i am trying to sell my house..is the Realtor blowing me off?

Question

i have had the house on the market for 6 months now..i have to call her every 2 weeks or so to see if she is even showing it..i went in it today and found the floor vent lifted and called her to see what the potential buyer may have thought about it and she said that she hasnt shown the house...is there a better way to sell a house without having to do it myself? (i work crazy hours)

Answer 1

Mindy, sounds like you may have gotten a lemon agent. You could ask to cancel the listings, but let's give her the benefit of the doubt. Call her over to talk about the listing. Once there tell her you will pay her an additional 1% commission for the listing side, if she does the following things:
1 - Orders a Circlepix or photo tour of your home.
2 - Photo tour should be uploaded to Realtor.com, Yahoo.com, and Zillow.com.
3 - She must have a website and your listing uploaded to it.
4- Upload listing to Company website, and you want proof of each of them.
5- A Brochure Booklet, not just a flyer
6- A Brokers Open House within 3 weeks.
7- An Open House with ad in local paper within 30 days
8 - An Open house once every 30 days until sold or expires.
9 - Have a Professional stager come in and stage your home for you.
10- Provide feedback weekly without delay, agree on a day each week while she is there. Put this all in writing and make her sign it too.

Now, you have to do your part as well. The home needs to be fresh, clean, uncluttered, no religious articles in view. All repairs and routine maintenance done. If home inspector finds any deferred maintenance it could kill a deal. Oh and fresh flowers by front door.

It's my opinion, it's my best advise. You both should work together as a team to make this work and the home sell.

Best Wishes from Minnesota

Answer 2

I am going to pretend to be with the Realtor on this one, even though I could join in with everyone and say Fire Her!....A little devil's advocate...not pointing fingers :)

Excuses for the Realtor:

The market is really slow, so I don't have any buyers.

My client hasn't listened to my advice about lowering her price even though prices have recessed.

No one can get a mortgage on the darn property because it's (Insert excuse here: It's not VA Compatible, FHA Compatiable, It's too expensive and Jumbo Loans are out the roof, It's a fix-up, etc.)

The property can't be seen without a bunch of hoops to jump through.


Now granted, even if all of these were true, (which I would guess none of them are), Your agent should still be calling you once a week with an update, or a new game plan on what to do about marketing the property differently. Those who "put a sign out in the front yard and wait" won't get their property sold in this type of a market. Call the broker first, explain your delimma and problems with the current agent. If the agent is also the broker, ask to be released from the contract due to specific performance issues.

Answer 3

It's unfortunate that you have an agent that is not doing her job. There are some that are on top their game to get things done for their clients.

You mention that it has been in the market for 6 months. Perhaps it is no longer in the MLS (or as an industry term, has "expired"). Most Agents will have a time limit of 6 months to market your property in most areas. Check your Agreement that you signed when you hired this agent to see when it ends. If it is still in effect, you still don't have to continue it - fire her. She is not doing what is stated in that agreement.

Find an agent by asking how many homes they have successfully sold and what is the average time they sell their listings. Get them to give you proof, if possible. Ask for references from past clients. As a seller, you will be paying for the agent's commission (whereas a buyer gets their Realtor's services at no charge).

As a realtor myself, I am always prepared to provide my statistics for my previous sales as well as testimonials from past clients. And every good agent should have these.

I wish you success in finding a better agent and for a quick sale of your home.

Answer 4

You need a new realtor. She isn't really working in your best interest. If you have a lock box on your front door another realtor most likely showed the house which happens about 90% of the time. Interview a couple of other choices.

Answer 5

Your realtor may not feel like you are making it worth her effort.

I'll bet you were surprised to find out she hasn't shown it! Unless you signed for an exclusive agreement, you can surprise her by adding another agent (and sign in your yard).

Have another agent/realtor walk you through your own house and give you pointers on how to make your house desirable.

Although your local market might be sluggish, it's certainly to your benefit to shop around! If she feels like there's competition to sell your house, she can decide to quit or seal the deal.

Best of luck!

PS I listed a link of house-selling tips below.

Answer 6

actually at this point with the market below poverty level ...You would be better off renting the property out or staying in it till the market gets better in a few years. Most potential sellers are trying to sell under market value to get rid of the property.. The market is so glutted .The housing market, is at a major stand still.

Answer 7

I think you've forgotten something here.....you hired the agent, not the other way around. If he/she is not calling you on weekly basis and giving you updates on activity in your community, market trends, etc., it's about time to contact your agents broker and request a termination immediately.

Then you need to set out some prerequisites for your next agent...communication, marketing, follow-up, etc. You've just had your first encounter with what I term a "traditional' agent. Now, it's time to find a professional.

Answer 8

6 months on the market? Seems to me there’s a combination of situations [“problems”] to deal with:
1] The housing market - in general. This is not very good for you, is it?
2] The situation with mortgage lenders.
3] The price of your property. Is it too high?
4] How many other properties are “on the market” - For Sale - in your neighborhood?
4B] How long have they been on the market?
4] Have you had any “action” - showings?
5] Were any offers submitted to you? If so, why where they rejected?

As far as renting is concerned, you want an office with an agent who will properly rent your property. A thorough investigation of all applicants. Much more than “running them through credit”.
Verification of employment and income; contacting present and previous landlords; seeing where they live - outside and inside; and some others.

TRUE STORY: I was taking a real estate investment course. On the very first day of one of those classes, we [about 6 or 7 others and myself] walked into the room. One of my mentors, Dennis C., wrote this on the upper left corner of white board: SW3 - N! From my seat, pointing to the board, I asked, “Dennis, what does that mean?
In a very calm voice, Dennis said, “You’ll find out, Mr. Berue. In due time, you will all find out. I promise! For right now, don‘t pay any attention to that.” AND he erased it.

We went through the morning’s session. We stopped for lunch. Then completed the afternoon session.
Next day, it was back on the board. It was almost a videotape replay of the previous day’s Q: “Dennis, when are we going to get the answer to that?” Dennis said, “What did I tell you yesterday?” Nothing more was said. Nothing more needed to be said.
The third and last day: Morning session. Done. Stopped for Lunch. Afternoon session ditto. UNTIL about 20 minutes before we finished the class. Dennis wrote it on the board: GREAT BIG LETTERS - right in the center:

After he finished writing, Dennis turned to us and with the black marker, pointed to the whiteboard and said, “Can ANY ONE tell the others what that means?” For about 2 seconds there was silence. I said, “No, but for 3 days you sure had my curiosity raised.” Everyone laughed and said or murmured, “Yeah, me, too.” “Yep” or something in the affirmative.

“No one has a clue what that means?” Almost in unison, “No.”

He turned and erased it. Then he started writing AND as each word was being written, we, in unison, started saying each of these words:
Some Will. Some Won’t. So What! NEXT!

When Dennis finished writing, he stepped aside, nonchalantly flipped and spun the black marker in the air, caught it and said, “Now you all you know! Folks, what have we talked about for some of these days?”

Someone said, “We talked about talking to people.”
Dennis said, “Not quite, but close.”

Someone else said, “We learned how to speak with people about . . .

Dennis stopped him COLD! “What was that? What was that word? Come on -- SAY IT!”

The young man started over and continued, “We talked about talking WITH people about their real estate and their problems WITH their real estate ---- and how we might help those people WITH their problems.” [I emphasized “WITH”]

“THAT is 100% CORRECT! I’m telling you right now - NO ONE gets up to bat and hit’s a home run each and every time he or she steps up to the plate.

This is what I’m doing my best to tell you. Your home might be priced for the home run - or grand slam, but the folks interested in that neighborhood are only able to hit doubles and triples. Is your house over-priced?

There is an old axiom in real estate: YOU [the Seller] name the price - I/we [the potential Buyer] name the terms;
YOU [the Seller] name the terms - I/we [the potential Buyer] name the price;
TOGETHER, WE [the Seller & potential Buyer] can, or should be able to, make the deal. .

Thank you for asking your question. I enjoyed taking the time to answer it. You did a great job - not only for your information, but for every other person interested in reading my answer. Thanks to everyone for reading my answer.

I wish you well!

VTY,
Ron Berue
Yes, that is my real last name.

Answer 9

Sorry---sell it yourself is the only way. If you don't have to sell the house --don't sell. The market is going down and the buyers will not pay top dollar for anything.
Just remember if you want it done right--do it yourself...

Answer 10

I would highly recommend that you get another realtor, provided you have not signed a long-term agreement to use this current broker exclusively.
Don't accept crap from your broker.