Need help with rude realtor!

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by sheenie2000

This won't answer your question. But I feel your family needs time to grieve for your grandpa before selling off his property. Maybe your family should have a discussion about this again and put it off the market for a little while. Wait till the emotions have healed a little and time has passed. It's really hard to deal w/ an estate and money after a loved one dies.

This is good advice and I agree but the problem is that they probably can't afford to keep the house. Someone has to pay taxes and the mortgage if there is one.

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

No one has questioned her for "marketing the place TOO WELL." My mom only thought it was a bit fishy to have so many showings in such a short amount of time, but no offers.

You're right. The showings are good, especially in this market but no offer could mean it is over priced or that it is a bad market where buyers aren't parting with their money. We were on for 9 months. February we dropped our price, then had 10+ people come through, resulting in 3 offers.

Are you willing to say what state/county the house is in? If not, maybe one of the agents here would be willing to DM with you to give you a private opinion?

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

In lieu of everything I know about the situation, I feel this is partly because the listing is dishonest and the photos have been photoshopped. People are expecting one thing and getting another when they actually see the house. I do not think any buyer wants to be lied to and I feel pretending the property is something its not is unethical. Isn't it wasting the buyer's valuable time and energy to view a house that is totally different from how it was described?

Hate to tell you this but this is more common then you think. My old competition, the kitchens & baths were done (cheaply) and shown in the listings, it mentioned nothing about all of the 70's paneling in the rest of the house or the worn carpet. One also listed central AC but the AC unit was so old it didn't turn on.

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

I would like the house to sell, but I feel her way is not the right way to go about it. The other realtor I dealt with was upfront, honest, and fair to all parties involved in the process. She had just as many showings and was successful in procurring an offer.

The best thing you can do is what I said, go look at the competition. Once you do that, talk to your mom and show her proof that the house is over priced. Also show your mom the listing at the agents site, if the photos are doctored it needs to be addressed.

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

Sorry if this post is a bit angry-sounding, but I feel the majority of the responses I have recieved are only looking at this from the side of the realtor. I am trying to make the best out of a bad situation and looking for advice that takes into account both sides. I realize she is doing her job, but I see nothing wrong with treating whoever is living at the house being sold, whether a tenant, renter, or seller, with fairness and respect. ALL people deserve these things no matter what their circumstances in life may be.

As I said, I was a buyer & seller. I think the advice and opinions you've gotten have been consistent with the opinion the agents sounds to be doing their job to sell which is advertising but also that if she is deceptive with photos it should be addressed.

It comes across loud and clear that some of you are not ready to sell your grandpa's house, understandably so. I lost my dad 2 years ago and know the pain you are going through. I tried to buy my dad's house but wasn't allowed. My heart goes out to all of you.

One thing I will ask you to do is to try and do what your grandpa would have wanted. If you think he would be for selling the house, then do your best to accommodate agents to see the house.

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

"What exactly do you do to "care take" the house?
Do you pay rent?
If I had to guess, you are there to make sure it stays clean for showings and you are a body so that no one breaks into a house that is vacant.
I think either moving out or you adjusting your life to allow for showings."

I do not pay rent, but do pay the electric and heating bills (which of course I should if I am living there). I am, as you said, there to make sure it is ready for showings and that no one breaks in. I am responsible for mowing the lawn every weekend and clearing away any snow if I am still there when winter comes. Since it is an old house, I am also there to alert my family if any further repairs are needed.

Amsel, I'm going to be honest with you. You sound like a nice kid but IMO you are going to be in a bad situation.

Look at it this way... You are in the house to make sure it is show ready. While you are paying utilities, you are not paying rent because it is understood that you will inconvenience yourself to help sell the house. IMO, you shouldn't be turning away any appointments. Seriously, the house should be ready to show, every day from 9 or 10 am ...ask; it should be in your contract when showings start. My old area was 10am.

Ok, now, when I say you are going to be in a bad situation, at some point this agent is going to go back to your aunt and say, Amsel keeps turning down showings like he doesn't want to sell the house. Maybe he shouldn't live there so I can show the house when ever... It would be easier if the house was vacant...

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

My mom and uncles spent the first half of the summer cleaning out and painting the interior of the house. When it was decided I would move-in my mom and I finished cleaning out the rest of the house and bought supplies such as curtains, a sofa cover, plants, and other miscellaneous items to make the interior of the house more pleasing. Everyone, including the realtor, has said it looks 100 percent better.

They should give an invoice at closing for the cleaning and anything needed to stage the house. I usually charge about $10-$15 per hour for cleaning but when my parents sold their old house I submitted a bill for the whole job as hourly would have been laughed at. Yes, it was that bad...

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

She works full-time and is single. Whenever I have been unable to accomodate a showing I have always given her other options: either the same time on a different day or a different time on the same day. I once asked her to move a showing back 15 minutes so I would have enough time to get the houe ready and she did not even want to consider making a change of 15 minutes. She claimed it would be too close to the 1 PM showing that was scheduled the same day. However, there was a thirty minute different between the two AND she had mentioned to me at an earlier time that showings would be quick and take no longer than "a drive around the block." I can understand needing enough time to show the house and not being a realtor I could be wrong about thirty minutes being enough, but I was under the impression that 15-30 minutes was more than sufficient unless it was a second showing (this was not).

Furthermore, I am going to be housesitting at my parents house this week from Tuesday until Sunday. I informed her of this and told her she could make any showings during this time. Today I am in the midst of cleaning and removing clutter so the house looks as nice as possible. Additionally, she is having a second open house Sunday. I will also be gone Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of next weekend.

I have given her as much availability as possible and just want a little respect with regards to saying "no" to showings if I have to. I have always tried to work with her to find a good time for both of us when I do have to say no. She has never told me that the person can only view the house at this time or is an out-of-town visitor leaving soon. I do not see a problem with this, especially since she is the one working for my family and not the other way around.

Just because you are not told the buyer can't view it at another time doesn't mean they can. My agent did not give that info out when I was buying. If you read posts here, you will see most buyers say that the inventory is high and they will not back track because they don't need to.

Honestly, only one person wants the house sold, it does not seem like a good idea to have it on the market right now if they can afford to keep the house. The problem is that time is money and the longer you wait to sell the more money everyone will lose. We originally listed at $240k - sold for $207k 9 months later. That's a lot of money...

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

"Did the agent pull sold comps when pricing the house?"

I am not sure, but only my aunt met with her before the contract was signed. The rest of my family was extrememly busy at the time and putting the house on the market was their last concern. My aunt basically left the contract at my grandpa's and repeatedly called each of them telling them to go sign it. Then when one of them signed it she would call the others and say, "Blank signed the contract, why didn't you sign it yet?" My mom feels it was a mistake, but sees no way out of it until the date it ends.

Everyone is entitled to look at the information provided by the agent. Tell your mom to go to the agents office to see the package she put together for your aunt to look at. It will include sold houses and possibly others that are listed to show where she got the price from.

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

Question: Should my family ask her to pull sold comps again?

Yes.

Originally Posted by AmselJoey

Second question: How many properties should an agent be responsible for at one time? Does this tell you anything about them or is it dependent on the market?

Has nothing to do with anything. You are paying the agent to advertise the house, which she appears to be doing. Most agents don't sell their own listing.

The best advice I can give you is to move out and let the agent sell the house vacant. If they need to hire a cleaning service then so be it. At some point you are gong to be the bad guy because it appears you are trying to stop the house from selling.

[palmcoasting]

You and I will agree to disagree. I don't know how the OP can confuse 2 weeks with a month, but so be it. If you are getting that many showings you are doing something correct. Price too high? Uhh...for that many showings I would say the price is low for the area and savvy buyers and agents would know in advance the place is not in excellent condition or even near it, especially because the agent has already said something about TLC. IMO, the agent is doing what needs to be done to get traffic in there. She, in the end, is going to be the loser with a family that can't agree, doesn't want to do any work and a tenant that really doesn't want to move or be inconvenienced. Just my take on it and only from what I'm reading.

[NancyMilton]

My buyers generally decide to move on to other properties if they cannot get in to see a home when it is convenient for them.

Right now there is too much inventory from which they can choose, so they can skip a hard-to-see house and see the half-dozen others that fit their needs.

I ask sellers who have tenants to inform them that they need to accommodate all showing requests and remove themselves from the property during the showings.