[gypsychic]

A good realtor is everything. We have a home listed for sale in another state, and we have a realtor that treats that home like it's her own. She takes it upon herself UNASKED to go and check on everything, prune bushes if she thinks they need it, orders lawn services for us if needed, etc. etc. I don't know what I would do without her!

[cfIfan]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

A good realtor is everything. We have a home listed for sale in another state, and we have a realtor that treats that home like it's her own. She takes it upon herself UNASKED to go and check on everything, prune bushes if she thinks they need it, orders lawn services for us if needed, etc. etc. I don't know what I would do without her!

I completely agree withyou on this, and the distinction i make is that your property is out of state, so you need to have that sort of arrangement. Do they charge you for these services supplemental to the commission aswell. I guess what i was trying to say, was that there has to be effort made on both sides buy the owner and realtor, and if you live in the property there is no excuse. Even if you have busy lifestyles, time should be made by the owner to maintain the home or at least notice problems occuring.

[House4Sale]

And were promised he would look after the house and report any problems to us. Then we would've taken time off and made a run up there or hired someone to treat the yard...even though that was part of our agreement. They knew we were out of town and took advantage of us. Yes, we even made unannounced trips to the house to see what was what. Talk about babysitting. We had to babysit the so called professionals!

If we were living there, don't you think we'd have opened our eyes to see the problem before us??

[House4Sale]

Gypsy, that is what we thought and were promised we'd get from that realtor. Instead, he dumped our acct. in the lap of Miss Waterslide and she totally neglected our acct. And he was suppose to be one of the good ones. Yeah, right!

[cfIfan]

In that case, that realtor isnt worth their salt, and im sorry you had such a problem with them. I hope that doesnt put you off all of us as there are some good ones out there.

[Wendyb0077]

Originally Posted by cfIfan

Hi house for sale, i was just wondering when you say your sod was damaged etc, whether you were still living in the house? and whether your subsequent comment about the waterslide just meant you were too busy to take care of it. Also as a realtor in the Central Florida area, i liken this type of relationship as a marriage, if you dont select a good realtor who you know is going to go out on a limb for you, then there isnt any point having one, which is why making the right choice in the beginning is essential. I dont work with a large franchise realty company, simply because i used to, and instead of getting on with the job of selling homes, they had me in courses 3 times a week, and office meetings once a week. Byt the time the end of the week had come around i had maybe 3 days worth of work done.

The reason i asked about your grass, was simply because, yes the realtor should have told you about it, but if you are living in the property, we are not baby sitters for you. If you dont take care of your own lawn, have a company come in to do it. Its not your realtors job to spray and feed your lawn.

It sounds like houseforsale wasn't living in the house since they had a (lawn service). Obviously not a very good one.. But the real estate person should have let the seller's know it wasn't looking to good. I have had absentee owners with lawn services that never showed up and still collected their $$$ for doing the job. I notified the Sellers when the grass started looking bad, since it kills the curb appeal. Anyway, In this market it wouldn't have mattered if the grass was trimmed in gold and you had an oil well in the back yard with Jed Clampet's picture on the mail box. Wendy

[House4Sale]

Thank you. It's very hurtful what's happened to us. We've even ran our own ads to support our realtors. A few said we were the hardest working clients they ever had. I printed flyers, hired people to hand them out, sat in the house and had open houses (while I was there), made phone calls to out of town realtors w/mls#, posted my own ads etc., etc. At this point, I wish a huge sink hole or the bank would just take it. I'm so tired of this. To think, on top of all this we did not buy the house as an investment property but were run out of our home of 20+ years due to the illegal activity that was going on in the house next door. In America, Americans seem to be getting kicked-- Don't get me started!

[cfIfan]

May i ask where is your property located. I am truely sorry to hear your situation, and its people in your situation that i do truely feel for. If your property in in Central Florida, have you considered hiring a Realtor who markets oversears. For example i advertise properties in the UK and am quite successful with it because im originally from the UK i know all the right places to advertise.

[House4Sale]

Thanks cfIfan. Yes, it is a tough time for us as we try to hang on and keep the chin up but it is very hard. The new realtor has agents w/connections in Europe, UK, Holland etc. And the house is in central Fl. About an hour north east of Tampa. Where are you located in central FL? If you care to note that, that is.

[cfIfan]

Originally Posted by House4Sale

Thanks cfIfan. Yes, it is a tough time for us as we try to hang on and keep the chin up but it is very hard. The new realtor has agents w/connections in Europe, UK, Holland etc. And the house is in central Fl. About an hour north east of Tampa. Where are you located in central FL? If you care to note that, that is.

Im actually in the Orlando area. It is good that your agent has connections internationally, all i would say for your future consideration, is try to source agents who do their own advertising abroad, simply because you can have contacts abroad, but whether they will actively promote your property is another thing. For example, i guest write a column every 3 months in a newspaper in the UK. as such they give me advertising in that same article, so any properties which i have i advertise in that issue and in other media sources both online in the UK and in print. That way i know the properties are being promoted and not that my connections may or may not be promoting my properties. It may just be that i am a control freak....lol but im kind of the opinion if you want a job done well, you need to do it yourself...lol