Hi all,
I'm new here and have been reading your posts religiously. We have a problem with our agent and I'm really hoping to get some light shined on the subject! Please!

We picked him after contacting about 10 agents, only getting to personally interview 3, and only had two others call me back. Yes, 5 agents did not even contact me to list our house.

Anyway, he had the best marketing plan (mostly internet based; that is where I look for homes), had lived here the longest (about 50 years), had the best overall sales record (I'm not sure, looking back, if that was for his entire career, etc) and is actually the broker/owner of the agency. I was impressed, thinking he would do the job.

Our home has been on the market 4 weeks this Friday. We signed a 6 month listing agreement with him, but were told we could pull it off the market at any time, with no penalties. There is a disclaimer about him bringing buyers in and we'll still have to pay the fee, etc, but we have not had ONE SINGLE showing. We reduced our price this past week by $14000. We are definitely priced to sell in our area right now. The reduced flyers that were brought to our home had the wrong price....by $100,000! I have called and emailed him several times, and he still has not contacted me and we still do not have the right flyers.

He has not marketed our home as he said he would. I mentioned in another post that he has not even corrected our square footage on his own website after 4 weeks, and many other sites do not have our new price listed. He only has one picture posted on realtor.com, we are not on trulia.com, therealestatebook.com or homesandland.com, among MANY others.

There are several other gripes I have, but I will leave them out to save some space and your time. My question is....should we dump him and find another agent? I have voiced my concerns to him and he keeps telling me the same thing: "I know, I don't know why no one is looking at your house." Actually, I've only spoken with him once in the four weeks, and that was his reply.

Here's a link to our listing at his website. The price is now $275900, and my square footage is 2668, not 2290 (HUGE mistake!) I have also sent him new pictures (minus the clutter plus some staging) and they have not appeared anywhere either.
http://www.thestevejonesteam.com/listings/res/128091/in...sort=&group_id=17001

Thank you in advance for any of your input!

I have not yet looked at your listing, venus, but based on your post...I'd dump him. Those are serious mistakes he is making and with this internet marketing, rarely do you get more than one chance with a buyer!!

More after I look at your listing...

And welcome, you have come to the right place!

Call the Broker/owner of the office and explain the circumstances - short and to the point. You might want to write out a short list first so you have it when you talk with him. You can request that he assign another agent.

Having one photo on Realtor.com MAY mean he didn't pay the necessary "individual" agent yearly fee that entitles him to display additional photos --and make sure if the Broker assigns you a new agent with multi photo ability. Assigning another agent is a quick fix
in lieu of the office losing the listing.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: real estate lady,

Thank you so much already!

The problem is he is the broker/owner. He is handling this himself. He may be short-handed, etc, but he is in charge of his own business, so if he is skimping, what is he teaching his employees? (Sorry, I'm a SAHM...it comes naturally!)

Welcome to the boards, Venus.

In my layperson's opinion, if you like your agent and want to continue working with him, how about giving him a deadline, say, by tomorrow at 3 PM, to have all of the errors corrected and to have you listed on all of the electronic media that he promised in the first place? If it's all not there by 3 PM tomorrow, I'd say look around for another agent if you think you can find one who will do what they say they will do.

REL, speaking of the office losing the listing, what is the % the office generally receives once a property is sold?

That's good advice, Charcoalsmom. Thank you.
When we decided to reduce on Friday, I did give them an ultimatum for directional signs, better photos, updates on their website. All I received were directionals. When I spoke with them yesterday (again) about the wrong flyers, I told them that if it wasn't corrected we were going to pull our listing. I suppose my mind has been made up for me, really. I just hate to do it! Thank you!!

Venus - welcome - and good luck. Based on what you've said, I would change agents - not correcting CRITICAL information is unacceptable, as is getting pricing information wrong.... That is really, really bad. Sometimes, you don't want the "most successful", you really want the hungry one.... Sadly, it's also not a surprise to me that 5 people didn't even get back to you. I think many people (not picking on realtors) get overwhelmed and can't multi-task at all. I always get about 6 companies if I want to do anything - and of those 6, maybe 3 will actually return the call, and I'll be real lucky if 2 actually show up.... . Hang in there, find a new realtor, and good luck!!!

You have a beautiful home - but his photos are horrendous. What is he thinking? All the photos of the child's room - none of the master, the close up of the kitchen counter with what looks like his pile of papers?

I agree, you need a long long talk with him. Is your the 2668 heated, from the photos it looks like he left out the bonus room.

I find it unfortunate only a handful returned your calls. I can understand some of the agencies not wanting to take on more listings. Right now in some areas many are swamped with listings they can't sell. They've got to spend their money up front to market your house and all the other houses they have listed.

Not an excuse for the guy, but I do a fair bit of copying and full color copies on good quality paper are not cheap. When I get a job done and find an error after the fact - I am not a happy camper.

Good luck - from my experience working with listing agents- it is not always the ones who have been around the longest. It's what they have done in the last year or so, especially with the strangeness of the market.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Charming,

Venus-
I don't have much comment on your realtor but that blue colored room is a complete turn off to me and the stripes with it, way too much!!! The house is soo beautiful on the curb appeal and if I opened the door and saw that color I would not be thrilled! Thomas the train room is cute, we just had Thomas the train in our town this weekend and he carries a HUGE following so I think that's a room I'd leave. Your laundry room has way too much stuff in it! Remove everything that you don't need on a day to day basis and store it or hide it somewhere because that room in the picture looks cluttered bad! The kitchen you have too many things on the counters, you're selling your home and you need to show how much counter space you have and by having all that out it is distracting to a buyer. You need more pictures and better pictures would help. I've taken my own photo's and emailed them to my realtor and that's something simple to do but it helps them out and gets pictures you like/want on the web. Otherwise your home is beautiful but if you do nothing else I'd paint that blue!! justmy2cents

Dump the agent.

It's good if you have new pictures with no clutter. Here are some ideas for improvement (please forgive me if you have already done them in your new pics).

First picture: remove the van in the driveway. Subliminal message might be: there is no room in the garage! Plus, it makes for a clean picture of the entire house.

Second picture (back yard shot): this picture alone would make me pass by your house. Where is the appeal? There is no landscaping, and the picnic tables make it look very forlorn. The landscape plantings in the front of the house are attractive, which makes the contrast with the back even greater.

In the kitchen, clear EVERYTHING off the counters and the top of the cabinets. The dish towels and pot holders are particularly distracting. Yes, you need (some of?) that stuff to function, but you are selling a house, not a home.

Second shot of kitchen: once again get rid of ALL the clutter. Try and take the shot so that the tv with its dangling cords is not in the picture. Leave the pictures (I think), but take down the calendar. Take the chair out of the corner. It makes it look like you are short of space.

The murals are absolutely delightful! And if your house had been on the market in my neighborhood 14 years ago, these would have been really enticing, because DS3 LOVED anything to do with Thomas the Tank!

But you can't count on someone moving in who would have a kid the right age who would love it. MOST buyers are going to think: This is a HUGE repaint job. Do it now, rather than driving buyers away. (I suspect that this could be a major cause for no showings.)

Paint the family room a neutral color, including the strips. It needs to be a blank slate. When buyers look at it, they see two four letter words: "more work." When was the picture taken? There is snow outside! Another subliminal message: how long has this house been on the market, which really means, What Is Wrong With It!

The laundry room is a disaster! I don't think it is necessary for it to even be pictured. But, it will have to be cleaned up before showing. Fix the blinds so that they are even on the bottom. (Subliminal message: what else is broken?)

You need to add a picture of the master (if there is one) bathroom. Please make sure the toilet seat AND lid are down!

Also the master bedroom. The bed must be impeccably made, and the wall colors may need to neutralized (based on what I have seen so far).

I know it is really hard to neutralize walls (especially the mural), but don't think of it as your home, think of it as A House that someone will want to stamp with their own personality.

Maybe you could post your new pics here before they go online?

As for the wrong square footage..... I wouldn't have even gotten far enough to check it after going through the pictures. I think your house with the big yard and the layout inside would make a great home, but most people aren't going to see beyond things that are easily fixed (by you; difficult by them!).

If you haven't already, view comps in your neighborhood and pay really close attention to how you feel when you are inside, determine what makes you feel that way and how you might apply that to a buyer in your house. (Not home. House.)

ETA: if you really want to take a chance on Thomas the Tank, you might leave a note that says you will have the room repainted in a color of the seller's (OOPS! buyer's!!) choice before they move in.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bmrbabe,

Venus, try to think of your house now as NOT your house but the buyer's house. As repeated so often on all of the staging threads, depersonalize, get rid of clutter, and neutralize so that THE house appeals to the widest range of buyers. Show off the house, not your stuff. DON'T give a buyer a reason NOT to buy your house.

Keep us posted!

Bmrbabe wrote exactly what I was thinking. Also - when taking the photos - back up - they are much too close.

I just went through some of his other listings - the guy has no clue how to photgraph a house! Go to Realtor.com or one of the other listing website and take a look at the photos and then take your digital and take your own. +

I'm having serious issues with the dead plant at 932 Patty Cove!

For staging - I'm in total agreement with BMRBABE - repaint and declutter. Easy (although a bit painful) to do (and not much money). Remember, with the real estate market as it is, when buyers look at these problems (or, as they view them "work they would have to do to make everything work for them") either money comes off your price, or they walk away because there are a bunch of houses with less work needed. Do not assume people can see through those changes.... I've heard sellers say they don't want to spend the money/time to make the changes - in this market, neither does the buyer... Good luck - and declutter, declutter, declutter....

Venus, I sent you a private message. Letting you know this because when I was new here, I never knew when I had a PM!

Please understand that a lot of buyers like to envision their furniture in your house. If is is to your taste, and not theirs - they will simply turn to the agent - and say ...next.

Neutralize your home with taupes/beiges. Use different shades from a 1 color (usually 4-5 tones) swatch.

Clean - clean up clutter.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: real estate lady,

quote:

it is not always the ones who have been around the longest. It's what they have done in the last year or so,

Excellent advice. Some agents have a knack for getting listings but then don't do much - they must count on other agents to find the properties on the MLS.

Thank you all so much!!

Yes, I have decluttered all of the rooms and we are offering a painting allowance for the blue room. It was a headache to do in the first place, and the hubby picked the "fun house blue" color....I have hated it since we built it! We are going to offer to paint the room for the new owners in their color as well, so they don't have to do it. I just hate to do it now in case they hate that color too...

The pictures were taken the day I was talking to him about listing, and he said he would come back and take more once I got the house in order. Obviously, he didn't, and the pictures I sent him didn't show up anywhere but my outbox. I completely agree with the laundry room, and again have cleaned it up. We have a spa bathroom, why was there a picture of the laundry room in the first place!?

I will talk with the hubby about the backyard and painting other rooms. Thanks again so much everyone!! We have decided to go with another agent and are meeting with one tomorrow night. We may end up meeting with more just in case...

Thank you!!

I would suggest painting now and forget the allowance. The blue is a turn off.

Imo, you should choose a Realtor who is Internet-savvy. We keep hearing that 80 percent of buyers start their search on the internet first, so...you've got to grab them there with your photos & info! Inexcusable that your Realtor had inaccurate information!

Pictures are sooooo important. If your Realtor doesn't suggest hiring a professional photographer, then YOU should suggest it. (If the Realtor provides the photographer, it is part of the commission you pay the Realtor, you don't have to pay it out of pocket...at least that's the way it worked w/ our Realtor.) It is AMAZING...the difference professional photos make! If you can't have a professional do it, then read up on it & do your own...no one is going to care more about how your house looks than YOU do.

I think you are very wise to be looking at other Realtors.

I also agree with the advice to go ahead & paint...in this market with buyers having such choice, we as sellers have to do everything we can to make things appealing to the buyers. You will not go wrong with a good neutral pulled out of some of your upholstery or artwork...

It is likely that buyers will repaint, yes, but you want to paint in colours that the buyers can "live with" for a while. Colours that are too "personal" have more of a chance of turning off the buyer.

Thanks all! I guess we will be painting the 18' walls. I know, it's a necessary evil, and you are all right (I know everyone likes hearing that!)

I will begin the agent search once again, losing valuable marketing time...oh, wait, I didn't have any of that to begin with....!

Thanks again, you guys are great!

Venus, one thing that really bothers me about your experience is the apparent unconcern your Realtor has for your situation & your listing.

Now, anyone makes mistakes. But you should NOT have to be pounding at the door to get those mistakes CORRECTED. (And of course it would be better if the mistakes were not there in the first place.)

You are moving in the right directions...remember, this is a BUSINESS deal and YOU are the boss. The Realtor works for YOU.

Go get 'em, you've got all of us here on the board in your corner!