Can an agent refuse to show your home? (feedback, commission, sales)

[ephelba]

I don't know if that is worded right or not but I am confused. Our home is listed with a flat rate service and in the MLS system. We have been on the market a year and the first 6 months were with a local agency. The particular agent was terrible and made several mistakes. I am not sure these mistakes contributed to the home not selling but we were not comfortable renewing her contract. She does have a habit of spreading a bit of innaccurate gossip around town but we never complained to her broker, since we were still on the market. (We did not want to burn bridges.) She has shown our house once since then and we are civil with her, but wary. An example...she told a close friend we begged her to be out agent, but we were called and pitched to by her for quite awhile. Our friend ended up getting her sales pitch more than once, so knew what we were talking about. We offer the same commission any other listing offers for a buyer's agent. There is a house down the street from us, very similar but about 2200 sq feet smaller and listed at the same price. They now have a contract. The buyer somehow ran into my spouse today and when my spouse asked if he could tell him what took our house out of the running, the buyer was shocked to learn there was another home down the street for sell on the water! His agent is in the same agency as our former agent. Now, I do not know if they refused to show the house or if there was something on the buyer's list that automatically made our home not right for the buyer. But the concern is there...so I wondered if there is any 'rule' about this?
Thanks.

[middle-aged mom]

While anything is possible, especially in some small towns, I would be very surprised that an agent from the same office of your former listing agent would by-pass your home and show and sell another home that was substantially smaller and priced the same as your home.

I mean you and the new owner are neighbors and likely to meet.

I am not defending this other agent cause I do not know what really happened. There must be a reason why you priced your home the same as one that is substantially smaller than your own.

Perhaps the one that sold has a better lot or, is in a better location or, in better condition or, is substantially more updated than your own home.

It sounds to me more like your home did not meet the buyer's criteria and this is the reason it was not shown.

[FLBob]

The only "rule" is the threat of civil action and the fact that the new owner will be living in the same community. So most agents do their best to have happy clients/customers.

I've had buyer's that fell in love with a house and decided not to look and the rest of the homes I had to show. That happened to me last week end, the third house was "it". I had to cancel 7 showings.

So the agent may have only shown the other house first.

In this business strange things happen (we deal with people and emotions) so it's not always the nefarious schemes that are first assumed.

[Brandon Hoffman]

Originally Posted by middle-aged mom

While anything is possible, especially in some small towns, I would be very surprised that an agent from the same office of your former listing agent would by-pass your home and show and sell another home that was substantially smaller and priced the same as your home.

I mean you and the new owner are neighbors and likely to meet.

I am not defending this other agent cause I do not know what really happened. There must be a reason why you priced your home the same as one that is substantially smaller than your own.

Perhaps the one that sold has a better lot or, is in a better location or, in better condition or, is substantially more updated than your own home.

It sounds to me more like your home did not meet the buyer's criteria and this is the reason it was not shown.

I second this comment.

[ephelba]

Thanks for the responses. They actually listed after us. They came to an open house and posed as perspective buyers and then listed their home FSBO before getting an agency (the same agency) to list for them. They also were not able to sell with that agency and relisted with another in the area after their contract expired. It has been a weird market and this area is even more strange. We are both lake homes with big water views. Our set ups are very similar but their home is smaller and that may be a deciding factor. Not many people want to care for a home that is too large. We don't - that is why we are trying to sell. I agree that there is most likely a reason the agent didn't think it was worth the client's time to show our home too. The agent's commission would have been the same for either property. But given their buyer's reaction that there was another lake home available that he was not aware of before, it just had me wondering. I never would have thought anything that negative 2 years ago but I have lost a lot of my optimism during this selling experience.
Thanks for the feedback. This was my first time on these forums and I learned a lot today as I read through the threads.

[EllenArlingtonPark]

I have represented more buyers than sellers and buyers tell me what they want to see. I think you may be reading too much into this.

[KristalP]

There's a good chance that the other house had a certain requirement that they were looking for. It could be as simple as an extra 1/2 bath, or more importantly a three car garage instead of two.

[MMichelle]

The rule is - agents must not misrepresent the availability of a property. In other words a agent could not say your house was not for sale when it was. However no agent has a duty to show your house or "all" the houses for sale in an area.
Agents will act as buyer's agents or sellers agent. They act in the best intrest of who they represent.
A buyers agent has no obligation to show your house if it does not fit the needs/requirements of the buyer. If you have a seller's agent, that agent is to act in your best interest and market the property to the public and other agents. If you are using a flat rate type of service it's very likely that you getting a min. amount of marketing, etc. If you are not getting a good volume of showings, you may want to hire a full service REALTOR. In this market you need all the help you can get!

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by FLBob

The only "rule" is the threat of civil action and the fact that the new owner will be living in the same community. So most agents do their best to have happy clients/customers.

I've had buyer's that fell in love with a house and decided not to look and the rest of the homes I had to show. That happened to me last week end, the third house was "it". I had to cancel 7 showings.

So the agent may have only shown the other house first.

In this business strange things happen (we deal with people and emotions) so it's not always the nefarious schemes that are first assumed.

Imagine how disappointed those other 7 sellers were to learn they had been cancelled. Maybe it's helpful for sellers to consider that every time they get canceled, someone else gets sold and that one day they will, too.

[palmcoasting]

The rule is - agents must not misrepresent the availability of a property. In other words a agent could not say your house was not for sale when it was. However no agent has a duty to show your house or "all" the houses for sale in an area.

And that's the answer to the op's question. Yes, they can refuse to show your house.
Whether that's what happened or not, who knows...but, yes, they can not show your house.