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I have enjoyed debating this issue with some of you. However, when it turns from debate to self-defense, it's not worth my time. Thank you to those of you mature enough to handle a spirited debate. Best wishes!
Can we not have a mature debate? I guess not. You obviously were too busy dinging your bell to read my reply.
Steve, buddy ... lighten up
We just disagree, no big deal.
That is what makes the world go around.
I have two children under 8, a career, some friends and a few hobbies.
I'm a nice person, an adult - whether you believe it or not - a mature professional.
It's dinner time in my neck of the woods, food is one the stove, kids are doing homework ... I am at my laptop writing to some clients and waiting for the dishwasher to finish.
Oh yes ... there are 4 emails from Realtors asking for feedback and 9 messages on my phone asking for a call back with feedback on homes I showed on Saturday & Sunday ... Gee, maybe I shouldn't play with my kids, reply to my clients, empty the dishwasher, go for a jog, help my son with his homework or eat with my family so I can call these Realtors back ... at least in your eyes I would be courteous. My life may not be THAT specacular to some people, but as I get older ... minutes are precious and time goes by a lot faster than it used to.
I don't think I am a bad person ... or a lazy discourteous person, because my family, my health, my clients and my friends are a priority over feedback - I'm just not that into it.
Oops ... I was just going to tell you to lighten-up but instead i got my skirt in a bunch ... disregard And have a nice day
Well, we can agree to disagree on this point. I just think that you are failing to see the big picture.
I was thinking the same thing about you. Honestly, I think if you saw some of the feedback requests with 20 questions for me to answer about how to price a listing, you would jump to my side.
I also think that you would agree that it makes no sense to encourage incompetent people to stay in real estate by actually selling a home. So the agent who continually faxes me the repair addendum when I have requested the property disclosure statements, does not get any feedback. Sorry...that agent needs to leave the business before she totally screws over some poor seller. I will do what I need to do to protect my client. Courtesy feedback, sorry...
Good agents get basic feedback from me...no problem...if a seller fails to pick a good agent, nada...
I do see the big picture. We just disagree about what the big picture is.
I have enjoyed debating this issue with some of you. However, when it turns from debate to self-defense, it's not worth my time. Thank you to those of you mature enough to handle a spirited debate. Best wishes!
Steve
Steve_TN, on going back and reading to see where the personal digs started, I came upon this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve_TN Exactly Roselvr. There is no need to say anymore. Feedback is a courtesy and it is obvious that not all realtors encompass courtesy as a highly valuable business tool. This is unfortunate. With so many slackers nowadays, courtesy is very much they key that makes you stand out from the rest. Of course, I do not mean that all the realtors who have posted here are slackers, but it is obvious who is and who isn't by reading the content of their posts and their overall attitude.
And I can guess your weight, age, and shoe size from reading this post.
Note who threw the first stone (necessitating pretty lighthearted self-defense) by calling the fellow real estate agents who disagree with you on the issue of feedback "slackers".
I prefer it to be electronic on the standard form our MLS makes available to Listing Agents, and if the Listing Agent sets up an aggressive custom feedback form with intrusive questions that are intended to compromise my client, I will not answer them. That would be a clear violation of my duty to my client.
My clients' impression of the home is their business, and I am their fiduciary. The feedback I give is a mix of my observations and their input, and will not compromise them.
I dislike pushy feedback-soliciting phone calls, particularly after 9:00 on a Sunday night. And that happens with desperate agents or sellers pushing a property because their clients/they are aggravated because they don't have a sale on their tired and/or overpriced and/or misrepresented listing.
I dislike the HGTV-driven fixation on feedback that transcends the actual job of the Seller which is TO GET THE HOME READY TO SELL. It is NOT the Seller's function to collect feedback and count the slights of no feedback.
Now the Seller has the God-given right to distract himself however he cares to from the realities of real estate marketing and sales, but no one else is compelled to go along on the feedback ego ride.
I dislike rude phone calls or emails when I give honest feedback.
When your house is 10% overpriced, and I am kind enough to point that out, thank me sincerely. If you refused to take down the tacky swag lamps, or the soft porn posters, or replace the doggy-doo-doo-stained blue carpet; if you jacked up the price above any reasonable comparables, or above what the agent recommended, or saved 10% negotiating fat in the price to "test the market;" your Listing Agent should know it and has a job to do, either to de-list, or to get you to price it and prep it to sell.
That is NOT a Buyers' Agents' function. A sensible offer from a good Buyers' Agent, negotiated to a contract and successful close can make all well, and an Offer is the only feedback worth a bushel basket of boogers.
Incessant demands for "feedback" from Listing Agents or Sellers can aggravate Buyers and/or Buyer agents to the point that in this inventory-laden market, the person with the Buying power can be deterred from further interest in the subject property because of the predictable hassles.
It had better be a special property, because there likely are another few properties out there that are equal to it, that can be considered with less hassle.
I believe that I am engaged to market, sell, and close my Seller clients' properties, and I believe that I would be laughed out of a Listing Presentation if I pitch my Listing services with, "Me? Well, shucks... I give great feedback when I show homes to my Buyers."
I hate giving feedback on listings where the listing agent was obviously too scared to tell their clients to prepack or clean the windows. On nice listings where there is something out of the norm, I will leave feedback - otherwise I have more important things to do. On my phone that I carry with me, I always leave the "interested, not interested, previewing, ect." so the sellers know my intentions.
Last edited by jenkirk; 09-08-2008 at 07:49 PM..
Reason: oops
I've got a family in from LA in for 6 days to buy a home. In the last 2 days we've hit it hard looking at 30-40 homes over a large area that still means a short commute to his work. Tomorrow we've got at least 16 scheduled and by the end of the day will have 4-6 narrowed down on his short list which we will then go back and see again.
With that said I don't have time to return 40-50 feedback calls since I have about 3 more days to find the one he wants, get it under contract and hopefully get an inspection while he's in town.
So you may EXPECT feedback all day long but there are many times I can't give it although I usually make an attempt.
I dislike the HGTV-driven fixation on feedback that transcends the actual job of the Seller which is TO GET THE HOME READY TO SELL. It is NOT the Seller's function to collect feedback and count the slights of no feedback.
Now the Seller has the God-given right to distract himself however he cares to from the realities of real estate marketing and sales, but no one else is compelled to go along on the feedback ego ride.
I give feedback, routinely and courteously.
You nailed it. If the owner can't get an offer, positive feedback is the consolation prize.
I think gbone is talking about the buyer's agent (and stated as such). The buyer's agent doesn't get paid part of the commission from every house they give feedback on do they? It is an interesting point actually
At another place I go to, there's usually discussion about commission.
Agents respond, we do this, this & this and some days we show tons of houses to people that never buy. They say that in the end the commission from the sale ends up evening out the times they don't get paid. Feedback, even though some consider it a courtesy, fits into the big picture here.
I don't doubt that in the coming years we're going to see a big change to the real estate industry, who knows, maybe agents will start getting paid a flat fee to drive buyers around. I also think commission is going to change.
With the internet growing, there are going to be more "rate your agent" type sites where agents, both good & bad will be listed. Buyers & sellers will be using these sites more & more to check agents out before hiring them..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverfall
It's about boundaries. For me, I would think it is discourteous to expect me to spend my free time, offering selling advice to other clients. If I show 60 homes in one week, and I spent two minutes on each agent offering feedback, I just gave up two hours of my life that week for the privilege of being courteous without getting paid.
Now...if I did that every week, over the course of the year I would have spent 104 hours giving feedback to people and not getting paid. If I made $50 per hour, that means I gave up $5,200 for the courtesy of giving feedback..
How many days per week are you in the office?
And every second you are busy?
How about posting here.. Are you doing it from the office?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve_TN
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverfall
I think all the agents on this forum do this as listing agents. I do not tell a buyer agent that. I will say "the home is too dated for my clients." If they can't figure out the specifics then they shouldn't be taking listings.
I think that is the point of this debate.
And saying "the home is too dated for my clients" is fine. It's giving feedback and completely fulfilling any obligation of common courtesy. Some agents give more, some even less, but is is still giving helpful feedback. I don't believe in going into a room by room breakdown of every single point either.
Saying a home is too dated is actually good feedback.
When we were selling, we chose to upgrade/update the mechanics of the home as well as almost every room except the kitchen & bathrooms which we did counters/floor/toilet. The bath cabinet got a coat of paint, kitchen cabs were a honey maple wood & in perfect condition, not 70's looking.
We worried about those 2 rooms, I kept asking my agent if anyone said anything, he replied no. We were willing to wallboard the bath & do the tub but since there was no feedback on it he said not to.
In the end, our house did sell because of the mechanicals, and other houses were passed over due to the crummy job of their bathroom/kitchen remodels.
Buyers used to tell me how bad my competition was. I don't know if their agent passed the info on about the new toilet/tub being so close a regular sized person couldn't use the toilet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlleyTD
Steve, buddy ... lighten up
We just disagree, no big deal.
That is what makes the world go around.
I have two children under 8, a career, some friends and a few hobbies.
I'm a nice person, an adult - whether you believe it or not - a mature professional.
It's dinner time in my neck of the woods, food is one the stove, kids are doing homework ... I am at my laptop writing to some clients and waiting for the dishwasher to finish.
Oh yes ... there are 4 emails from Realtors asking for feedback and 9 messages on my phone asking for a call back with feedback on homes I showed on Saturday & Sunday ... Gee, maybe I shouldn't play with my kids, reply to my clients, empty the dishwasher, go for a jog, help my son with his homework or eat with my family so I can call these Realtors back ... at least in your eyes I would be courteous. My life may not be THAT specacular to some people, but as I get older ... minutes are precious and time goes by a lot faster than it used to.
I don't think I am a bad person ... or a lazy discourteous person, because my family, my health, my clients and my friends are a priority over feedback - I'm just not that into it.
Oops ... I was just going to tell you to lighten-up but instead i got my skirt in a bunch ... disregard And have a nice day
The market is the pits, yet you seem to be too busy at the office to do feedback? Maybe the market is different where you are but where I am there were not that many buyers.
Sounds like you need to hire an assistant
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish
I give feedback, routinely and courteously.
I prefer it to be electronic on the standard form our MLS makes available to Listing Agents, and if the Listing Agent sets up an aggressive custom feedback form with intrusive questions that are intended to compromise my client, I will not answer them. That would be a clear violation of my duty to my client
Kudo's to you if you try.
I don't think that a long forum is necessary and maybe that's the problem?
If there was a form with 1 or 2 questions it would be sufficient.
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I give feedback, routinely and courteously.
