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Okay, so I just got back from a house hunting trip in Chicago's north shore. I'd done a tremendous amount of homework on the internet and zeroed in on 2 communities that would best fit our lifestyle. I only had one day to look at homes, so I'd provided my agent a list and she'd made appointments for us. As luck would have it, the night before we were due to tour the homes I decided to do a drive-by, only to find that the homes that interested me the most sat on horrific lots which, give the price point, was absolutely unacceptable. I returned to my hotel to do additional research and found that another area (Highland Park) had great homes at the right prices, so I decided to go see those instead of the ones originally planned. My fantastic buyer's agent was incredibly accommodating on such short notice and worked her tail off cancelling the previous appointments and making new ones. The next morning we were delayed 1.5 hours as she was still booking appointments.
Now here's where my gripe begins: agents on the north shore INSIST on being present when their listings are shown. Not only that, but they also want advance notice (>= 24 hrs) and timely appointments. I understand that the latter 2 requests are not unreasonable under normal circumstances, but ours were anything but normal. I had ONE DAY in which to get in as many homes as I could, and a last-minute change that could not be avoided. The listing agents, a pack of divas that Hollywood stars have nothing on (and I KNOW, I'm a film studio exec), made my agent grovel, beg, plead and cajole so they could interrupt their schedule and do a showing. Once on the road we were on a tight schedule given the number of homes we had to see and daylight being short. We were on a mission but were hopelessly behind schedule since each listing agent decided to do their full sales pitch, and this over the incessant ringing of my agent's cell phone, with other irate agents demanding to know when we would get to them because they didn't want to be kept waiting. I could hear these agents on the phone and they were outright rude, nasty and inflexible. Of course, these were the same agents that, once showing their listing, could give a rat's behind about the next agents we had to get to! The whole thing was ridiculous... needless to say, we didn't get to see a few of the homes on our list because the agents had to leave and that was that.
Now to the real gripe: have agents on the north shore ever heard of LOCK BOXES???? If sales are still so good that they can afford to be so high maintenance, wouldn't it be esier for all involved if they used the darned boxes? And even if people could afford to give them the time and notice that they require, don't they realize that THE BUYER may not appreciate having them there? I CERTAINLY DIDN'T!!! It was overwhelming actually -- a whole day of agents trying to talk over/ correct each other, speed/slow things along, stroke egos, etc. As a buyer, I SHOULD NOT be made to feel like listing agents are doing me a favor so I should work on their schedule. Furthermore, since they instisted on being there and subject me to their full schpiels, I chose to share my thoughts on their listings rather candidly as well, which by and large did not go down so well. Agents were defensive, overbearing and occasionally condescending, which I certainly did not appreciate. My agent on the other hand, was gracious beyond measure and kissed more butts in one day than one should have to in a lifetime!
In the final analysis, the sad thing is that it is the clients, mostly sellers but also buyers, who pay the price in more ways than one for obvious reasons. Also, as a sophisticated buyer, I don't need to be babysat by a listing agent extolling the obvious virtues of their properties since I can appreciate the good and the bad basically at a glance. Plus, while I understand that the previous golden era of RE sales may have bred (though never excuse) this type of behavior by RE agents, the current market conditions are such that I feel rather confident that buyers willing to drop millions of dollars on a single property don't exactly abound today, not even in Chicago's north shore suburbs.
For me personally, the moral of the story is that I will from now on require, as part of a listing agreement with an agent to sell my property, that I be provided with the names and numbers of agents showing my house so I can follow up to ensure my agent is professional and accommodating. Alternatively, I will post my phone number in the property so if anyone has a complaint re: the behavior of my agent, they can contact me directly. These agents are making very substantial commissions on the sale of luxury real estate so I expect them to actually earn it. Your thoughts?
Listing agents only follow the orders given to them by sellers. Most sellers in high end homes (in MA where I am but not an agent - just work in a real estate office) request their listing agent be present at all showings. My office handles a lot of high end properties and the agents are required to be at the showings. They don't want to be but the seller wants them to be there so they must attend the showings. I can say in MA not all towns/areas use lock boxes. Most areas do use electronic lock boxes, some areas use the old fashion lock boxes and even some areas do not use them at all.
I can tell you as a soon to be (hopefully soon to be) seller, I will request 24 hours notice on my home because I have 2 large dogs that are home all day by themselves so I will need the time to make arrangements for them.
My thought? Your story doesn't exactly give me the warm and fuzzies about moving to Chicago, that's my first thought. If these RE divas are any indication of what locals deem acceptable behavior, you may be headed for a miserable existence among snooty people. Considering the potential sale of the homes these agents represented are providing their living, you'd think they'd be busy kissing your agent's (as well as your own) hiney! Seems like they think they are doing you the favor.
SURFINGATWORK: I understand re: some sellers requesting listing agents to be present, but my agent explained that in the north shore, this is just "the way they do things." I'm only looking at new construction, but I agree with you that resident homeowners should have at least a day's notice. It's the agents' behavior that I find appalling. If builders require them to be there and they take the listing, then they should suck it up, put on a smile and a Coke, and get the show on the road. And, once the potential buyer shows up, they should defer to the buyer's agent and put in their two cents only when asked!
DONTH8ME: I'm dreading the strong possibility that you may be correct. I've already had enough of snooty communities and was hoping to escape them! I thought by avoiding gated communities with their often self-deluded HOA members I would be ahead of the game, but now it looks like we may be trapped. I really pray it isn't so, but suffice it to say that, the more people I come in contact with, the more I like my dogs, lol!!!!
I am going to give the sellers side. We had our previous home for sale by appt only, which meant that the listing agent had to be there. The reason was that we did not want people thru our home who had no intention of buying and therefore were just interested in seeing the interior of our home. It was not meant to be snobby or difficult for a potential buyer, simply it meant that we were only showing to serious buyers.
I can understand your frustration but as a seller, my home is very personal to me and having it for sale can be a very intrusive time. In the future we will do the same for the home we are in now......if we lose a potential buyer because of the time constraints or bad timing in general....so be it.
Good luck in your future house hunting experience:-)
I agree that the Sellers agent should be present, in fact I insist on it. She knows the house, she knows the high lights, she knows the area and besides I am paying ddearly for her to sell it!
Granted, but the argument is not whether they should be there or not; it's about PROPER ETIQUETTE in those situations. If they MUST be there, wouldn't you want them to be PLEASANT AND ACCOMMODATING to a potential buyer? I, for one, would and have passed on an otherwise great property based on the attitude of the listing agent. Finally, as you well indicate Casper324, you are paying them dearly to SELL YOUR HOME, not to TURN POTENTIAL BUYERS OFF AND LOSE YOU A SALE, right?
As a reminder to all, we are looking STRICTLY AT NEW CONSTRUCTION, not resales!
Granted, but the argument is not whether they should be there or not; it's about PROPER ETIQUETTE in those situations. If they MUST be there, wouldn't you want them to be PLEASANT AND ACCOMMODATING to a potential buyer? I, for one, would and have passed on an otherwise great property based on the attitude of the listing agent. Finally, as you well indicate Casper324, you are paying them dearly to SELL YOUR HOME, not to TURN POTENTIAL BUYERS OFF AND LOSE YOU A SALE, right?
As a reminder to all, we are looking STRICTLY AT NEW CONSTRUCTION, not resales!
Cali.....point taken.....I agree, a listing agent should not be turning off potential buyers, simply allowing them entry and assisting if needed. It is unbelievable that, in the case of new construction, they would required to be present. Perhaps I missed that point
Again....I hope it goes better for you in the future.
Granted, but the argument is not whether they should be there or not; it's about PROPER ETIQUETTE in those situations. If they MUST be there, wouldn't you want them to be PLEASANT AND ACCOMMODATING to a potential buyer? I, for one, would and have passed on an otherwise great property based on the attitude of the listing agent. Finally, as you well indicate Casper324, you are paying them dearly to SELL YOUR HOME, not to TURN POTENTIAL BUYERS OFF AND LOSE YOU A SALE, right?
Forgive the DUH factor! I thought being accomidating and pleasent was part of the job. I actually have sent in "decoys" to my agent/open houses to insure the level of service I think I am getting is the level of service potential buyers are getting. I guess I am lucky!
As a reminder to all, we are looking STRICTLY AT NEW CONSTRUCTION, not resales!
New construction is a totally differnt ball game! See my response included in the quote for some reason!
Martinez: Oops, I took another look at my original posting and I see I failed to specify I was looking at NEW CONSTRUCTION only. Sorry about that!
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