I showed 3 properties yesterday to buyer customers who have been looking for some time, are in no rush to buy and know they have the upper hand in this market. These customers are professionals, they are educated, use all the tools available to them on the Internet and are waiting for that right house at the right price.
These customers also understand the inner workings of real estate and how important it is to work with a Realtor that knows the area, has an established relationship with other agents and will be honest with them about their choices. This is what happened at the last showing. Remember that most showings in Miami are “listing agent must accompany” and very seldom will a house be on lock box (unless it’s vacant, or it’s a non-local agent).
When we were done looking at the property, the listing agent handed me 5 property flyers with his contact information and decided to explain that those other properties may also fit my customers’ needs. Without being rude, I took the flyers and walked outside with my customers.
I did not even have to say a word, the customers looked at me with a puzzled look and went off without pause,
“Is this guy for real?
I bet his contact information is all over those flyers!
Does he honestly believe he understands our needs better than our own agent?
Does he think we don’t know how to look for properties on the web?
What kind of service is he doing to his seller if he’s handing out other listing information when we’re looking at this particular house?”.
Oh how I wish all my customers were this vocal, all I could do was laugh. So when you have one of those “Is there an “L” on my forehead?” moments, remember that today’s consumer DOES notice.
Charleston real estate blog
February 7, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Ines, I share your pain, I just wrote about an agent who had to meet us at a property to show his listing.
“Not only did the agent not simply let us view the home but he was pushing his listing as a great investment, the best this, the greatest that, pointing out this, that and the other, etc. He didn’t know my clients, he didn’t know what they were looking for, it was just all about his listing. Maybe my clients would have liked the property more if he wasn’t so pushy, maybe not. But they remarked about his boorish behavior after we got into the car and drove off to see the next home on our list.”
I don’t like “pushy” salespeople. We’re not selling used cars. My clients didn’t either.
Ines
February 7, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Howard, I don’t criticize “pushy”, some people like that and it’s not up to me to say what style is right or wrong. You and I are obviously not pushy. There is a defined line of what to do and not to do with someone else’s customers – it’s not a fine line, it’s not questionable, it’s just RUDE.
If you offend the buyer’s agent? what are the chances those people will buy that listing? What are the chances that agent will keep showing your listings? If you behave like that at a showing, I wonder how you will behave during the transaction…..I personally don’t want to find out.
Charleston real estate blog
February 7, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Ines, who really likes pushy? And no one that I know likes rude. There is too much desperation that leads to this kind of behavior. Think about this, did you get dozens of emails every day showcasing listings a couple of years ago. As if we can’t search the MLS for exactly what our clients might be looking for without a “reminder” about this or that listing.
Pull don’t push might be far more effective.
Ines
February 7, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Howard – I think we’re preaching to the choir here. I do think some people may not like pushy but assume pushy means more aggressive when it comes to negotiating. There are some agents in my local market that keep listings on the market after they have closed so that when you call their office to make an appointment they can say “that one is no longer available, but I can fax you 3 others that are similar”………it’s just WRONG!
Charleston real estate blog
February 8, 2008 at 5:35 am
It’s the difference between aggressive and assertive. You don’t have to use a sledgehammer to negotiate. Oh well, they’ll always be out there in this and other fields.
Missy Caulk
February 8, 2008 at 6:06 am
I think it is a backhanded way to say, “your Realtor may not be doing their job, so here are some more properties to consider”. Rude is a better word than pushy.
monika
February 8, 2008 at 6:17 am
I know an agent who got fired by her seller for doing something similar. She stood in the kitchen of her listing and started promoting one of her other listings. Unbeknownst to her the seller was next door with a baby monitor and heard every word she said.
Ines
February 8, 2008 at 9:21 am
Missy – I totally agree, and my customers saw right through it.
Monika – It is similar to those doctors that have to see patients in quantity now because of the insurance problems – it becomes a meat market and the personal touch is lost as well as business ethics.
Greg Cremia
February 8, 2008 at 12:11 pm
This agent’s desperation is proof that this type of sales is not working anymore. I hope that he and his kind never figure it out.
Ines
February 8, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I’m with you Greg!
Chris Lengquist
February 8, 2008 at 4:54 pm
“listing agent must accompany”
I don’t think I’d survive long in your market. Mine would say “don’t bother me unless you have a question concerning the writing of a contract.”
I mean, I’m not trying to be rude, but what a Colossal waste of my time. Of any listing agent’s time.
Sorry for my comments. I just didn’t think anyone did this anymore. 🙁
Ines
February 8, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Chris – it’s a huge issue, but we get used to it here. A lot of agents are so irresponsible that home owners cannot trust their property to a lock box. We just had a vacant property on lock box and showed up to find the master bedroom ceiling light had been stolen.
Then proper etiquette becomes what the “listing agent’s role” is in the showing – I personally open the door, tell the cooperating agent what the main features of the property are and get out of the way.
Charleston real estate blog
February 8, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Chris, if it were a very high end property, then, a listing agent who meets and opens the property for a buyers agent is very understandable and generally speaking, they are very professional and simply answer a question if asked. They are “protecting” the property rather than using a lockbox for showings.
In the situation I was describing, the parents were looking at buying a condo for their child in college rather than on campus living or renting an apartment. The price range was certainly not luxury, the seller must be a nervous wreck to not allow a lockbox. The agent probably was the only one in town who would agree to those showing terms and what you get is what you get.
ines
February 8, 2008 at 10:22 pm
You get the same nut jobs here for Luxury properties – the ones that have to point out “here’s the kitchen” – but I’m not complaining am I?
Mary Shelsby
February 13, 2008 at 8:56 am
We had an agent that did this in Rochester. In fact, not only did he hand out literature on his listings but also all other property in the area, with his business card clipped on top. He’d hand it right to my clients! About a year ago he opened his own shop and has been doing a ton of recruiting but no one has joined his operation. I keep waiting for a “going out of business” sign to appear.
Ines
February 13, 2008 at 11:02 am
Mary – I wonder what these people think when they do this or are they so socially inept that they don’t realize it’s rude? Imagine having that guy for a broker?