As I was driving to West Sacramento yesterday to take a listing in Bridgeway Island, a buyer's agent called. Just for the record, I wasn't pulling a Maria Shriver, I was wearing my Jawbone. He asked about a Sacramento short sale home that I have listed and wanted to know how much his buyer would have to offer to buy it.
I explained that his buyer would have a running chance if the agent ran the comparable sales and based the purchase offer on the comps. This is the same procedure an agent would use for a listing that is not a short sale. The agent got huffy with me. "I'm an old man," he said, "and I've been in the business for 46 years. I don't have time for this."
His poor buyer. He's apparently working with an agent who doesn't have time to do the job the buyer hired him to perform. This is where the adage: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" comes into play. So I thanked him profusely for calling me, and was as polite as I could be while following a cement mixer down Jefferson.
Here is a new listing in West Sacramento. It's a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, with vaults, boasting almost 1900 square feet of pure joy, especially if you own pets. That's because the living room, dining area, kitchen and family room have upgraded ceramic tile floors. The tiles are larger than 12-inch, but I didn't measure them to determine if the tiles were 16-inch or 18-inch. The home was built by Forecast in 2001. It's a desirable one-story on a cul-de-sac with a view of the greenbelt.
The interior is absolutely immaculate. It's in move-in condition. The kitchen has an island, the counters are ceramic tile and there's a breakfast nook that overlooks the incredibly landscaped back yard.
You'll love the spacious master suite, which is almost 20 feet. Plus, it has outside access to the back yard. The master bath has double sinks, ceramic tile floor, a separate tub, shower stall and a huge walk-in closet with organizers.
As I was leaving, the seller mentioned that she found me at my Homebuying About.com site when she Googled "short sale." When she read my article -- which ranks #2 at Google, right behind Wikipedia -- she discovered that I was a Sacramento short sale agent and was delighted when she realized that my office is in Midtown. See, Lyon Real Estate has 18 offices in the Sacramento area, and we have an office in West Sacramento, too. So, this seller gets the advantage of a For Sale Sign on her lawn that sports our West Sacramento office phone number, and she gets her home on tour with our Midtown office over the river, plus my cell phone number on a sign rider. Dual coverage. It doesn't get any better than that.
3044 Sherman Island Road, West Sacramento, CA 95691
Offered as a short sale exclusively by Lyon Real Estate at $235,000
Elizabeth Weintraub, 916.233.6759
Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub
---
Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
I guess he has never heard of proper PR or salesmanship or even going the extra mile for the customer.
Is she selling as a short sale?
Looks like you got it covered.
I ran into a buyers agent who did the exact same thing. She told me that I needed to send her the comps. Agents who don't want to put in the work don't deserve the commission they receive. You should pull comps in every transaction on the buying and selling side.
If a buyers agent wants to take my word for what they should write the offer, great, please write it for full price with no concessions and we'll gladly accept but I don't think your doing your best to represent your buyer.
Not only a CMA but a Property history report as well showing Days on market and price reductions. If you can not provide the basic services to your client as their employee perhaps you are in the wrong buisness.
Some of those agents just need to retire and stop hurting their "customers" I refuse to think of those buyers as clients because they have NO representation. If you wants you to do his job does he want you to get paid for it too?
Elizabeth - why do something for yourself if you can get someone else to do it for you? OK, that was facetious. Sounds like this guy isn't the kind of agent that I want to be. Pulling CMA's, as well as histories, as Herb mentioned, should be automatic for a buyers agent.
Obviously in his 46 years of working the business he didn't take the time to try and learn how to pull up comps. Some 'mature' agents detest the Internet and still wish it was business the old fashioned way. Interesting post.
I think Ed nailed it. Not only do some older agents hate the Internet, they also are resistant to a changing market. It seems to me that this agent longed for the "good old days," when a listed price was the price the seller expected to receive. But the market has changed in Sacramento.
Elizabeth - Like you, I feel sorry for his buyer. This guy is doing his buyer a disservice by not doing the job that he is paid to do. Pulling comps before making an offer is duty and responsibility of the buyers agent. So sad that agents like this are still in business.
Elizabeth,
What a gruff agent you experienced!! It is frustrating to hear these stories and of course, to experience these agents. Real Estate 101 is running comps for both buyers & sellers. I guess 46 years ago was differenent and maybe you just cannot teach an old dog new tricks....
Jeana Cowie, Broker Associate, Re/Max Real Estate Ltd., Bergen County, NJ
Hi, Elizabeth:
I hate when I run across agents like that! I feel so sorry for their clients. I usually do what you do and try to get them off the phone as soon as possible. Maybe next time I'll give them a piece of my mind instead.
Cheers,
Robin
I forgot to add that I really like that artwork over the sofa. Good luck with your new listing!
Since he was an old man: You should have told him you were talking to him on a Jawbone.
He would not have known what you were talking about (I know, cause I didn't until I followed your handy link).
He would have abruptly hung up and saved you any further danger in cement-mixer land.
Elizabeth: An agent that doesn't have time for running comps? I think I've met similar "seasoned" agents. I guess some people think that because they have stuck it out in real estate for so long, they don't have to actually work anymore...that they know everything. Very funny.
Elizabeth,
I love your title to this post. I am glad a lot of agents that are not willing to do the minimum are leaving the business.
Thanks for sharing,
Matt Naumann
It is amazing what agents will say to a buyer . I don't think I could get away with it and would feel so uncomfortable . Great listing.
46 years and he doesn't need that? Really? How did he really expect you to answer that question for him? Go work at Walmart or Burger King, dude.