Who wants to be a volunteer?
I received a very pleasant courtesy call the other day from a Realtor who represents a property that I showed to my client several months ago. After showing this particular property, my client and I both walked out of the showing stating that the seller obviously wasn’t reading the news – what were they smoking? Nice but over priced – NEXT!
Her upbeat message was hard to resist,
Volunteer Agent: “Hi Tom, I’m just touching base with all of the agents who’ve showed my listing in the past that my seller is now offering a 4% co-op on the sale of their property, is your buyer still in the market?”
The property in question is still listed with no price reduction.
Me:”Thanks for the call – nope, my client is no longer in the market – they’ve since made a decision, purchased and closed on a more realistically priced property.
Volunteer Agent: “What do you mean a more realistically priced property?”
Me: “Um – (wondering if she was serious) a property that is realistically priced???”
I guess from the nature of the call, her question perhaps was not necessarily a surprise. I thought that my response was fairly understandable – realistically priced means realistically priced, right? Needless to say her tone became a tad indignant.
Volunteer Agent:”Well – as you can see from the co-op commission, my client is very motivated to get this property sold!”
Me:”Yep – sounds great – the motivation is clear – thanks for the call.”
Volunteer Agent:”Ok – well, thanks again and keep it in mind.”
Yep – I sure will keep it in mind – next time I want to get paid for convincing my buyer to overpay for a property that doesn’t clearly reflect market conditions, you’ll be the first agent I’ll call. Hurray for me! I gonna make a killing!
There is nothing I love more about selling real estate than not getting paid for doing my job! I love volunteering! I honestly believe that one of rewarding aspects of being a real estate volunteer is not sharing the facts about the current market conditions with my client.
Rather than address the issues regarding local market conditions and a realistic price reduction, I might recommend that my client pay a buyer’s agent more – let them do the job of selling their overpriced property. Believe me – agents notice the higher commissions, and like white on rice, they’re all over it. It’s so rewarding when both buyers and sellers’ agents work together and volunteer.
The best part of it all? When I don’t provide the proper perspective and data to guide my client, I continue to appreciate that their high motivation ensures that I continue to be a volunteer.
It was a good week for pleasantries – I had another nice talk with a fellow colleague regarding a great new listing they just secured – the kind of listing we all dream about – mid seven figures. And the best part? The client would only agree to a 90 day listing period.
WOW! I couldn’t hold back my excitement – gee, just THINK about all of the volunteering you’ll be doing in those short 90 days. How generous – a whole 90 days to get it sold! Altruism not only runs within the Realtor ranks – clients even get into the spirit!
Personally, I like to get paid for the time and effort I put into my job. When a client wants me to volunteer, I let them know – in diplomatic terms – they aren’t a charity. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to land a big fish – big listings generate nice commissions, but the last time I checked, few properties sell themselves.
There is real value to the services I provide and I am well aware that there is a good deal of very competent competition in my market. I’d rather lose the business and invest my time developing my online presence, networking and learning how to better distinguish myself amongst the Realtors and the Real Estate volunteers.
You can call me selfish – it is better to give AND receive.
Doug Lindstrom says:
Nailed it! In this market it’s not just about value but the appraisal. Overpriced is overpriced regardless of commissions paid.
August 17, 2008 — 9:23 pm
Michelle DeRepentigny says:
Amen, just say no to overpriced listings offered for 50% of the average days on market. Some agents need to take up grant writing – maybe they could survive then. Personally, I prefer not to operate as a charity.
August 17, 2008 — 9:30 pm
Jim Rake says:
Unfortunately, most people believe what they want to believe. We convinced our latest listing (who wanted to market his home for some $60K above our comps) to have an appraisal done. Fortunately, he did just that, and what do you know – it came in a just short of our comps. But, he had to “see it to believe it.”
In this market, we’re encouraging our sellers to consider this approach, and fortunately, it seems to bring them back to reality.
August 18, 2008 — 4:58 am
Greg Cremia says:
What I am finding is a lot of agents learned to sell in the boom market when all you had to do was ask more than the comps already for sale. They never learned to look at the solds, they never learned to price a property, they believe the market will suddenly rebound to the 2005 status any day now.
It is very frustrating to to try to talk sense to a seller knowing they have already had one of these agents tell them their property is still worth 2005 prices.
75% of our inventory will not appraise at or near the listed prices. These agents were supposed to go away by now but they are still here and no one is taking the time to teach them. They are lost and hurting their clients and the market. sorry for the rant.
August 18, 2008 — 7:54 am
Thomas Hall says:
Everyone – thanks for the comments!
Greg – I think the market is a very good educator to agents who don’t learn their lesson. Lost investment dollars on listings that don’t sell and don’t get relisted.
I know I can’t afford to spend and market a property that doesn’t sell because I either didn’t read the market correctly and/or failed to communicate the consequences to my client.
August 18, 2008 — 4:14 pm
Malok says:
I’m seeing a lot of this mindset in my market as well. Theres one area that I service, that has 2.5 years of inventory – and yet, prices continue to go up on LISTING prices. On a recent showing, I asked the agent: “How did you comp out this property? Because I’m not seeing ANYTHING even remotely close to your list price”.
(Its a $150,000 home – and the list price is $250,000.)
The response: “Well, the seller has found another property they want to purchase – and thats what they need to get out of this property to buy it.”
The sad part is – they are doing a dis-service to not only themselves, but to the seller as well. Because now the sellers have an unrealistic expectation for what their home is worth – and if they get a “fair” offer in on the home, they’ll blow it off because its $100,000 less than what they “know” its worth.
Seems like some agents are so desperate for business that they want to get a listing, ANY LISTING, no matter how overpriced – on the hope that they’ll either be able to pick up some buyers or, talk the seller down later. Thats just not my way of doing business.
August 19, 2008 — 4:19 am