There are always a few bad eggs to screw everything up...
I am so pleased to be working in Seattle real estate and to be able to run into Seattle Realtors that are truly amazing, but every once in a while I run into a few that I am surprised are in this business. It is upsetting to me that there are bad agents out there because they do reflect badly on all of us.
OK, here is a scenario: Your house has been on the market for over 150 days and there are about three real estate business cards from the only agents who have shown or previewed your house in that time. Your agent's listing flyer says that you have hardwood floors when you actually have laminate ones and your family room is nonexistent to potential buyers because it is "Staged" to look like a ridiculously large eating nook.
The bulb on your front porch is burned out and no one can see in the dark to get into the house and show it anyway, but luckily one agent does bring a buyer who loves the house FINALLY. You get an offer for $50,000 over what you just bought the house at a foreclosure auction for a few months back, but roughly $40,000 under list because the one buyer that likes your house wants to negotiate. Your agent tells the buyer's agent that you don't want to even counter because you don't feel you are close enough.
Here is the first tip in real estate - let's call it real estate 101:
If you get an offer from a qualified buyer in a softer market then you need and absolutely have to counter it aka go back and make a counter offer. Counter it at full price if you must, but don't have your listing agent call their agent and tell them to go away. This is just not smart and if your agent advised you to do this then you should fire them because they clearly don't understand the market or real estate.
This really happened! This week in fact!
Seattle real estate is definitely stronger than many areas in the country right now, but this is not the seller's market that this listing agent thinks he/she is in. Not only did they come back at full price for my buyer, they increased the earnest money which was already ridiculously big for this particular house. I wanted her to submit a strong offer so we put in a nice big earnest money check. This listing agent's attitude was combative and high and mighty and nit picky, but it was also just plain weird. I would never hire this person in my company and hope I don't have the pleasure of working with them again.
Good Bye Good Bye
Unfortunately, we just can't weed these kinds of characters out of the biz or the world in general! I always try to envision the type of buyer or seller who would hire this type of agent and I admit to having a lot of trouble. I guess that is because they probably wouldn't hire me:). My buyer has smartly (and thankfully) decided to let this seller sit on their property and their truly terrible listing agent and we will find another property. It still makes me feel sad for the seller because with the proper real estate counseling they should have been able to respond to our offer in a fashion that would have most likely kept my buyer around and they could have closed in less than thirty days. Instead, I will surely watch that listing sit for much longer and will pay careful attention to the final sales price when/if it eventually does sell. I am willing to wager that they won't do as well as they think they will.
Courtney Cooper, Designated Broker, Seattle real estate company: Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services
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Courtney you ar so right , I have seen far too many Realtors not counsel their client's correctly and homes sit on the market far longer than they should have only too sell for much less than our first offer would have given them.
Bill
Courtney, I would hope it's the seller shooting themselves in the foot - not the agent...but from your description, it seems to be sadly true. How hard does that make our job when I try to make EVERY deal work. If a seller is unhappy with an offer, I just say "it's a starting point", then make every effort to get both parties to agreement. Does it always work? No. But at least I can say that we gave it our all and didn't just dismiss a buyer out of hand. Sounds like that seller needs a little advice from a real estate professional.
To me there seems to be no harm in making a counter offer. Unfortunately, sellers tend to take a low offer personally, this is where the guidance of the r.e agent is critical.