Every property I’ve sold over the years I did myself, not involving a real estate agent.
This summer my wife inherited some property far from where we live and we decided this time we’d list it with an agency to save us the hassles of selling it. After meeting with some, getting an appraisal, yadda yadda yadda, we signed with one. There is nothing wrong with the house, but we wanted it sold quickly so we priced it well below market value.
Today I found out that the agent is not holding open houses, he’s disparaging the property and us when people call the number on the sign, and he’s told people he’s doesn’t want to show the property by appointment either.
WTF?:eek::mad:
My only theory is that when his 6 month contract is up he’ll try to lowball us and buy it himself. Other than that, what could his reasons be?
I just learned all of this within the past few hours and I’m boiling mad. But I’m also ignorant about dealing with these pricks. I need to know what I can/should do about this.
How did you hear this? It’s very bizarre behavior.
In any case, call your agent’s office, and ask for their Managing Broker. Assuming you’re in Wisconsin (?), and in a quick review of the licensing structure, every agent/salesperson is required to work under a managing broker, who’s job it is to oversee their agents for problems like this. If they can’t help you, escalate it to the state licensing board.
I’m really curious who you got this information from.
ETA: Open houses are generally a waste of time, and are really for the agent to appear like they’re doing something, while maybe getting a few new leads. Don’t get hung up on that - even the most honest, motivated agent can’t do much with an open house.
Good advice above. As mentioned, first call as a prospective buyer, using whatever deceit you can to hide your identity and appear as a typical prospective buyer of that house would appear. If your suspicions are confirmed (again, how did you find this information out?), call the agent’s broker and discuss the situation. Agents have to work under brokers, and brokers are typically quite concerned about their business, reputation and having their agents act responsibly and legally.
If the agent is acting as you describe, it’s a serious violation of real estate laws and practices. Agents have to properly represent their clients’ interests, and to do otherwise is not only foolish, but can result in a loss of license. If the broker isn’t willing to accommodate you by changing the listing agent or allowing you to cancel the listing and go with another broker, you can report the agent and broker to the state real estate commission.
I’ve used agents to sell houses before, including long-distance. I always interview at least three, and pick the one who seems best to work with and who convinces me he will work in my interest.
First we got a phone call from a perspective buyer who tried to set up a showing and was told the disparaging remarks buy the agent. The buyer had actually called our son as that’s as close as he could get and our son gave us his number.
After that phone call we called an acquaintance who lives in the area of the property. The acquaintance said that they had previously called the agent out of curiosity of what we were asking for the place, and was told that the agent wasn’t showing it at this time. The acquaintance said they just thought there was something wrong that needed to be fixed, but that is not the case.
The acquaintance also said that several houses on the same block have had open houses every other Sunday while ours did not.
So this morning my wife made a pretext call spoofing the number. She told the agent we were a young couple, pre-approved. The agent says he doesn’t really want to show the property. Then he said (he’s telling a perspective buyer this) that he thinks the house is over priced. (After the appraisal he agreed with the price we set. It’s below the appraisal and market value). Then he said that the owners lived many hours away and he wasn’t real worried about impressing them. (that’s us!:mad: ). He then said he was very busy and she should call him back if she finds a different property she’s interested in.
At NO time did our agent tell us he felt the price was too high. In fact, his very words in June were “that’s a good price in this neighborhood if you’re looking to sell quickly.” At no time did we have any conflicts or arguments with him. There is no reason I can think of for him to be shitty about us.
Am I missing something here? Why would an agent not want to show a property to a pre-approved interested buyer?
His behavior seems completely illogical, but then I read this:
I wonder if he’s the agent on some of those houses, as well? If you priced your house low, he might be prioritizing selling those others first. Higher price means his 6% is higher.
It’s the only thing I can think of, otherwise I can’t fathom why he’d turn down a quick 6% of anything. It’s not like you’re going to have contingencies on the sale, seems like easy money for him.
The only thought that comes to mind: does the agent live in the neighborhood? If so, perhaps he doesn’t want a new comp showing a low value.
No matter what, I would go over his head and call the broker who owns the business. He should be supremely apologetic and accommodating, even before you threaten to contact the state real estate commission. I don’t know anything about the particular agent, but at a lot of agencies there are numerous incompetent and lazy agents. There probably aren’t a lot of downright unethical and dishonest agents, but certainly there are some. Time to call the broker and straighten things out.
Good theory but I looked online and the other 6 properties for sale within 5 blocks were all with different agencies.
And if he did have them (he doesn’t) wouldn’t he set up showings for the others including ours on the same day? Isn’t his goal to make a sale regardless?
I agree with Orwell - it’s time to contact whoever runs the realty for whom your agent “works” and expect some very concrete action.
[QUOTE=August West]
I can’t fathom why he’d turn down a quick 6% of anything.
[/QUOTE]
Nor can I. I suppose I can see not putting forth much effort - Freakonomics has a piece on why realtors take longer to sell their own houses - but if I were a realtor and someone called me on the phone asking about a property, I can’t imagine not making the token effort of taking the two hours to show them the house even if I only made $3000 less the agency’s cut. Not going all out to sell an underpriced property is one thing; not doing anything is another.
You can get his license suspended or revoked pretty easily. The guy is costing you money by not keeping up his end of your contract with him, and his broker can be fined. It’s quite likely you could even end up getting some cash out of this. If you can find others who have been told the same thing by this clown, see if you can get them to send you an email or letter telling you what transpired. Then send all of it to the state real estate folks. He is NOT representing you, which he is required to do by law.
First thing, write down in excruciating detail everything, including what you heard from whom, and what your wife said and heard. If, God forbid, this ever comes to a court case, you want to be able to point to a written record. Trust me, the judge will be much more inclined to believe your end of things if you can say “Well, yes I do know exactly what happened two years ago, because I wrote it down at the time”.
Then I’d pull the contract I signed with him, figure out exactly how he hasn’t upheld it, and what procedures there are, if any, for getting out of it. Then at least outline a letter to him saying (politely) “here’s how you haven’t followed the contract (with specific clauses in the contract identified) so I’m firing your ass”. Now that you’re armed you can call him (or his manager) up and ask him what the heck is going on. Maybe he’ll give a good answer, maybe he’ll cooperatively agree that he’s too busy and will withdraw from the contract (get it in writing!), maybe you’ll end up having to actually send the ‘you’re fired’ letter and/or talk to his boss. If you do send it, send it registered mail, so you can prove somebody got it.
But always think about the possibility of this going to court, when you sell the house through someone else and he files suit to get his cut. Document everything.
Just fire him and find a new listing agent. Then you can let his boss know why they were fired. Tell the new listing agent what happened with the old one, and request assurances that nothing like this is going to happen with them.
That’s why you talk to the broker/owner of the business. He may be unaware of this agent’s shenanigans and might be willing to give the OP a break on the commission, move the listing to another motivated agent (or take it on himself), or make other unforeseeable efforts.
Give the owner of the business the chance to make things right. If all else fails, then, yes, fire the agent and move the listing. If the OP cancels the listing with this brokerage, then get a signed statement saying the listing is canceled and no claims on future commissions will be made.