We refuse to succumb to the relentless diatribes of agents and buyers citing every listing as “overpriced”. These lightly informed opinions have become so ubiquitous we are eliminating “what do you think of the price?” from our showing/previewing email follow-up questionnaires for all of our listings. If the answer is always the same, why ask the question?
Things were quite different when I entered the business. Listing agents were respected as the authority on the value of their respective listings. They did the preparation, the research, studied the comparables, the neighborhood, and counseled their seller as to the best way to get their property sold. Far be it from a lowly showing agent to tell a listing agent what their value should be. But that’s how it is now. Not that they’re right, they just can’t seem to help themselves.
As with all such discussions regarding human behavior, it is not fair to generalize. There are good, old school brokers that respect the work a listing broker has done. Then again, there are listing brokers that don’t do anything. They are definitely not old school. Rather, they are lazy holdovers from 2006 that will put their sign in front of anything at any price. That’s another problem we’ll reserve for another discussion. Today it’s about showing agents aka Buyer Brokers.
First, a couple of questions for “Mr./Mrs It’s Overpriced Broker”:
1. Would you like to earn a commission? Evidently not. We cannot understand how a broker expects to foster communication, overcome objections, inspections, financing, etc., and expect the listing broker to be a partner in a transaction if the first thing they do is demean your work, which created the listing in which their buyer is interested. What could possibly qualify them to make such an off-hand judgement? There is no way they can invest the same research and effort in every listing they show a buyer. It makes no sense.
2. Do you have any idea how foolish you appear? If we are to help our sellers choose between 2 brokers with similar offers, it will often be our opinion of the brokers themselves which tips the scale. Which broker gave the most favorable impression of knowledge of the process, the rules, ethics, and would be most likely to work toward a win-win solution to problems? It is unlikely that it will be the broker that stated that the property was overpriced to begin with.
3. How do you price your listings Mr.Mrs. It’s Overpriced Broker? Oh, that’s right……you don’t have any. It is our experience that most of the “It’s Overpriced Brokers” have no listings of their own. They refer to themselves as “Buyer’s Agents”. We refer to them as taxi drivers with an MLS key. Seriously, so many, many agents bring so little to the table on behalf of their buyers other than whining about the price. Often the buyer is not properly qualified by a reputable lender, and/or is looking above their price range in the hopes of making a killing. The buyer’s agent can’t deal with inspection issues, sticking their hand out demanding cash in lieu of repairs, often to the tune of 4 x’s actual cost of the issues.
These are the brokers that we push to the side as we wait for a dedicated professional to show and sell our listings. They know that we know what we are doing, and we know that they have control of their buyer. Control in the sense that they make sure that their buyer understands and follows the terms of a Purchase and Sale Agreement, has their finances in order, and won’t attempt to change the deal midstream. This, after all, is what we expect from our buyers.
We have been blessed with some really great selling brokers this year that have brought well qualified buyers to our listings, then allowed the listings to sell themselves. It is wading through the drivel of “It’s Overpriced” amateurs until a pro shows up that is most taxing. They waste our time, and they waste the time of our sellers.
If such opinions are allowed to prevail, how will the market ever begin to fully and consistently recover? If it’s payback for ill treatment at the hands of arrogant listing agents during the run-up, get over it. That ship sailed long ago. It’s time to be more professional, more respectful of one another than ever before. The sooner that happens, the better it will be for everyone. And respect BEGINS with the listings. After all, if there were no listings, what would the Buyer’s Brokers be showing?
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