It’s easy for the consumer to sit back and complain about real estate agents and how the cost so much money, are lazy and all the usual go-to complaints they have.
While some of these complaints may have validity, it’s mostly the agents who should complain about the dumb moves consumers do to them.
In the 10 years I’ve been involved with the real estate community, I’ve seen some buyers and sellers do some boneheaded stuff. On the flip side, due to the professionalism in our industry, I rarely see agents complain about clients.
Well guess what? I’m going to enjoy the pleasure of complaining for you! Allow me to say the things you’d rather not. It’s kinda my thing to stir the pot a little.
Here’s my list of the TOP 5 things clients do to piss real estate agents off:
1: When a prospect doesn’t tell you they already have an agent until it’s too late
It’s saturday morning and the phone rings. John Smith is on zillow, looking for properties to buy and he saw the one you have listed. He’s calling you to get the details of the listing.
As any good agent would, you answer the phone and answer his questions. He goes on to tell you that he’s been looking for homes online for about 30 days now and is looking to buy a home soon.
You offer to meet him at the listing for a private showing. He agrees and sets a time with you for the walk through but when he arrives things change. After you show him the home, you tell him about the importance of buyer representation and how it works.
At that time he goes on to tell you he already signed one with ‘his’ agent but didn’t want to bother his agent on a Saturday…
…many of us have had this atrocity enacted on us. It sucks!
2: When sellers turn down perfect offers
You fought like a champ to get the Jones to list their home with you. They are way proud of their home and you told them their asking price was high, but you took the listing in “hopes” of selling it close to their price.
Flash forward and the home has been on the market for 60 days. You’ve suggested a price reduction but they aint trying to hear it. One Wednesday after work, you get an offer submitted to you via email.
The offer is full asking price with sellers paying title, warranty and a $500 warranty contract. You’re stoked! Finally, you got a decent offer that you can work with. You’re excited to take it to the sellers.
The sellers don’t see it that way. They see it as a few thousand dollars less than they were expecting to net. You go on to tell them about cost of staying in the home another month or two, that a couple grand is no big deal in the real estate world and every other trick you can pull out of your book
Their response: We’ll just wait until someone wants to buy our home for what we think it’s worth.
3: When you get an impatient signcaller
It’s 7pm on a Tuesday and your phone rings. Mike wants to know the details about 1212 Main St and you fill him in on the details.
He decides he likes what he hears and wants to take a look at the inside of the house. NOW!!! He tells you he’s out front of the home and can wait 5-10 mins there for you to meet him.
Meanwhile, you’re on the other side of town, sitting down to dinner with your family talking about the day’s events. You reluctantly decide to agree and to drive over and show him the property.
When you arrive he’s no longer there. You call and say “hey Mike it’s me are you ready to see the home?’ he then goes on to reply “I got tired of waiting and decided to go home. I’ll call you back tomorrow and we can look at it then.”
Some people are just evil…
4: When clients charge up credit cards before closing on a home purchase
It’s that time of the contract -Closing Day! You’re excited, the buyers are excited, the sellers are excited, hell, everyone is excited.
Unbeknownst to you, your buyers were a little too excited a few days ago. They went out and got credit lines for about $10,000 in new furniture for their sweet new pad. They never mentioned it to you and it never came up. Same thing for their LO.
About an hour before the closing, you get a call from your favorite loan officer. He tells you that underwriting did their last minute due diligence and the clients have an extra $10,00 in debt they did have a week ago. This throws the whole transaction off and stalls or even cancels the closing.
Maybe that furniture will look good in storage or in the back of a U-Haul…
5: Misleading pictures on MLS
The Johnsons call you. They are excited as can be. They were up last night and found a new listing with the sized backyard they have been looking for. They want to see it today and if all goes accordingly, make a full price offer tonight.
You call the listing agent and ask if there is anything you need to know about the property. She tells you it’s in great shape and your buyers will love it.
You meet the Johnsons at the property. Everyone pulls up out front and they are excited to see the big backyard where their kids and dogs will spend their future years playing together.
When the back door opens and they see the yard, it’s 1/2 the size it looked in the MLS pictures. Matter of fact, it’s apparent the listing agent used a wide angle lens to make the yard appear bigger than it is.
The Johnsons are upset and you wasted time on an optical illusion…
Any agent with time under their belt has been in one or more of these instances. They always make for good lessons learned. They also teach wise agents to ask the right questions up front.
I’m sure I could make this list go all the way up to a million but I think these 5 are big enough to make the impact I was trying to make. Share this on social media to help bring consumer awareness. Maybe we can cut down on some of these frustrating issues.
In the meantime, if you should run into any of these instances in the future, take a deep breath and remember to Keep Calm You’re An Agent.
