market. And, maybe (just maybe) it could also be the agent.
But, wait - not so fast! Ask any seasoned Realtor who has been around the block, and I can bet most would say the main reasons for a house not selling in ANY market is location, price, or functionality.
There must be many disgruntled sellers out there, like the ones who were sitting one table over from me and complaining about their agent. I happen to know there are two sides to every story.
I wondered if the sellers stopped short of telling their friends about their ongoing discussions with the listing agent. I bet they will not admit to their friends that the listing agent had actually suggested the property might be overpriced and that probably they ignored reccomendations from their Realtor to reduce the price. Maybe, they can't reduce their price because they owe more than the house is worth. Would they ever tell their friends this? I wondered if the sellers friends have actually had the chance to see the property and understand that the floor-plan is not so desirable, the rooms are very small, the walls are painted in chartreuse green and/or the homeowners are not the tidiest of people in the world. I wonder if any of them gave thought to the fact that the property is located within ear-shot of the railroad tracks.
Listing agents provide feedback to sellers. What sellers do with feedback can make or break them. There are many reasons why a house does not sell and the challenges may not always be related to the market or the efforts put forth by the agent who is marketing the property. Most often when a house lingers without a sale, the seller has been advised over and over again by the listing agent of the reasons WHY. And, sometimes sellers are just not all that receptive to negative feedback or adjusting their price according to buyer objections. But, when friends and family ask them if they're still trying to sell their house - it's always easier to just blame the agent rather than admitting that they had not listened or acted on their agent's advise.
I don't know how you kept quiet and did not ask those wonderful questions of the seller! It makes me wonder what our sellers are saying at their dinner parties!!!
Maybe I'll call them tomorrow and ask them.
Carol, very thoughtful peice. As a stager I see that the first reason a house doesn't sell is price - next condition - which includes staging. Those chartreuse wasll would never make it past a stager, and we would teach them tricks that make it easy to keep neat... etc... good blog...
There will always be people pointing the finger of blame. Communication with our clients is extremely important now more than ever before. We need to know what our clients are saying and why.
Great post!
PRICING, CONDITION, AND LOCATION are still the three most important things when selling a home. In today's market you also need to consider the Marketing that is done and the Agent that you select.
Carol - this reminds me of a conversation a seller had with us about their listing agent. Lots of complaining, yet we know the agent and know the work the agent does - which is pretty good. Plus we knew that when the home was on the market is was way over priced. Hmmm - Rita
I have wondered all of these things also. When a home is priced too high even though an agent has suggested to lower the price, it is hard to sell...so is it the agent? Like you said, there are two sides of the story.
Carol,
In today's market, for a house to sell, it has to be priced right,neat and clutter free and in a good location. Of course marketing the property is important, but if the house is a mess, what difference does it make if you get people in to look at it?
There are ALWAYS two sides...and I would be willing to bet the seller is only seeing their side!
It's often easier for a seller to blame their agent than to admit to themselves that something they may or may not be doing has anything to do with their home selling or not selling. If they are refusing to price in line with the market, or leaving dirty laundry on the floor, or failing to clean the litter box...
Sometimes it's little snippits like this that you overheard that makes me so glad I'm out of the day-to-day RE business!
Don't shoot me, but I'd like to be the Devil's Avocado :0) We have to remember that there are agents out there who do not do their job! I hear horror stories all the time about agents who's listings no one shows because of the abuse they get when they try to book. I hear about agents who will only show their own listings. I hear about agents who seem to think it is a feather in their cap to 'collect' listings and get so many they 'forget' about the little ones. I hear about agents who get all their church listings and price them so unrealistically high that they'll never get shown . . . I could go on and on like many of you could too.
Remember, the Seller isn't always the bad guy. (even tho I have a few of my own who seem to have two mouths and no ears!!!)