In a slow market, your real estate agent can be as important as the admitting officer at a hospital with only a few empty beds.
Antagonize your agent, or just not be on great terms with him or her, and you may not have many serious buyers visiting your house. Come 5 p.m., when the buyers want to see just one more house and then call it quits, the agent will bring them to Mrs. Jones` place and not yours-because the agent and Mrs. Jones are on the best of terms.
In a brisk market, agents would worry that if your house listing expired before your house was sold, you would sign up with someone else in
frustration. In a slow market, agents who lose listings will have plenty of other listings to pick up.
Agents do push the houses of certain individuals-homeowners who are cooperative and courteous, and whose houses are reasonably priced and in excellent condition.
If you haven`t been cooperative, agents may not bring around as many buyers. Agents want to sell as many houses as possible, as fast as possible;
so your interests and theirs seem to be identical. But if you haven`t followed their advice, they are going to be less enthusiastic about you and your sale. Pet peeves
For example, you may have ignored their advice to keep your pets outside when prospects come. The agent may not know whether a buyer loves pets or is allergic to them or afraid of them. But why take the chance of bringing the buyer to your place when there are a dozen others available-without cats, dogs, gerbils and so forth.
Agents witness buy-and-sell transactions every day, so they do know something about selling real estate. So, how do you help and not hinder your agent?
– Make your house available. Agents complain that sellers who insist that they want to sell fast often aren`t available when buyers want to drop by. A transferee may be in the area for just a few days and have only two hours left to see your place. Sure, you have good excuses-you just returned home from work, you`re tired, the house is a mess, neighbors are coming over for coffee Just bear in mind that Billy Buyers isn`t going to want your house if he doesn`t see it. And Priscilla Prospect may be willing to wait a day before seeing your house, but, in the meantime, she may see another house and fall in love with it and buy it. If she had seen your house first, she might have fallen in love with it instead.
If your agent knows that he or she has only a 50 percent or 75 percent chance of getting your permission to bring over a buyer who is on a tight schedule, the agent is going to phone a client where the chances are closer to 100 percent.
– Solicit the agent`s advice. Many brokers are afraid to give frank advice because they`ve learned how sensitive homeowners can be. Your job is to persuade the agent to be as frank and open as possible-even to tell you such things as ”your house looks tired,” ”the wallpaper is too old-fashioned,” ”the abstract paintings on the wall will scare away buyers,” ”that collection of unicorn figures on the mantelpiece makes the house too unusual.”
– Pay attention to the agent`s advice. Maybe you don`t have the extra money to rent new furniture, or you don`t want to board the cat or dog you love. But listen to your agent carefully. Agents see a lot of houses. They can readily identify any reasons your house won`t be among the winners in the house beauty contest.
Here`s an analogy: Perhaps the single most critical public-health problem is that patients don`t do what their physicians tell them to do. They don`t stop smoking, don`t watch their diets, don`t exercise more and don`t take their medications. Why not? Sometimes it`s sheer human cussedness. Yet there`s evidence that patients who don`t follow their physicians` advice don`t live as long as patients who do.
Similarly, it stands to reason that sellers who don`t follow their agents` advice don`t sell their homes as quickly as sellers who do.
If an agent suggests that you repaint the living room, remove your collection of old magazines from the den, rid your house of animal odors, etc., either do it or have a good reason why not, and check that the agent agrees that it`s a good reason.
And if agents tell you not to accompany them and the buyers as they romp around your house, or not to volunteer any information, do as they say-unless you have good reason. (A good reason is this: You overhear the agent tell the buyers that the fireplace is only a decorative fireplace when it`s a working fireplace.)
– Be courteous, both to the agent and the buyers. Buyers, especially, can be rude and insensitive. They may criticize your house to your face (”the wallpaper clashes with the carpet”), thinking that this is what they`re supposed to do to get you to drop your price. Or they may be inconsiderate-flushing toilets, opening closets and peeking under rugs without
permission. One buyer, wanting to see whether an attic was insulated, even broke off a piece of the ceiling tile to peer inside!
Agents won`t behave as boorishly as buyers, but some of them can be a pain in the neck, too-leaving water running and lights on when they leave, treating you as if you were tenants and not homeowners when they visit.
As much as possible, smile and be friendly. Pretend that you are tenants- that your self-esteem isn`t on the line, that you won`t be offended by any comments from the buyers that you overhear.
– Tell the agent everything. These days, almost everyone is suing almost everyone else. And that includes buyers suing sellers who didn`t reveal house defects, such as a little water collecting on the basement floor after a heavy rain. If you mislead your agent, and your agent misleads the buyer, both of you can find yourselves in very deep water.
– Ask the agent to tell you everything. What did the buyers say? What didn`t they like? What did they like? Did they think the price was too high?
Is the market picking up? Are mortgage rates going down? Should you lower your asking price?
– Keep in touch with your agent, in a positive way. Be in regular communication, but don`t be a pest, a nag. Do call your agent every two weeks or so. Ask if more advertisements are scheduled to run. Ask when there will be another open house. And ask if there is anything additional you can do.
