Buyers Can’t Buy If They Can’t Get In Your Home

Maybe You Should Test The System

There’s currently a fair sized pile of printed out property reports on my desk that have been marked up and highlighted from last weeks showings. Almost thirty percent of them have a big black slash across the page. The agents who were supposed to be marketing the properties were unreachable by phone and email. Needless to say, my buyers didn’t get to see the inside of those homes. Was one of them your home?

While attempting to make showing appointments last weekend, I was met with dead email addresses and full voicemail boxes. Sometimes multiple messages were left without even a courtesy return call to acknowledge the message while they attempted to contact the owner or tenant. I have yet to hear back from some of the agents.

If you’re considering selling or maybe even currently selling real estate it might be a good idea to call the appointment phone number for a trial run, especially on the weekend or after hours. Maybe throw a test email out there to see how long it takes for your agent to actually find it.

In this day and age of technology there is absolutely no excuse for a call to go unreturned, an email to be unanswered and showing appointments to not get set. Just about every human being on earth has a cell phone strapped to their hip and should be able to communicate in one way or another with consumers and fellow agents.

Sadly, the majority of the properties I was attempting to show were short sales. It might have not occurred to anyone selling a short sale that if their agent isn’t communicating with agents to get them into the home they’ll probably not be able to communicate effectively with a bank to get the short sale approved.

As I looked through the pile of properties that didn’t get shown it made me sad for the owners that are probably holding on by a thread, just hoping for a buyer. They don’t even realize that the buyers can’t get inside the home. It makes me sad for the responsible, dedicated real estate agents who get a bad rap because of the slackers who aren’t doing their job.

When you, the consumer, sign an agreement to list your home for sale, the agency you choose owes you duties to act in your best interest and actually produce an environment that is conducive to selling your home. That would include answering the phone or returning calls. It’s a violation of your agreement and ethics that they are unable to be contacted by potential buyers or real estate agents with buyers.

You, the consumer, need to protect yourself and your real estate. Don’t be afraid to test the systems to make sure you and your home are being properly represented.

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Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area.  Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor.  If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.

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Tags: appointments, buyer, real estate, real estate agent, Seller, Seller Tips, Tips