Real Estate Agent Woes

[Ricechex]

I don’t feel bad now at all. I texted her and stated “if any buyer is interested in the Tobey property, it went into pre-foreclosure on 31 May.” She said “hmmmmm” and 10 minutes later, texted that it was in pre-foreclosure and wanted to know if I wanted to continue with the counteroffer. Then, she called, I didn’t answer. Done deal.

[HLS]

And you don’t wish to continue with counteroffer because….. ???

If she is not the listing agent, she has no knowledge of how many other offers (if any)
have been submitted.
Unfortunately many agents lie and the lies get passed along as facts.

If you like the property, I’m not clear on why you
wouldn’t take her call.

[Ricechex]

HLS-
I do not like her and won’t do business with her. If she lied once, she cannot be trusted. The property was OK, not great. I was on the fence as it was. I can find another property. Don’t want any bad ju ju when making such a big commitment. All of it—red flags!
Her credibility is NIL. Thus, even if she was right about something, I am likely not to believe her anyway. Best to move on.

[HLS]

Best to just make it clear to her that you do not want her representing you nor contacting you again.
You do not need to give her any reason(s) or excuses as to why.

This is a great example of why nobody should ever sign an exclusive agreement that you will only deal with one agent in your search.
Some agents will try to get you to sign such a form.

[sdsurfer]

This is an interesting thread. I’m still licensed as a Realtor, but I ended up getting a W-2 job about 8 years ago because I felt it was the right thing to do. Reading through this thread really makes me feel like I made the right decision. My wife still does it and it’s a tough industry to get into.

I do think that if I was the OP I would get a new agent, but I would interview a couple agents in the area and be clear with them as far as your intentions prior to previewing homes with them. It seems like you are looking for a certain style of person as well as a professional. I think that clear expectations on both ends would be a good start.

She’s represented you multiple times and her credibility is “NIL”? Wow.

As far as the cross-qual it is very common because although you trust your lender and have already jumped through the hoops the seller does not know your lender and just wants to know you are approved based on the guidelines someone they know uses. Nothing personal here and yes many times a call or some correspondence between your lender and the one they want you to cross-qual with does alleviate this issue oftentimes.

As far as her being pushy if you tell her to lay off she should. If you at any point just flat out do not like her or her style you should tell her for both of you so that both of you can move on.

I think it is important to look at it both ways because what one person might perceive as pushy another person might see as proactive. You get to pick who you work with of course, but I’d worry that the easy going Realtor you are looking for might not be as successful and might be deemed lazy according to some people and lack ambition. She’s probably just doing what seems to work for her to get deals in escrow which is how she is paid. She should very much be respectful of whatever you or any client tells her, but at the same time if she is too easy going she’s going to be looking for a new job soon.

That is what I did and the only reason I’m posting right now is because this hits close to home because I wanted to be the Realtor you are referring to that has YOUR best interests in mind. If a client did not want to increase they offer I always said, “We’ll find you another one” and they would typically either end up looking in another area or end up getting frustrated and going back to renting to be in the area they wanted to buy, but could not afford to buy in. If a seller did not like an appraisal coming in low I would back them up on cancelling the contract because the buyer did not want to come in with the difference if the appraiser believes the contract price is more than the home is worth. I prided myself in always backing up my client 100% even if it meant that I would have to work for free. It became about principles to me and being the person they could trust no matter what so that my clients could have the opportunity to work with someone that feels the way I did about it. I always told myself to hang in there and that eventually I would be rewarded because people would tell others how commendable what I did was for them and I’d get referrals, but the issue lies in the aspect that I was not closing enough deals to support myself long enough to get to that point. The pushy agents were and they were succeeding right next to me while I was not and I was just trying to do what I felt was right. I did not want to be like them and I wanted to do it my own way. I always had my clients best interests above my own and I think I so much so had their best interests in mind that I was forced to get another job. I still think about this stuff for my wife’s sake and how everyone’s perception of Realtors is a bit off sometimes…I think she does not take it as personally as I did and she luckily has me to pay the bills so our livelihood is not counting on her so she gets to do it the way I wanted to back then. I’m glad to be able to give her that opportunity for herself and her clients.

Anyways…good luck to you!

[joec]

[quote=sdsurfer]
I think it is important to look at it both ways because what one person might perceive as pushy another person might see as proactive.
[/quote]

Heh, most things in life are based on how things are perceived or expected…

I always found it funny how if a girl is interested in some guy and if he hung around or contacted her or whatever, he’d be considered caring but if she didn’t like him at all or found him gross, he’d be labeled a stalker.

Anyhow, unfortunately, like you say, I agree that’s just how real estate is sorta done. 10% of the agents probably have like 90% of the deals and people do whatever to put food on the table.

This is similar to financial advice where they are mostly sales people who don’t have much of a clue a lot of times…

[scaredyclassic]

I briefly had a job in sales for a trade school. I was pretty honest and just laid it all out.

I remember this other longterm sales guy who lied his assistant off and was pushy beyond belief.

He signed up lots of students.

Me …very few…

[joec]

[quote=scaredyclassic]I briefly had a job in sales for a trade school. I was pretty honest and just laid it all out.

I remember this other longterm sales guy who lied his assistant off and was pushy beyond belief.

He signed up lots of students.

Me …very few…[/quote]

Yup, I’m sure the legal profession is similar with some lawyers promising everything…get more clients to look over to see which case is winnable.

[CA renter]

sdsurfer, I wish more salespeople were like you. It’s a bummer that things didn’t work out the way you wanted, but at least you can go to sleep at night with a clean conscience. Good for you for putting your principles ahead of profit.

[sdsurfer]

Thanks CA renter.

It actually ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made. I ended up being the 5th employee hired at my company back in 08 and the company now has over 110 associates. I was actually the 2nd full time sales associate and I would never own a home in North County if I had not gone with my gut and believed in the business model my friend put together and made the jump. The toughest part for me was that I pretty much failed at becoming a successful Realtor which is what I set out to do and admitting that to myself, but I’m good with it now since I know I did what I had to do and made the right choice.

I feel like you have to go with the flow sometimes and oftentimes its the ability to embrace change and adapt that enables you to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. I’m really glad I did.

[CA renter]

That is awesome news about your current company. So glad things worked out they way they did for you. 🙂

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