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Don't let all these negative people get you down. You are completely right in your requests. Realtors like to proclaim they are professionals until something goes wrong, then they will tell you to get an attorney. I personally think the whole realtor profession needs to be eliminated and replaced with attorneys for the legal documents. You can show your own house, or maybe hire someone whose only job is to show houses.
As someone who is in the marketing biz, I resent a realtor telling me I don't know what I am talking about. Realtors need to remember who they are working for, YOU. Any realtors who cannot take suggestions from their client should be fired on the spot. I just sold a home and bought another one. I found both realtors brought nothing to the table. I actually had to coach them through both deals. And before all you jump up and say you just had a bad realtor, both of these had long work histories and were supposedly top agents in their area.
Realtors need to get down off their high horse and do what their clients want them to do. Sunset bound stick to your guns. If you think this agent is not working in your best interest fire them now. It will only get worse and with todays current market, you do not have time to mess around with incompetence.
Ehhh...of course not all these posters are Realtors, and many Realtors are worth their pay. I don't have the energy or time to respond to the rest of your post but believe it or not, many Realtors are knowledgable professionals worth their money. Nobody here said the OP didn't know how to market a home, or said the Realtor didn't know how to market. It would be awfully presumptive of anyone to assume a right or wrong on a home we've never seen.
the house has bay windows, THREE sets of double glass french doors, crown molding, wainscoting, a walled brick patio, built-in bookshelves, hardwood floors throughout, and tons of charm AND light. it does not look like crap.
And this tells me what?? are the windows clean, dirty, covered in crappy curtains and shades?? Is the molding painted? cracked?? Are the hardwoods finished? are they worn? dented? dinged???? It does not look like crap - thats subjective now isn't it?
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Originally Posted by dreading the move
sunset bound,
And before all you jump up and say you just had a bad realtor, both of these had long work histories and were supposedly top agents in their area.
Realtors need to get down off their high horse and do what their clients want them to do. Sunset bound stick to your guns. If you think this agent is not working in your best interest fire them now. It will only get worse and with todays current market, you do not have time to mess around with incompetence.
And with these comments, the rest of us posting here can pretty much guess why the realtor didn't work well with you and couldn't have cared less about marketing your house.
Why is demanding a person do their job considered a bad thing. I am sick and tired of having to do everyone's job. I just sold a house in a terrible market in the midwest, so obviously my realtor and I did work well. Do not be so presumptious to assume because I have high standards that I cannot work with other people. I expect and demand the best effort from everyone. If you can't cut it, then I don't need your "expertise". If someone is a true professional then they can work with anyone.
All of the comments to my posting just further prove what I stated. Realtors really need to assess their where there money comes from. I just paid over $60,000 in realtors commissions on the house I sold. Don't tell me that for that kind of money I am supposed to quietly sit back and not have any comment about anything going on.
Realtors will be out of job soon if they do not learn how to work with educated clients who have opinions and experiences that they don't.
Again Sunset bound I am on your side. Keep after your realtor to do more. Remember its your money.
Why is demanding a person do their job considered a bad thing.
I think the question is; what is the line between the Realtor doing their job and the seller dictating the actions of the Realtor?
There is disagreement about this that will never be resolved in a venue such as this forum. But both sides can at least hear and better understand the different points of view.
Some of us, as Realtors, feel that we sell a pre-stablished set of services that a seller decides to buy or not buy. Once a seller thinks we're the best agent to hire, they've agreed to hire not just me, but my way of doing things. The seller is to stay out of the way and let me run the sales effort.
Others believe that the Realtor is the servant of the client, and has a duty to obey all instructions, no matter how minor the detail or level of micro-management those instructions represent, such as exactly what to type into an MLS listing. I personally bristle at the though of having that type of seller, but I admire agents who have the flexible personality to accomodate such requests.
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I personally think the whole realtor profession needs to be eliminated and replaced with attorneys for the legal documents.
You are personally free to do that. I don't believe a Realtor is useful or necessary for every type of buyer or seller, especially those who are negatively predisposed toward the profession. But there are in fact large multitudes of buyers and sellers who recognize the value of the services we provide and have happy success stories to share.
Why is demanding a person do their job considered a bad thing. I am sick and tired of having to do everyone's job. I just sold a house in a terrible market in the midwest, so obviously my realtor and I did work well. Do not be so presumptious to assume because I have high standards that I cannot work with other people. I expect and demand the best effort from everyone. If you can't cut it, then I don't need your "expertise". If someone is a true professional then they can work with anyone.
All of the comments to my posting just further prove what I stated. Realtors really need to assess their where there money comes from. I just paid over $60,000 in realtors commissions on the house I sold. Don't tell me that for that kind of money I am supposed to quietly sit back and not have any comment about anything going on.
Realtors will be out of job soon if they do not learn how to work with educated clients who have opinions and experiences that they don't.
Again Sunset bound I am on your side. Keep after your realtor to do more. Remember its your money.
That's fine. My post was along the same lines of Austin Steve. I am the expert. I certainly listen to sellers. As a matter of fact I have them fill out a form with their favorite things about a house and that's what I market (reasoning- you'll know your home better than I ever will). My job is to protect the seller legally and get buyers in the door. From that point the home must sell itself. I have no problem with a buyer writing their own description but I'm going to make sure it's not going to get us in trouble. After all, my name is on the line too. The point is, we are professionals, not the slave of the client. I had a ridiculous seller one time with all these "great" marketing ideas. For instance, he wanted me to rent out an ad at the local movie theater to run before all the movies (like the car commercials and other junk you see now). He was my client, was I supposed to do that because he wanted me to?
Being in the throes of home buying at present, I'm having the opposite, but perhaps equally annoying, experience. I've been pouring through hundreds of luxury home listings and I can't help but notice that a substantial number of realtors use grandiose adjectives (like "stunning," "unbelievable", "breathtaking", "spectacular", "huge" and "incredible") that turn me off because I invariably find the features wanting! Descriptions should be positive, accurate and appropriate as much as possible. If I had to choose between one and the other, I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. All in all, though, I'm with the OP. If her realtor can't find any positives in her home to honestly extol, she should find another realtor who does.
My job is to protect the seller legally and get buyers in the door. From that point the home must sell itself. I have no problem with a buyer writing their own description but I'm going to make sure it's not going to get us in trouble. After all, my name is on the line too. The point is, we are professionals, not the slave of the client.
This is what I was going to point out. Sellers that DEMAND that the realtor do it THEIR way are the ones that want the realtor to at times do things that can get the realtor sued. The realtor has the insurance to protect and pay out against these suits and when they do happen the sellers will quickly throw the realtor under the bus and the sellers are typically never out a dime. I've seen it done enough times to know that sellers THIS demanding are the ones to run from and politely let them go on their way and find someone else that is willing to take such a risk. Those that will are NOT "true professionals".
This comment by "dreading the move" points out just such, "If someone is a true professional then they can work with anyone. " No, a "true professinal" will know when to RUN the other way from someone expecting them to do something that is wrong. Trumping up certain things in a MLS listing CAN and HAS gotten many a realtor in trouble. A "true professional" avoids at all costs people that are DEMANDING or trying to bring them down and will NOT "work with anyone".
Being in the throes of home buying at present, I'm having the opposite, but perhaps equally annoying, experience. I've been pouring through hundreds of luxury home listings and I can't help but notice that a substantial number of realtors use grandiose adjectives (like "stunning," "unbelievable", "breathtaking", "spectacular", "huge" and "incredible") that turn me off because I invariably find the features wanting! Descriptions should be positive, accurate and appropriate as much as possible. If I had to choose between one and the other, I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. All in all, though, I'm with the OP. If her realtor can't find any positives in her home to honestly extol, she should find another realtor who does.
I am a Realtor and therefore reading and writing this stuff is my job. In my area, "breathtaking" is the most overused adjective.
As I previously mentioned, most buyers in my area, are smarter than the ad copy. To tell you the truth, most ad copy on higher end homes panders to the owner, not the buyer.
I am a Realtor and therefore reading and writing this stuff is my job. In my area, "breathtaking" is the most overused adjective.
As I previously mentioned, most buyers in my area, are smarter than the ad copy. To tell you the truth, most ad copy on higher end homes panders to the owner, not the buyer.
Ain't THAT the truth. I would MUCH rather see BETTER pictures than any of the write up that is on MLS. Most of the time I don't even read it if the pics are worthless. If the pics show something I MIGHT be interested in then I'll read the comments just to see if there is anything that is "unique" about it that peaks my interest. So far I've yet to find anything that is an improvement over my own house and will probably stay but I still look and it is VERY SAD the pics I see.
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