Battiata & Associates

[NotCranky]

Excellent observation SDR. No need to dig deeper. That explains it. Thanks.

[NotCranky]

Excellent observation SDR. No need to dig deeper. That explains it. Thanks.

[Raybyrnes]

Rustico
I’m suggesting that most realators come by referral as do most financial planners, life insurance agents etc. Personally, I am comfortable going with people I don’t know because I have a fairly rigid screening process.

I simply suggested that if he was uncomfortable with this company’s style, and he wanted more personal intereaction, that he start with someone he might be familiar with. I inferred that if he is meeting with someone he does not have a relationship with currently, that he probably does not have a network of people with real estate expertise. Therefore this site is probably as good as the yellow pages or the park bench to begin a discussion with someone.

[Raybyrnes]

Rustico
I’m suggesting that most realators come by referral as do most financial planners, life insurance agents etc. Personally, I am comfortable going with people I don’t know because I have a fairly rigid screening process.

I simply suggested that if he was uncomfortable with this company’s style, and he wanted more personal intereaction, that he start with someone he might be familiar with. I inferred that if he is meeting with someone he does not have a relationship with currently, that he probably does not have a network of people with real estate expertise. Therefore this site is probably as good as the yellow pages or the park bench to begin a discussion with someone.

[NotCranky]

I am sure your intentions are good Ray. The idea it self is fine.
While on this topic…I am not sure why someone would want to rush out and pay 6% to anyone. Isn’t it common knowledge that 3.5-4.5 will do it? There is no need for the listing agent to take more than 2% or offer more that 2.5% to the cooperating broker.

Some people argue that higher commissions gives incentive to the buyer’s agent. I don’t think it is necessary because buyers have so much information available today and are spoon feeding their agents properties to look at. The agent can hardly refuse to show them because of a lower commission and shouldn’t anyway. There could be some effect of lower or higher commissions on cooperating brokers but I doubt it is much.
There have been articles in the paper about money and cars being given to agents to sell certain properties. I personally think that is just wrong.

[NotCranky]

I am sure your intentions are good Ray. The idea it self is fine.
While on this topic…I am not sure why someone would want to rush out and pay 6% to anyone. Isn’t it common knowledge that 3.5-4.5 will do it? There is no need for the listing agent to take more than 2% or offer more that 2.5% to the cooperating broker.

Some people argue that higher commissions gives incentive to the buyer’s agent. I don’t think it is necessary because buyers have so much information available today and are spoon feeding their agents properties to look at. The agent can hardly refuse to show them because of a lower commission and shouldn’t anyway. There could be some effect of lower or higher commissions on cooperating brokers but I doubt it is much.
There have been articles in the paper about money and cars being given to agents to sell certain properties. I personally think that is just wrong.

[djrobsd]

You know what else is wrong…. My phone started ringing at 7:45am this morning and hasn’t stopped… Because my listing expired with my old realtor, and even though she removed the phone # from the listing, they were obviously still able to get my # from somewhere and they won’t leave me alone. I won’t even answer the phone, but it sucks because now my business is on hold since I use my cell phone for my business too, and I simply don’t have time today to field off agents…. Oops, I wish my realtor would have disclosed to me that whatever phone # I give her will be solicited by other realtors…. This is just total BS.

[djrobsd]

You know what else is wrong…. My phone started ringing at 7:45am this morning and hasn’t stopped… Because my listing expired with my old realtor, and even though she removed the phone # from the listing, they were obviously still able to get my # from somewhere and they won’t leave me alone. I won’t even answer the phone, but it sucks because now my business is on hold since I use my cell phone for my business too, and I simply don’t have time today to field off agents…. Oops, I wish my realtor would have disclosed to me that whatever phone # I give her will be solicited by other realtors…. This is just total BS.

[SD Realtor]

djrob that totally sucks. Many realtors, including myself NEVER put the phone number for the client in the listing. Even with that said, when I have had listings expire or cancel, my clients tell me that they two are solicited pretty rigorously. Many of these bottom feeders use services to get your phone number. It sucks 100%.

Definitely call your agent or broker and have them get into the expired listing and put in big bold letters DO NOT SOLICIT CLIENT in the remarks field….It may help but since the listing is already expired, it probably will not. You want those comments put in the listing prior to expiration.

Also next listing do not have the agent put your number in the listing. That will help a little bit but not much. Just know, even if you did not have your number posted, it is very likely that these guys would have found it, and you still would be getting solicited. I have had people tell me that agents even came to the house.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

djrob that totally sucks. Many realtors, including myself NEVER put the phone number for the client in the listing. Even with that said, when I have had listings expire or cancel, my clients tell me that they two are solicited pretty rigorously. Many of these bottom feeders use services to get your phone number. It sucks 100%.

Definitely call your agent or broker and have them get into the expired listing and put in big bold letters DO NOT SOLICIT CLIENT in the remarks field….It may help but since the listing is already expired, it probably will not. You want those comments put in the listing prior to expiration.

Also next listing do not have the agent put your number in the listing. That will help a little bit but not much. Just know, even if you did not have your number posted, it is very likely that these guys would have found it, and you still would be getting solicited. I have had people tell me that agents even came to the house.

SD Realtor

[Anonymous]

I am a little late to the game here. But here it goes anyway.

You are right. There are plenty of agents who can get top dollar and do it without using a Seller’s fear of penalty. If he doesn’t put flyers out, do open houses etc, then what marketing is he doing for you and only you, since you are the one he is charging. In essence, if you cancel, you would be paying for their very large marketing campaign not for your individual marketing services.

I am a Realtor. My belief is that if you sell houses, then why put a cancellation charge in your agreement. You have that clause because you have some expected failure rate. Here’s a number: Battiata Group had 182 Expired Listings, 2 Withdrawn Listings and 147 Cancelled Listings and 656 Sold. This data is from the MLS. That is a success rate of 50.4%. You would be better off hiring a new, hungry agent who will work their tail off for you. They would have about a 60% chance of selling your house. In a Seller’s market it is very easy to say as an agent you get top dollar. If you really want a great agent find one who sells homes in your neighborhood consistently. Having the most listings doesn’t sell your home, having the most closed sales does. You can even ask for their cancelled and expired listings to check there success rate.

My real concern is Short Sales. As an agent I recently put in an offer with “Agent New” at the Battiata Group (I will protect his real identity). Agent New had a great sales price on a Short Sale. After questioning him about the status, he realized that my questions were more in depth and were above his knowledge base. He got angry and hung up saying he was too busy too talk to me. Has anyone seen the new commercials Battiata has? He is now the Short Sale expert. Actually, Agent New is the “expert”. All of the short sale listings are under his second agent name. Do you know Agent New hasn’t sold a short sale yet. He doesn’t even have one in pending status. He did what in our industry or most industries call a “bait and switch”. He lowballed the sales price by $200k below market value. Upon questioning, he said he has already received that value from the lender. When asked who the lender was, he said Countrywide. Well, I have worked at least 5 Short Sales with Countrywide and the negotiator will not even talk to you for at least 30 days after receipt of an offer. Well, I thought Agent New had an inside contact. So, because my client really wanted this house I put in the offer against my better judgement. To my suprise, he counted at $150k above his asking price. So much for getting his price point. My buyer walked away. I ask you, did Agent A do his client justice? We are looking at other homes not listed by the Short Sale experts “The Battiata Group”.

Anyone who says they are the expert, try again. If you have a Short Sale, find someone who has closed short sale homes. If you find someone who has worked with your lender, even better. Get proof. Ask them for the lender payoff letter. I have worked with 10 different lenders and Service Providers. Each transaction is different because investor guidelines are different. For instance, GMAC gave 2 week approval on one transaction but took 45 days on another, because of the different investor guidelines. Sorry to digress here, but, as you can see I am passionate about Short Sale “experts”. Because there is so much at stake here. You have distraught clients who need our help and in many cases are desperate.

Good Bye for now.

[Anonymous]

I am a little late to the game here. But here it goes anyway.

You are right. There are plenty of agents who can get top dollar and do it without using a Seller’s fear of penalty. If he doesn’t put flyers out, do open houses etc, then what marketing is he doing for you and only you, since you are the one he is charging. In essence, if you cancel, you would be paying for their very large marketing campaign not for your individual marketing services.

I am a Realtor. My belief is that if you sell houses, then why put a cancellation charge in your agreement. You have that clause because you have some expected failure rate. Here’s a number: Battiata Group had 182 Expired Listings, 2 Withdrawn Listings and 147 Cancelled Listings and 656 Sold. This data is from the MLS. That is a success rate of 50.4%. You would be better off hiring a new, hungry agent who will work their tail off for you. They would have about a 60% chance of selling your house. In a Seller’s market it is very easy to say as an agent you get top dollar. If you really want a great agent find one who sells homes in your neighborhood consistently. Having the most listings doesn’t sell your home, having the most closed sales does. You can even ask for their cancelled and expired listings to check there success rate.

My real concern is Short Sales. As an agent I recently put in an offer with “Agent New” at the Battiata Group (I will protect his real identity). Agent New had a great sales price on a Short Sale. After questioning him about the status, he realized that my questions were more in depth and were above his knowledge base. He got angry and hung up saying he was too busy too talk to me. Has anyone seen the new commercials Battiata has? He is now the Short Sale expert. Actually, Agent New is the “expert”. All of the short sale listings are under his second agent name. Do you know Agent New hasn’t sold a short sale yet. He doesn’t even have one in pending status. He did what in our industry or most industries call a “bait and switch”. He lowballed the sales price by $200k below market value. Upon questioning, he said he has already received that value from the lender. When asked who the lender was, he said Countrywide. Well, I have worked at least 5 Short Sales with Countrywide and the negotiator will not even talk to you for at least 30 days after receipt of an offer. Well, I thought Agent New had an inside contact. So, because my client really wanted this house I put in the offer against my better judgement. To my suprise, he counted at $150k above his asking price. So much for getting his price point. My buyer walked away. I ask you, did Agent A do his client justice? We are looking at other homes not listed by the Short Sale experts “The Battiata Group”.

Anyone who says they are the expert, try again. If you have a Short Sale, find someone who has closed short sale homes. If you find someone who has worked with your lender, even better. Get proof. Ask them for the lender payoff letter. I have worked with 10 different lenders and Service Providers. Each transaction is different because investor guidelines are different. For instance, GMAC gave 2 week approval on one transaction but took 45 days on another, because of the different investor guidelines. Sorry to digress here, but, as you can see I am passionate about Short Sale “experts”. Because there is so much at stake here. You have distraught clients who need our help and in many cases are desperate.

Good Bye for now.

[Anonymous]

I am a little late to the game here. But here it goes anyway.

You are right. There are plenty of agents who can get top dollar and do it without using a Seller’s fear of penalty. If he doesn’t put flyers out, do open houses etc, then what marketing is he doing for you and only you, since you are the one he is charging. In essence, if you cancel, you would be paying for their very large marketing campaign not for your individual marketing services.

I am a Realtor. My belief is that if you sell houses, then why put a cancellation charge in your agreement. You have that clause because you have some expected failure rate. Here’s a number: Battiata Group had 182 Expired Listings, 2 Withdrawn Listings and 147 Cancelled Listings and 656 Sold. This data is from the MLS. That is a success rate of 50.4%. You would be better off hiring a new, hungry agent who will work their tail off for you. They would have about a 60% chance of selling your house. In a Seller’s market it is very easy to say as an agent you get top dollar. If you really want a great agent find one who sells homes in your neighborhood consistently. Having the most listings doesn’t sell your home, having the most closed sales does. You can even ask for their cancelled and expired listings to check there success rate.

My real concern is Short Sales. As an agent I recently put in an offer with “Agent New” at the Battiata Group (I will protect his real identity). Agent New had a great sales price on a Short Sale. After questioning him about the status, he realized that my questions were more in depth and were above his knowledge base. He got angry and hung up saying he was too busy too talk to me. Has anyone seen the new commercials Battiata has? He is now the Short Sale expert. Actually, Agent New is the “expert”. All of the short sale listings are under his second agent name. Do you know Agent New hasn’t sold a short sale yet. He doesn’t even have one in pending status. He did what in our industry or most industries call a “bait and switch”. He lowballed the sales price by $200k below market value. Upon questioning, he said he has already received that value from the lender. When asked who the lender was, he said Countrywide. Well, I have worked at least 5 Short Sales with Countrywide and the negotiator will not even talk to you for at least 30 days after receipt of an offer. Well, I thought Agent New had an inside contact. So, because my client really wanted this house I put in the offer against my better judgement. To my suprise, he counted at $150k above his asking price. So much for getting his price point. My buyer walked away. I ask you, did Agent A do his client justice? We are looking at other homes not listed by the Short Sale experts “The Battiata Group”.

Anyone who says they are the expert, try again. If you have a Short Sale, find someone who has closed short sale homes. If you find someone who has worked with your lender, even better. Get proof. Ask them for the lender payoff letter. I have worked with 10 different lenders and Service Providers. Each transaction is different because investor guidelines are different. For instance, GMAC gave 2 week approval on one transaction but took 45 days on another, because of the different investor guidelines. Sorry to digress here, but, as you can see I am passionate about Short Sale “experts”. Because there is so much at stake here. You have distraught clients who need our help and in many cases are desperate.

Good Bye for now.

[Anonymous]

I am a little late to the game here. But here it goes anyway.

You are right. There are plenty of agents who can get top dollar and do it without using a Seller’s fear of penalty. If he doesn’t put flyers out, do open houses etc, then what marketing is he doing for you and only you, since you are the one he is charging. In essence, if you cancel, you would be paying for their very large marketing campaign not for your individual marketing services.

I am a Realtor. My belief is that if you sell houses, then why put a cancellation charge in your agreement. You have that clause because you have some expected failure rate. Here’s a number: Battiata Group had 182 Expired Listings, 2 Withdrawn Listings and 147 Cancelled Listings and 656 Sold. This data is from the MLS. That is a success rate of 50.4%. You would be better off hiring a new, hungry agent who will work their tail off for you. They would have about a 60% chance of selling your house. In a Seller’s market it is very easy to say as an agent you get top dollar. If you really want a great agent find one who sells homes in your neighborhood consistently. Having the most listings doesn’t sell your home, having the most closed sales does. You can even ask for their cancelled and expired listings to check there success rate.

My real concern is Short Sales. As an agent I recently put in an offer with “Agent New” at the Battiata Group (I will protect his real identity). Agent New had a great sales price on a Short Sale. After questioning him about the status, he realized that my questions were more in depth and were above his knowledge base. He got angry and hung up saying he was too busy too talk to me. Has anyone seen the new commercials Battiata has? He is now the Short Sale expert. Actually, Agent New is the “expert”. All of the short sale listings are under his second agent name. Do you know Agent New hasn’t sold a short sale yet. He doesn’t even have one in pending status. He did what in our industry or most industries call a “bait and switch”. He lowballed the sales price by $200k below market value. Upon questioning, he said he has already received that value from the lender. When asked who the lender was, he said Countrywide. Well, I have worked at least 5 Short Sales with Countrywide and the negotiator will not even talk to you for at least 30 days after receipt of an offer. Well, I thought Agent New had an inside contact. So, because my client really wanted this house I put in the offer against my better judgement. To my suprise, he counted at $150k above his asking price. So much for getting his price point. My buyer walked away. I ask you, did Agent A do his client justice? We are looking at other homes not listed by the Short Sale experts “The Battiata Group”.

Anyone who says they are the expert, try again. If you have a Short Sale, find someone who has closed short sale homes. If you find someone who has worked with your lender, even better. Get proof. Ask them for the lender payoff letter. I have worked with 10 different lenders and Service Providers. Each transaction is different because investor guidelines are different. For instance, GMAC gave 2 week approval on one transaction but took 45 days on another, because of the different investor guidelines. Sorry to digress here, but, as you can see I am passionate about Short Sale “experts”. Because there is so much at stake here. You have distraught clients who need our help and in many cases are desperate.

Good Bye for now.

[Anonymous]

I am a little late to the game here. But here it goes anyway.

You are right. There are plenty of agents who can get top dollar and do it without using a Seller’s fear of penalty. If he doesn’t put flyers out, do open houses etc, then what marketing is he doing for you and only you, since you are the one he is charging. In essence, if you cancel, you would be paying for their very large marketing campaign not for your individual marketing services.

I am a Realtor. My belief is that if you sell houses, then why put a cancellation charge in your agreement. You have that clause because you have some expected failure rate. Here’s a number: Battiata Group had 182 Expired Listings, 2 Withdrawn Listings and 147 Cancelled Listings and 656 Sold. This data is from the MLS. That is a success rate of 50.4%. You would be better off hiring a new, hungry agent who will work their tail off for you. They would have about a 60% chance of selling your house. In a Seller’s market it is very easy to say as an agent you get top dollar. If you really want a great agent find one who sells homes in your neighborhood consistently. Having the most listings doesn’t sell your home, having the most closed sales does. You can even ask for their cancelled and expired listings to check there success rate.

My real concern is Short Sales. As an agent I recently put in an offer with “Agent New” at the Battiata Group (I will protect his real identity). Agent New had a great sales price on a Short Sale. After questioning him about the status, he realized that my questions were more in depth and were above his knowledge base. He got angry and hung up saying he was too busy too talk to me. Has anyone seen the new commercials Battiata has? He is now the Short Sale expert. Actually, Agent New is the “expert”. All of the short sale listings are under his second agent name. Do you know Agent New hasn’t sold a short sale yet. He doesn’t even have one in pending status. He did what in our industry or most industries call a “bait and switch”. He lowballed the sales price by $200k below market value. Upon questioning, he said he has already received that value from the lender. When asked who the lender was, he said Countrywide. Well, I have worked at least 5 Short Sales with Countrywide and the negotiator will not even talk to you for at least 30 days after receipt of an offer. Well, I thought Agent New had an inside contact. So, because my client really wanted this house I put in the offer against my better judgement. To my suprise, he counted at $150k above his asking price. So much for getting his price point. My buyer walked away. I ask you, did Agent A do his client justice? We are looking at other homes not listed by the Short Sale experts “The Battiata Group”.

Anyone who says they are the expert, try again. If you have a Short Sale, find someone who has closed short sale homes. If you find someone who has worked with your lender, even better. Get proof. Ask them for the lender payoff letter. I have worked with 10 different lenders and Service Providers. Each transaction is different because investor guidelines are different. For instance, GMAC gave 2 week approval on one transaction but took 45 days on another, because of the different investor guidelines. Sorry to digress here, but, as you can see I am passionate about Short Sale “experts”. Because there is so much at stake here. You have distraught clients who need our help and in many cases are desperate.

Good Bye for now.

[Author]

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