What's the deal with Real Estate Agents???

[Apple Annie]

Oh, I didn't notice where it said that in Pad3's post.

I agree with you about last minute showings, it can be a major inconveninece to a seller who is conscientious about how the home shows and is afraid of losing a buyer. In most areas, however, with CS, the seller or the seller's agent completes the CS form during the listing process .... with showing instructions. i.e. 1-hr. notice please, don't let the cat out, and all that.

You can indicate that you want a minimum amount of time to show; it's done all the time. The agent simply needs to rearrange his/her schedule a little. Even show that home last if need be.

My theory when I am a seller, is that if the buyer is so demanding that he wants IN NOW, I can do without him or he can come back a little later. At the same time, if the agent is showing him 12 houses that day, he can come back the next day.

Having both buyers' and sellers' agents at a showing is counter-productive to the reason CS exists. You will get at least 70% more showings with a central showing service where only the buyers' agent has to be there. It is a can of worms to have to juggle two agents' time schedule. It's usually a control issue on the part of the seller who wants his agent there to "better show" the features of the property. What happens is on the first showing, the buyers either like it or not -- and it gives that golden second opportunity to go back with the seller's agent, if possible, for a second look; or in the interim to have questions answered in advance of that second showing. Buying a home is a process of elimination.

Centralized Showing gets a lot of resistance in areas where agents are used to the "old ways". Lockboxes are the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to convenience in showing, especially on vacants. It was a madhouse when an agent had to set up, let's say a 3-day relocation tour. Call agents, make appts., run over and get the key, run back to return the key ... or meet agent there. You've got 2 agents plus the sellers' schedules to deal with, most of the time in conflict, and some homes did not get shown because of that. Orrr.....there was game playing by some agents who had lame excuses for delaying showings if they had their own customers, or hoped that the buyer would see their sign and call them. MLS didn't work the way it does now because we had to iron out lots of wrinkles.

There are exceptions, and one we run into a lot with advance notice is elderly sellers who maybe cannot leave the home for showings and really need extra notice for certain reasons. Same goes for homes with children and pets, etc. A little courtesy goes a long way if the buyers are understanding.

[jquackquack]

We spent a couple of months trying to sell our house ourselves down here in Florida. Actually found a guy who wanted it, but he couldn't qualify for what we were asking. Going to start using a realor this week. One thing the realtor told us is to make sure you're offering at least 3% to buyer's agents. If you offer any less than that, the agents will just steer their clients to the houses that are offering 3%. Unfortunately, there are so many houses on the market, that you can't skimp on what you're offering realtors and expect potential buyers to knock down your door (or even find your door).

[darzz1]

Originally Posted by Tiffer

My Garner house has been on the market for about three weeks. We have only had FOUR calls from Central Showing and THREE were no shows! One agent wanted to show the house in 15 minutes from the call. These agents have to know you are practically breaking your neck to get the family, the dog out of the house and every last crumb off the floor. Anyway, the agent never showed up,never called to cancel. After an hour and 1/2 we went back into the house. I called Central Showing to find out what happened, they said they would find out and call me back, that was 3 weeks ago I still haven't heard...OK done venting

Anyway, we have "staged" the house, painted inside and out, done all repairs (house is 10 years old) no one even comes to see it, we live in a nice neighborhood, other houses that are for sale around me have same experience. Do you all know something about Garner, I don't? I totallly enjoyed living here for 10 years.

Sorry about your bad luck.
I'm not from the area but ... we were looking and ended up buying in Fuquay. We considered Garner,, seems you can get a good size house for the money. Though, when researching there seemed to be high crime stats.. not that bad buy higher than the other surronding towns so that's why we ruled it out completly.
As a buyer we did sometimes ask for short notice it something happen to pop-up while we were in town. But,,, would never pull a no-show and always gave our realtor feedback and she took notes to pass on to listing agent.
Good luck and don't give up

[sliverbox]

Simple answer is that you might be asking too much for the house. Real Estate has been slowing. Even in NC. So if you want a FAST sale, check out the MLS and see what homes have old in your area... then price yours BELOW what was asked for a similar home. The price is key and all-important.

[bull136]

Originally Posted by leighbhe

I am a real estate agent, and I am also someone who has sold a couple of my own homes, and the last one I sold I did it with a toddler, baby and huge dog, so I feel your pain. If I am not going to make an appointment, I call CSS. Now, I have a client who is selling a home, and she just emailed me today because CSS called her and said someone wanted to see the house from 1130-130 and my seller said, can she move it to 1230? CSS said they would take care of it and call the agent, well, at 1124, the agent and her clients show up. They were ticked because the seller was still in the house, and she was ticked because CSS didn't call like they said they would. SO, the point is, CSS is not flawless by any stretch of the imagination. Have your agent follow up with them, call them yourself and follow up, it is because of sellers they are in business!

About your house and showings, it all depends. I know that is vague, but it depends on location, price point, pictures (does your agent have a good number of pictures on mls, realtor.com, etc), how else is your agent marketing the home? How is the school district you are in? The triangle is a big place, and most people who are relocating have heard of the "suburbs" of cary, apex, holly springs, and wake forest (knightdale and clayton are close behind), but people haven't been knocking down my door to talk about garner. Not that garner is bad, I am just saying, it is not the first place people outside of the area think of in terms of moving.

I would talk to your agent, ask them what their expectations are for showings, etc.

Hopefully it will pick up soon.
Leigh

Robbery garner= 38 holly springs =1 assualt garner =35 holly springs =2 crime reports make peoples minds up before they even visit an area sadly.

[bull136]

Originally Posted by jquackquack

We spent a couple of months trying to sell our house ourselves down here in Florida. Actually found a guy who wanted it, but he couldn't qualify for what we were asking. Going to start using a realor this week. One thing the realtor told us is to make sure you're offering at least 3% to buyer's agents. If you offer any less than that, the agents will just steer their clients to the houses that are offering 3%. Unfortunately, there are so many houses on the market, that you can't skimp on what you're offering realtors and expect potential buyers to knock down your door (or even find your door).

Im curious what the price is and even more what the comission is just run an ad saying you will pay commision , or realtors welcome that way you do not have to pay the listing agent 3% for doing nothing more than running some ads , putting it in mls and hanging around on open house day,. We sold our home in New Jersey but we did it like a job had open houses ran ads had it in show like condition and paid a buyers agent 3% and saved the other 3% which was $12,000 minus $700.00 we spent thats $11,300 tax free in our pocket worth every bit and it was a good experience and because I was in charge all appt and showings and every aspect was done 100% because i was not trying to sell a dozen homes just 1. So save the money . When it sells and if you price it right it will you will feel great and save a ton of your money.