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My house has not sold... neither has any other house in the area lately. Real estate offices are laying off agents because there is nothing happening. But I've GOT to get out of here. DH is working across the country while I'm at home with my infant and toddler trying to sell this thing! It's not good for the boys or our marriage and something has to give.
We think we may be able to lease it. Then we'd have enough money to rent a small house ourselves and try to sell later. When we approached our agent, she said it was probably a good idea and she would change our listing to advertise as buy/lease. But all she did was change her website! Realtor.com still says nothing about a lease option (and this was discussed weeks ago!) I asked her to advertise it as a rental in the newspaper, but she only added "lease option" to her big real estate ad in the "for sale" section. Nothing in the rentals. I asked her about Craigslist, but there's no ad there, either!
Can I advertise it as a rental myself? Pay for the newspaper ad myself? Post an ad on Craigslist myself? I'm tired of waiting for her to get it together while I listen to my 2-year-old cry for his daddy each night!
I think you need a new realtor. When I put up my last house for sale, the first agent I had just didn't seem to be doing enough to my satisfaction. Like you, I really needed to move! I approached her about running my own ads, in addition to letting her remain as my realtor - she acted like she wasn't too thrilled with the idea, there must be a reason they don't like clients to do this. After several months with no results, I decided she was probably investing her time and energy into her listings that were more expensive properties and more commission for her than mine. I asked her in writing to let me out of my contract with her, and she agreed to it (most realtors will). The next agent I had worked really hard for me and I had the house sold in a month. But remember also, we have just gotten into prime buying season.
If you have an exclusive agency contract you can advertise away. If you have an exclusive right to sell, I would run any ads by your agent first. I would write the ad, then just email it to her for approval. That way she can verify that it meets fair housing standards.
I agree with Montana Mom that you might need to look at a new agent. With the market still in flux, it is really important to stay on top of listings, and the market. Prime season is coming up and you don't want to miss out on it due to "old" advertising.
I agree with Silverfall, as long as you let your agent approve of the ads first. There are plenty of free sites to advertise on including craigslist, which I post my listings on weekly (Thursdays and Fridays are best). I have clients who are really internet savvy and they are always posting ads on free community websites, which is fine by me as long as they don't violate any fair housing laws. I have a personal website for each of my listings and it tracks the referring URLs and by far, craigslist brings the most views.
At the risk of ticking off the agents on here, I'll tell you what I did with my agent who was doing nothing. We've been listed since Jan. and I know that it's not that long so don't blast me about that. Anyway, we've lowered our price TWICE and she never put a reduced sign up and we are right on a main road where everyone can see it! Didn't change the flyers after the second drop last week. I sent her an email last night and told her in no uncertain terms that it was unacceptable that the sign had not been put up and that the flyers hadn't been changed. I also let her know that I know the contract has expired so I don't have to stay with her. I told her if the sign and flyers were there today, we'd give her a month and then we are done. I tried the nice approach and she always blew everything off. It'll get better, blah, blah, blah. Well, DH called a little while ago and the sign and flyers are there. Sometimes you have to get specific and let them know you expect them to do what the contract states.
Austinsmom, you were completely justified in your actions! That is totally unacceptable, sounds like your agent isn't concerned at all with selling your listing. Putting up a rider on your sign and printing new flyers is the bare minimum of what should be done for a price reduction. Tell her you would also like her to send an e-mail or call all of the agents and buyers that have previously seen the property to let them know the price has been reduced.
Austinsmom, you were completely justified in your actions! That is totally unacceptable, sounds like your agent isn't concerned at all with selling your listing. Putting up a rider on your sign and printing new flyers is the bare minimum of what should be done for a price reduction. Tell her you would also like her to send an e-mail or call all of the agents and buyers that have previously seen the property to let them know the price has been reduced.
She says she has done that but I don't know if I believe it. I spoke with another agent (a friend of a good friend) who knew of my house b/c of people in the neighborhood but nothing else. She's the one I may go with if I can get hubby to go along with me.
At the risk of ticking off the agents on here, I'll tell you what I did with my agent who was doing nothing. We've been listed since Jan. and I know that it's not that long so don't blast me about that. Anyway, we've lowered our price TWICE and she never put a reduced sign up and we are right on a main road where everyone can see it! Didn't change the flyers after the second drop last week. I sent her an email last night and told her in no uncertain terms that it was unacceptable that the sign had not been put up and that the flyers hadn't been changed. I also let her know that I know the contract has expired so I don't have to stay with her. I told her if the sign and flyers were there today, we'd give her a month and then we are done. I tried the nice approach and she always blew everything off. It'll get better, blah, blah, blah. Well, DH called a little while ago and the sign and flyers are there. Sometimes you have to get specific and let them know you expect them to do what the contract states.
Heck, I wouldn't have given her another chance but you're nicer than me I believe. I think you're justifed and I think that since Jan. is long enough to have seen some action at least on her part.
If you're going to advertise yourself check out www.vflyer.com. You can easily design professional looking e-flyers which you can have published on various websites. You can even post on Craigslist and e-mail to everyone you know. Best of all it's free! You can even track activitiy and see how many views your flyer has received. Keep in mind it takes a few days to get loaded onto those additional websites.
I'm not sure where you are...what state. Read your listing agreement. In Florida the listing agreements have a section in them concerning if you option the house and sometimes if you rent the house that a fee would be due. But. Often times the Realtor® doesn't fill it out. If it's not filled out, then go for it. You can rent it on your own and not owe a fee. If she's with a large franchise often times they do not handle rentals and that may be why she's not putting it out there. If you are going to rent without a company be VERY careful. You need to be able to run background and credit checks as well as verify past rental history. There are laws in various states as to what you can and can't do with the security deposits, where they have to be held and what your rights are as well as the tenants should it come to a point of eviction or a hold over, etc.
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