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We just got back from a 4 day trip to Tampa to look around the area and look at homes.
We were initially looking at Miami, but have decided Tampa has many advantages. We were really impressed with the area and the friendliness of the people.
One thing we were not impressed with were our experiences with the realtors!!!
First, we picked out 9 homes to view, all fairly close in proximity and about 500-600K in price. Should have been easy. We sent that to the agent and she scheduled appointments for us. She called the night before and said she had made 6 out of 9 showings. Fine, that was good enough. The next day, she never called, emailed, nor returned our calls. We got stood up?! We were very confused, so we called the company and they found another realtor, who made a couple appointments for the next day.
He was fine, however there was a foreclosure we were interested in and hoping he would do some research, take photos, whatever and he basically balked at doing the extra work!!! We couldn't believe it, in Miami, they were practically fighting for our business, even taking videos for us when they were not available, and here they don't want to do a thing for their commission?
So, we said, ok, maybe 3's a charm? Called another realtor and spoke with him, and he said he would do the research and then he never called again.
Whats the deal with the realtors in Tampa? Is this foreshadowing for what to expect from the service industry around here?
I've had similar experiences With both buyers and sellers agents. Maybe it this area, but I know there are good ones. I have met 1!
Problem is too many realtors are not patient and also they dont listen to what the buyers is asking for. Sometimes the buyer doesn't really know, then it takes a good realtor to figure out that too However, the above happens, I have seen it and even experienced it myself before I was a realtor. There is a lot of money riding on a sale/purchase and they (real estate salespeople) forget who is the boss sometimes.
We had a very similiar experience with Realtors. We were looking to rent in a different county in Florida, not far away, but far enough that we knew nothing about it.
We started contacting Realtors and no one really wanted to deal with us from the get go because we were interested in renting first and then talking about purchasing. We didn't want to buy in an unknown area and be unhappy with the city or the immediate neighborhood. We wanted time to get to know the city and the people of the community. We had about 3 or 4 realtors, and thats using the term loosely, tell us either they would be happy to help if we did all the leg work, tell us they would help and not be heard from again, tell us that they didn't make ANY money off these "rental" deals and therefore couldn't afford to waste much time on it, and a variety of other cockeyed stories.
Finally, I found a realtor on this forum and decided to give him and his wife a call because I liked the honesty he expressed when answering questions on this forum. I was extremely leary, as we had already been through the ringer with a few "realtors" by this time, our move time was really close so the tension was high as well as the distrust.
Boy, was I lucky. I found Mike and Tina Roberts. They worked tirelessly for us and put in more effort than all the other "realtors" combined. I never felt like I was being treated like a 3rd class citizen because I chose to rent instead of buy. I was treated as if I was looking at their most expensive listings with cash in hand, believe me when I say that is far from what was happening. We were looking to downsize and save money. They did all they could to help us and didn't tell us once that they "weren't making a dime off this deal or weren't going to make hardly anything off this deal". A comment the other realtors couldn't go 15 minutes without mentioning. And god help you if you had a little longer conversation with them or multiple conversations in one day because you heard that same sob story over and over.
I feel for the realtors with the market the way it is, but I have enough financial problems of my own, I don't need to hear that I am using them as slave labor when in reality they get from $200-$500 and even better for filling rentals. If the selling market is slow, I would be busting my butt to rent AT LEAST one home a week, and more, if possible, to make up for the shortfall.
Instead they are complaining to someone who can do nothing about it.
Please just be the kind, appreciative, supportive, honest, intelligent, and responsive realtors that Mike and Tina Roberts are, then you will see your business grow. I hope Mike and Tina do well and when we do decide to buy a house, we will contact them and no one else. I was given respect and courtesy from day one, while all the other contacted realtors really acted like they were grabbing their ankles by helping me find a rental home, even with me doing all the work.
I wish there were more realtors out there like them. I want to buy, but am so uncertain of this market. If I decide I want to find out whether to rent or buy right now, in this market, I will contact them and weigh their advice above most everything else because they were always straight up with my wife and I. I can't say thank you enough. But I do want to tell all of you, I have never seen anyone work within our complicated circumstances and make it come out ok, in that short period of time.
I won't list the other realtors here because some of them are still posting like they are going to help someone, really !
Talk to Mike or Tina and if they don't fit your needs, then move on, but if you want someone who will be real with you and work like its their last chance sale, its THEM! rent or buy...they work for you!!!!!!
I'll see or talk to them soon, I'm sure.
I decided not to move to Florida for a long time because of the housing market there but maybe I should reconsider, maybe I will get business after all if the majority of your realtors don't even return phone calls! I am shocked, I would think in your market, they would be scrambling for business.
You should move to Florida if you are answering calls.
I called a realtor yesterday (2 x) and left messages for a property listed with realtor after a call to the brokers office and they gave her number. Almost 40 hours later no call back. I hope for the sellers that they have a contract on their home, otherwise they will never sell it with a realtor like this.
We had a very similiar experience with Realtors. We were looking to rent in a different county in Florida, not far away, but far enough that we knew nothing about it.
We started contacting Realtors and no one really wanted to deal with us from the get go because we were interested in renting first and then talking about purchasing. We didn't want to buy in an unknown area and be unhappy with the city or the immediate neighborhood. We wanted time to get to know the city and the people of the community. We had about 3 or 4 realtors, and thats using the term loosely, tell us either they would be happy to help if we did all the leg work, tell us they would help and not be heard from again, tell us that they didn't make ANY money off these "rental" deals and therefore couldn't afford to waste much time on it, and a variety of other cockeyed stories.
Finally, I found a realtor on this forum and decided to give him and his wife a call because I liked the honesty he expressed when answering questions on this forum. I was extremely leary, as we had already been through the ringer with a few "realtors" by this time, our move time was really close so the tension was high as well as the distrust.
Boy, was I lucky. I found Mike and Tina Roberts. They worked tirelessly for us and put in more effort than all the other "realtors" combined. I never felt like I was being treated like a 3rd class citizen because I chose to rent instead of buy. I was treated as if I was looking at their most expensive listings with cash in hand, believe me when I say that is far from what was happening. We were looking to downsize and save money. They did all they could to help us and didn't tell us once that they "weren't making a dime off this deal or weren't going to make hardly anything off this deal". A comment the other realtors couldn't go 15 minutes without mentioning. And god help you if you had a little longer conversation with them or multiple conversations in one day because you heard that same sob story over and over.
I feel for the realtors with the market the way it is, but I have enough financial problems of my own, I don't need to hear that I am using them as slave labor when in reality they get from $200-$500 and even better for filling rentals. If the selling market is slow, I would be busting my butt to rent AT LEAST one home a week, and more, if possible, to make up for the shortfall.
Instead they are complaining to someone who can do nothing about it.
Please just be the kind, appreciative, supportive, honest, intelligent, and responsive realtors that Mike and Tina Roberts are, then you will see your business grow. I hope Mike and Tina do well and when we do decide to buy a house, we will contact them and no one else. I was given respect and courtesy from day one, while all the other contacted realtors really acted like they were grabbing their ankles by helping me find a rental home, even with me doing all the work.
I wish there were more realtors out there like them. I want to buy, but am so uncertain of this market. If I decide I want to find out whether to rent or buy right now, in this market, I will contact them and weigh their advice above most everything else because they were always straight up with my wife and I. I can't say thank you enough. But I do want to tell all of you, I have never seen anyone work within our complicated circumstances and make it come out ok, in that short period of time.
I won't list the other realtors here because some of them are still posting like they are going to help someone, really !
Talk to Mike or Tina and if they don't fit your needs, then move on, but if you want someone who will be real with you and work like its their last chance sale, its THEM! rent or buy...they work for you!!!!!!
I'll see or talk to them soon, I'm sure.
I guess most realtors just want the advertisement on a sign in a yard and there ends their service. I had so many calls for my rental. (I had a sign with my phone number on it and rented it so fast that I wish I have more rentals). Most realtors never called me back when I wanted info about a rental home or if they answered tried to talk me into buying or looking at other listings they have.
In our neighborhood almost all rental properties are rented only a few are left and I don't want to do bad talking, but the ones with the realtors signs are the last to be rented out.
if you are purchasing, you must work with a buyer's agent or agree to pay the commission. a real estate agent is legally bound to the person who pays him/her. It's called fiduciary responsibility. The agent has to do the best job for that person and can offer advice only to that person. This doesn't mean the agent doesn't care about you or is dishonest. There may be some reason you don't sound viable in these particular deals or another mulit-list agent may have presented a contract before your scheduled appointment and most are "time is of the essence" so while it's rude to not call to cancel, there may be a good reason the agent got caught up in negotiations and didn't take a minute to do so. You should pursue the houses you're interested in with someone else who will represent YOU.
Finally, I found a realtor on this forum and decided to give him and his wife a call because I liked the honesty he expressed when answering questions on this forum. I was extremely leary, as we had already been through the ringer with a few "realtors" by this time, our move time was really close so the tension was high as well as the distrust.
Boy, was I lucky. I found Mike and Tina Roberts. They worked tirelessly for us and put in more effort than all the other "realtors" combined.
Talk to Mike or Tina and if they don't fit your needs, then move on, but if you want someone who will be real with you and work like its their last chance sale, its THEM! rent or buy...they work for you!!!!!!
I'll see or talk to them soon, I'm sure.
My family also found Mike and Tina on the site. We were relocating from Alaska and had never been here. They offered more help than I cold have asked for! They never made me feel rushed to buy, and they are realtors that actually listen to your requests and do what they can to find a home that works for you! I will be using them with all my real estate needs in the future!
if you are purchasing, you must work with a buyer's agent or agree to pay the commission. a real estate agent is legally bound to the person who pays him/her. It's called fiduciary responsibility. The agent has to do the best job for that person and can offer advice only to that person. This doesn't mean the agent doesn't care about you or is dishonest. There may be some reason you don't sound viable in these particular deals or another mulit-list agent may have presented a contract before your scheduled appointment and most are "time is of the essence" so while it's rude to not call to cancel, there may be a good reason the agent got caught up in negotiations and didn't take a minute to do so. You should pursue the houses you're interested in with someone else who will represent YOU.
A lot of you wrote is true, but I dis agree with the agent can be "caught up in negotiations and didn't take a minute to do so".
Can you tell me how many closings there have been lately. So how busy are agents these day.
If I was an agent I would return every call, you never want to miss out on business, maybe 2 years ago agents didn't care. They sold homes, got commision without doing much, today they have to work for their money, so if you not calling back that means you should not be a realtor and represent a client!
Remember there was a huge company who did everything for 2% if you had a direct buyer. Every day adds on tv. They made a lot of money by doing very little, that was 2005. They had 350 people working for them. In 2007 they had 11 people working for them. I once spoke with the owner and some of his lawyers because of the mess and bad work they did. They agreed that they had grown so fast. They were about to move in the new build building the we going to close on very soon in 2005. I guess they moved back to a smaller building. A lot of realtors were mad a them because of the low commision they charged and that was major competition for other realtors. Every realtor you would speak with had something bad to sya and why you shouldn't work with them and why other realtors chargeed 6% instead of that company charging 2 or 4%. Well I guess they made a lot of money but took the biggest hid when the market went down.
City-Data Tampa has a few realtors who post here regularly. They do so giving out information about areas 'for free'. From what I have seen from their post, "Yes, I read them all" their information is usually 100 percent on the money. They aren't allowed to ask for your business but of course, hope you will call them.
As is usually the case 'one rotten apple' can ruin the perception that all realtors are a like in Tampa. I am happy to see that is not the case with the ones who post here. Be sure to give them a rep point..
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With both buyers and sellers agents. Maybe it this area, but I know there are good ones. I have met 1!
However, the above happens, I have seen it and even experienced it myself before I was a realtor. There is a lot of money riding on a sale/purchase and they (real estate salespeople) forget who is the boss sometimes.
Realtors in the Tampa Bay area...What happened???
I agree!!!
So how busy are agents these day. 
