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We ran this by our broker, who admitted this realtor was telling other realtors this at the brokers open for that house. She said there is nothing we can do about it. So basically, we can assume that anyone in the market for a home in our neighborhood has been told that our house floods. How do you overcome that?
Since it's in the past, at this point, probably nothing, but at the time your agent should have been on the phone immediately with the broker of that agent. And I mean immediately. She would have been advised to ceases and desist. Your agent should have also send out emails to any Realtor that attended the open house to clarify the situation. She can certainly at the very least send out the emails to everyone that was in attendance NOW.
I had the same thing at one of my open houses...a couple of Realtors® insisting the land behind the house was going to be condos. I called the city, verified that was false, that it would NOT happen on that land, and shot out emails to everyone in attendance letting them know what the city had said, the contact number of the person who supplied the information and politely reminded them not to be repeating the rumor.
If you have something on your listing that you are offering to pay the first year's flood insurance take that off and make it the homeowner's insurance. You are bringing attention to a negative (potential) right of the bat.
For showings, is it possible to have the agents looking to show call your agent to make the appointment? There is no reason why you should be subjected to the abuse some of the agents calling are giving you. It's totally unprofessional behavior. After reading what you've written I think you should seriously consider changing agents. Get one who knows how to control the situation because the one you have appears to be lacking the skills.
And hang in there... this will one day be a blip on the screen.
I just want to give you a hug.. I am sorry for the stuff you are going through with this. I hope things improve. I have no advice but my prayers are there for you and your family.
You've received a lot of good advice already, and I want to say that I support all the advice you've gotten.
One thing that stands out in my mind is Palmcoasting advising you to remove the flood plain insurance offer from the listing. It is a negative and could be the reason for no offers.
You must disclose it on your disclosure form and that is all you have to do. The insurance coverage can be negotiated after you receive an offer.
The buyer, during the due diligence period will research what the 100 year flood zone means, and their agent will also discuss it with them.
So that is excellent advice and you may be well served by getting that corrected right away.
Also, don't take your house off the market at this point. That will not help.
It is unfortunate that some agents would not call first. The mls sheet should state the showing instructions. Be sure you know what those instructions are. Sometimes it is to "call owner to show", or it can be "call listing agent". That is a decision that you make with your agent, and depends on your preference.
I suggest that you teach your small children to not open the door for anyone, and especially to not let someone in the home. If a child opened the door for me, I would never walk inside until a parent came to invite me in. Many people will, so teach the children. You're fortunate it was a realtor that showed up early, and not a predator.
Do talk to your agent and get him to talk to that other agent who is passing out false information. It is surprising that an agent would do that because one day that agent may have a client who is interested in your property. What will he tell his client?
Also, discuss with your agent what he feels is the reason there are no offers since there are a lot of showings.
Are other homes in the area getting offers?
Remember this is a very slow market. Know and understand the average days on market in your area, and expect that it will take that long and possibly longer for your home to sell.
When someone guarantees you that your home will sell by a certain day in today's market, that should be a red flag, unless they are guaranteeing you in writing that they will buy your home if it doesn't sell in that time; and they will buy it at a price that you are comfortable with.
Unless your home is a multi million dollar home, I do not advise that you ask your listing agent to come every time an agent wants to show your home. You could lose showings that way because of scheduling conflicts. An agent with a buyer needs to show the home at the buyers convenience. The listing agents schedule may not allow him to be available when the buyer is available, so you will lose a showing. The buyer agent will take your home off the list, and may inform the next client that this home is too difficult to show.
Also, as has been discussed in other threads here, the buyer and buyers agent do not want the listing agent around when they are showing the home because they want to be able to discuss the home out of hearing distance from the seller and the sellers agent.
Thanks for all the feedback! Anyone who has had the house on the market probably knows what I was going through when I originally posted - it was just one of those days where I thought I could not take my house being on the market another minute.
I really wish my realtor had been more proactive when she heard what our neighbor's realtor was doing - I would have thought she'd have been on the horn the second she realized what was going on. It's unfortunately been a consistent problem with our realor - she is, for lack of a better term - "passive". She does not call to get feedback, she waits until they call her.
Cap Bill - my kids don't open the door for anyone, even their father! Even if they could, the way our lock works they cannot figure it out and the door is too heavy. The agent used the lockbox the gain entry. That's what bothers me most about being on the market - thousands of people can gain access to my home any time they feel like it. I know there are good realtors and bad realtors, just as there are good lawyers and bad lawyers. But the bad lawyer doesn't affect the safety of my children.
Thanks for the advise about the flood insurance as well. I asked my realtor how she presented this, and she told me she verbally offers we will pay the first year of flood insurance if that is an objection they raise when they contact her.
Did she say the area floods, or does that home flood. It may be a problem with drainage or foundation cracks in that house?
You definitely seem to be getting traffic. Have you gotten any feedback from any of the showings? Do you have a link to your listing with pictures?
First off, we've been for sale since May and have had a total of 6 lookers. Would you rather be in my shoes??
However, your showing arrangements are totally unacceptable. We require minimum 2 hour notice, set up by a central listing service. Any interested buyer who can't wait 2 hours is just not being realistic. If you have a lockbox on your door, take it off when you're home. Those real estate people work for you, and you have a right to be treated with respect.
realtor.....is, for lack of a better term - "passive". She does not call to get feedback, she waits until they call her.
This seems so odd to me. I am not a Realtor so I don't know if there is a certain protocol for who should initiate contact to exchange feedback in these situations (I assume there isn't one). However, since it's the seller and the seller's agent that I would think is the party most in need of the feedback, logic dictates to me that the seller's agent most certainly should take the initiative to seek out this feedback. I guess as an outsider (i.e., not a Realtor) I can't think what incentive the buyer's agent would have to take the time out of their busy schedule just to provide feedback... unless both agents would be splitting a commission maybe?
Cap Bill - my kids don't open the door for anyone, even their father! Even if they could, the way our lock works they cannot figure it out and the door is too heavy. The agent used the lockbox the gain entry. That's what bothers me most about being on the market - thousands of people can gain access to my home any time they feel like it. I know there are good realtors and bad realtors, just as there are good lawyers and bad lawyers. But the bad lawyer doesn't affect the safety of my children.
What we did to stop this is change the deadbolt lock or door handle lock (whichever is easier) to a different key and did NOT put it in the lock box. We kept the old lock in a drawer and replaced it when the house sold.
That way when we're home and busy (like in the shower,etc) we'd just lock that lock and there's no way for them to get in unannounced, one time of that happening to us was more than enough.
This type of agent behaivor was very prevelent when we lived in GA, haven't seen it anywhere else or figured out why it happens which is strange.
When a listing shows as "Occupied" an agent should never enter the home without first speaking with the owner or the agent, depending on what the instructions say.
We see instructions such as this:
Occupied, knock and ring bell. If owner does not answer, use lockbox and enter. (That would be an instruction agreed on by the owner and agent)
The instructions below would indicate that the agent does not enter without having first spoken with the owner or the agent.
Occupied. To show, call owner.
Occupied. Call agent first.
You can work out any instructions you prefer with the agent.
I like the idea that someone mentioned to have a separate dead bolt to use when you're home, with the key not being in the lock box.
And while I know there are some great realtors out there, I feel incredibly violated by many realtors who have shown our house. We went under "appointment only" status a month ago, since there were just too many realtors showing up unannounced, inevitably ruining my toddlers naptime (which is likewise ruined at least twice per week due to showings). This morning as I was getting out of the shower I heard someone talking to my 2 yo and 4 yo - I raced down the stairs in a towel and a realtor was standing in my hallway - he had an appointment - for 11am, and it was 9am!
The idea of these people having unfettered access to my home keeps me up at night (literally).
I am astounded that your agent did not set you up as "appointment only" from the get-go.
Agents have no right to enter your home without your permission. It's a crime. Consider posting this on your front door.
If the lockboxes work as they do in my area, the agent entering is recorded. It is also possible to program them so that the lock box does not function between the hours of X and Y.
Given all the showings you are having, I suspect you will soon be under contract and all this will be behind you.
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