Let the Agent Beware. The Story of the Uncooperative Seller.
April 14th, 2008 categories: Community Events
Got a phone call in December from a frantic friend telling me that her house had to be listed NOW!!! Sure no problem. We got it listed. She was to paint it, clean it and get it ready to show. She promised to keep it picked up and looking nice becaue it was imperative that the place sell. Got the inside painted but didn’t finish a small section of trim on the outside. Ok, I could keep on her to do it. I checked in with her once a week to make sure she was doing the work. “Yeah I’m working on it” she says. Ok, cool. So I’m thinking we’re gonna “gitter done.”
So why did I start getting calls from Realtors telling me that she wasn’t letting them in to show the house? A quick phone call to the seller and I’m just dumbfounded. She was tired and didn’t feel like showing the place was the first excuse. The next phone call from a Realtor resulted in the excuse that she was sick. Ok, I let that one go because she sounded like she had to get better to die. The next phone call from a Realtor resulted in “I don’t like to clean during the week so I told them to come back on Saturday.” Yeah right, we never heard from that Realtor again. The call I got today (Sunday) was a real gem. The agent told me that he had been trying all morning to contact the seller but the telephone had been busy each time he called. So I volunteered to drive out to the seller’s house and tell her in person. All the way out there, I’m blaming the teen aged daughter, thinking she’s been on the phone all morning. But wait, teenagers don’t get up until after noon on weekends. Oh $%^& When I get there, sure enough the seller is on the phone. She tells me she spent the morning on the phone chatting with friends. She just ignored the call waiting signal because she didn’t want to deal with anyone. On top of that, she wanted a day to herself, doing what she wanted to do. I gritted my teeth, stuck my hands in my pockets, and dug my nails into my thighs. I smiled and reminded herthat she needed to sell her house? “Yeah but I don’t feel like showing the house today. ” After much scolding and several expletives later, she was still alive when I left her house. I was satisfied that everything was ok.
two (2) hours before the showing and less than an hour after leaving her house, I get a call from the seller saying “I just can’t show the house today.” WHAT!!!! I yelled. “My daughter and I are having a fight and she’s out ot control. She’s hissing and spitting like a cat.” “Ok” I say, “so take the spray bottle of water that you use on the cat to make it behave and spray her in the face. ” We went back and forth with me offering various solution to the problem. Finally I told her to throw the kid in the car, drive away from the house and stay away until after the Realtor and the buyers leave. I haven’t heard back from her, nor the Realtor for that matter. I’m afraid to call either of them. I can only pray that the place was shown today, and that there wasn’t a WWW wrestling grudge match being held in the living room. Past experience with this seller makes me think it didn’t go well. I can’t even guess what the next excuse will be.
Do you think that when someone is forced by whatever situation to put their house on the market that they might just shut down? I think sometimes life forces us into a corner some of us fight back, some try to run, some get over excited and some just shut down. We can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel and can’t find our way, or at least it isn’t easy or convenient, so we just sit down and wait. Wait for whatever to happen. Maybe we even sabotage positive results because it isn’t the route we really want emotionally. I guess what I am getting at is showing your home, keeping it clean and monitoring all that live there constantly is hard to do when you WANT to do it, almost impossible when you feel forced and helpless. These are not excuses but possibilities rather. Perhaps trying to help the seller see the positive results of selling the home might help. Be that light at the end of the tunnel for your client.
It is often difficult helping people see that their actions do not always produce the results they SAY they want. Patience and empathy are always needed!
Wow! Doesn’t it always surprise you? We are asked to do one of the most important jobs in someones life, and we work as hard as we can for them. We put heart and soul into the job. After a while everyone is upset the home isn’t selling. The seller is upset with you, even though they made showings impossible! When taking a listing I always not only let the seller know how much you I am going to put into it, but also what I expect from them! That selling a home is not only the Real Estate Agents job, but that the seller has a job of their own. If this is put out there to the sellers up front, then they know what you expect, what the buyers agents expect, and they know in the beginning that YOU know what it takes to sell a home and one of the most important factors is the agents and seller work together! Not just focusing on the look of the home, but the importance of convenience of showings!
Maybe the seller changed her mind and was afraid to tell you.