Hold, Do Not Show

[the painter]

Here is my latest escapade as a seller: People from out of town found my house on-line and had to see it while they were visiting the area. Their agent schedule 5 house for the 2 days here, a Sat/Sun. The came to see mine last, I did the clean up routine, loaded up my dogs, ect. Then 45 mins. later I came home with them waiting in the drive way for me. Had questions which I answered, they left. Their agent calls with feed back on how the place was perfect and an offer should be made the next day. Well, 4 weeks later the agent can't find these people, their info was bogus. These "lookers" not only wasted 2+ days of this agents time but a couple of hours of my time and the homeowners of 4 others. This agent could of been with a qualified buyer instead we all wasted time and money, and since it was a Sunday we also lost family time. So as a seller, no I don't want lookers, I want someone serious about buying, not someone with nothing better to do than to go look at homes. I told my agent I would rather of had bought them tickets to the movies!

[fisher33]

brandon, no where in my post did i state that the dentist spends half a week, 2 hours a day, 1 hour a day, 5 minutes per day speaking with people who are thinking of getting their teeth cleaned. i simply said talking with people must be done in order to build a relationship and ultimately win their business. they must know that you are interested in them and that you want to work on their teeth. i believe if the practice is a busy one, that will speak for itself and the dentist shouldn't look too busy to speak with someone. no where did i say the dentist would clean teeth half the time (and dentists don't clean teeth) and talk to people the other half and that's not what i expect of agents. i simply expect my agent to show that i matter by taking a moment to email me about a question or write an email that is longer than two vague sentences when i have asked questions.

i believe when a buyer signs an agreement with you, that is an assurance that you will get paid eventually and i believe it is good "business sense" to have a conversation with that buyer to see when they plan to buy. that's your responsibility. of course the dentist would RATHER spend time doing dentistry but sometimes you have to plant the seeds to ensure they grow in the future. i never said to focus on the people thinking of getting in the chair - to have a successful business you must manage your time wisely to focus on both. otherwise, you're going to go broke.

if the dentist spends time w/ the person not in the chair telling him what he can do for the person, they will be in the chair. in real estate terms, talk to me about my emails and answer my questions. tell me what you can do for me and how it's going to make my life easier (why this neighborhood is nicer than another one, where that neighborhood might be in a few years, whether you'll get the money back later in this part of town, etc.) and then i'm going to trust you to help me buy a house. telling me to get out my checkbook without telling me what knowledge you've got is nonsense.

obviously you haven't read the thread, brandon. i have posted that i emailed her before i posted this thread and i do all my own work. i always initiate contact. the ONLY thing she has done for us thus far is to send me the mls listings for the houses I have asked for. i'm doing all the work. you would love me as a client. you would have nothing to do - except answer my emails!

why do agents stick up for people you do not know?? there's no way i would stick up for a dentist who's work i haven't seen. you just don't stick up for the bad apples. and i am in no way saying my agent is a bad apple - but if she were, you are sticking up for her and don't even know her.

i'm getting tired of debating this. i've got christmas presents to wrap and an email from my agent to wait endlessly on.

[fisher33]

that's the difference painter. i can't defend all buyers that have ever come to see your house, but i know that my husband and i are looking for a house to buy. if that takes us 50 houses, we are still looking for a house to buy and when we find one we like, we will buy. this does not make me a looker. this makes me someone who is wanting to buy.... this is why this argument makes no sense.

at what point am i a looker or buyer? am i a buyer only if i buy your house?? to you, yes i am a buyer but to another seller who's house i didn't buy, i am a looker.

at what point does the looker morph into a buyer for an agent?? when the person makes an offer? at that point the work is done and what has the agent done for the buyer?? not spend time with them and the buyer feels as though they have no out so must use this agent b/c they have signed a piece of paper to prove to that agent that they are buyer so they can get attention, but they're still not a buyer to the agent until they've written an offer? so really they're a looker the entire time and getting "looker" attention.

the argument has no footing.

if i were you, i would be upset w/ my agent for not making sure the people this agent were bringing by were legitimate (i.e. had a buyer's agreement signed, prequaled, etc.). i would be upset too if i were you.

[Brandon Hoffman]

Fisher, you missed the whole point of my last post about the dentist. I'm not going to argue semantics with you but it comes down having a limited amount of time and spending that time wisely. I understand buying a home is stressful and the agent should reduce your stress. If your agent is not responding to emails within 24 business hours go find another one. That is unacceptable. If you were paying this person a salary, you would probably fire them so why cling to an agent you aren't satisfied with. Find someone to help reduce your stress, buying a home is difficult enough as it is.

If you were an agent, you would understand the difference between lookers and buyers after you got some seasoning. Debate me if you like, but a looker cannot or will not buy but will absorb an agents time. I want to work with motivated buyers. If you broke a buyers motivation down on a scale of 1-3 with 3 being the most motivated then I want to spend my time find finding 3's rather than trying to cultivate 1's. Like I said, this is still a business and my time is valuable. The 3's need me more than the 1's so of course they'll get most of my time. I'll work the 1's as time permits. When the 1's become 3's then they'll get my time. Agents who get this do well. Agents who don't are out of the business within 2 years.

[Sheri Sanders]

fisher33,
I am so sorry that you have had the responses that I have read in this thread. Anyone who is coming here to buy a home is a serious buyer in my book! It sounds like you have been doing a lot of research on the internet before you get here. That is my idea of a perfect buyer. You have already let me know what you like in a home. Good luck and I hope that you find your perfect home.

[mayfair]

I think there are many agents who enjoy helping people find the right house. And there are many honest buyers who are able to buy but are lookers until they see the house they want. If you dismiss all the lookers, you also dismiss buyers. We were lookers until we saw the house we wanted, then quickly became buyers. Agents make a huge commission when they close a sale, and should show a few houses to earn it.

[Bill Keegan]

Cutting to the chase, Fisher, I happen to agree with you. Once you saw that the property was "hold do not show", and e-mailed YOUR agent to ask about that, it was very reasonable to expect a prompt reply. Even if it was just to tell you not to worry, here's what that status means and I'll ask the agent when it will be ok to show it. I think that some of the people responding may have missed the details on that, and don't realize that you asked about the status and then didn't get a reason for a while. Have you gotten an answer yet? From your agent, I mean. Why is it on hold?

[fisher33]

thanks everybody for your responses.

sheri, i didn't realize you were in the upstate! we're looking in anderson county. thank you for post; i love to do "homework" and find out tons of info about my hometown!

mayfair - thanks for your post. i'm glad you found a house you love! i hope we will.

bill keegan, thanks for your reply too. i think you're right the some of the details got lost. i emailed our agent again this morning (this was just the 2nd time) to ask her if she had an update and she wrote back promptly and said that she called the agent this morning (presumably after i emailed the 2nd time). she said she would let me know when the listing agent calls her, but at least now i know she's waiting on him! hopefully i'll hear something today.

thank you all!

[fisher33]

Whew!! Well it was Christmas parties, but they're okay with us seeing it when we're in town so that's great news. I feel much better now. The listing agent said (my agent emailed me this) that the owner is very particular in how she shows the house and wants it spotless; isn't that nice?

Thanks again everyone!

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by fisher33

(which I think she should have already known and emailed me - but that's a different matter).

Fisher this comment is what I was referring to in my post that made you mad. I don't think it is appropriate to expect an agent to track the homes you want to see when you are will one week out from viewings.

It is totally appropriate for you to have seen it, emailed her and asked her to follow up on it. She should have followed up on your request in a timely manner.

I think you will be disappointed with most agents if you expect them to track that far out. That was the point of my post.

Dentists give reminder calls to patients as a service 24 hours in advance because that is when it makes good sense to do so. Agents aren't any different.