How do you know it's time to get a different realtor?

Question

We've had nothing but positive feedback on our house and we've had prospective buyers, but somehow it always falls through. We just had an Open House and there was a couple interested but when our realtor called them to follow up, she can't seem to get them on the phone or get them to call her back. I'm thinking either she doesn't really know how to read people and this couple wasn't really interested in buying our house or maybe she's been pushy with them which drove them off, I don't know. Maybe I'm way off base. How do you know if you should replace your realtor?

Answer 1

How long has your house been on the market? Generally, when you’re choosing comparable sales to help you price your home, you don’t want to go back more than three month so if you’ve been on the market longer than that, it’s time to have your agent get you a new comparable market analysis so you can make sure your price is in line with what has been selling.

Also ask her to show you what homes in your area are under contract. This will show you at what price homes are getting offers, since that’s your goal. In any market conditions, price is the number one reason your home won’t sell.

As for the people not calling her back, my guy says they either had their own agent (and your agent forgot to ask them about that) so they didn’t call her back or they’re in that group of weirdoes who like buying houses without professional advice. Some people refuse to talk to real estate agents, and they may just have been of the mindset that your agent was trying to get them to work with her.

Answer 2

Don't be so qucik to be harsh on the realtor .... Times are very difficult for the real estate market right now .

Your realtor can't make someone call her back and if she calls them and they do not return her calls ..she can't keep on calling them as that becomes harassment and she could lose her license .

IF she is advertising , having open houses .... then there is not too much more that she can do .....

However; she "could" send flyers of your home to all the other real estate offices in the area and offer like $1,000 to the Selling Agent as an incentive .... Of course, that comes out of your fees at closing ; BUT I imagine it would be worth $1,000 additional to get your home SOLD .....

Also; Have her send flyers to residents of the various apartment complexes in your area .... MANY times a renter does not realize that they "Might" have end up paying less in the long run by buying a home instead of living in an apartment .... and their lease may just be expiring in time to buy YOUR home .....

As far as the couple who came thru your Open House .... don't count on them if they are not responding . There are a lot of people who have nothing better to do than to go and visit with Open Houses .....

Good Luck on Your Sale ...

PS: Make sure she has it on the various Internet locations such as Infotube.net .... Kijiji.com ..... Zillow.com etc .......

Answer 3

If your realtor is doing his/her best to sell the home, making contacts, showing it, etc., that's about all that can be expected in this market. It took ours 6 months to sell with a realtor that was working his butt off. The previous six months the former realtor did nothing but place a sign in the yard and one ad in the paper. Not trying to sell in my opinion.  People are taking their time looking at lots of properties and waiting until they can get a bargain. Bad time to sell.

Answer 4

If you have been following the economy and housing market crisis, these are tough times for sellers.  My parents tried to sell their house last year and literally there was close to 60 or some shows with only couple of people interested.  More than probably it is not the realtor and it is the market.  If the realtor is treating you with no respect or ignoring you, then you should change, otherwise I'd say hang on.  It will take a while to sell it in the current market.

Answer 5

I have a feeling that your Realtor is either very, very new or has been in the business too long.

Is this a part-time gig for that Realtor or is it her full time job?  That makes a huge difference.

If you are getting lots of showings and no offers, then most likely it's the price of the house.  There is a very fine line in pricing it to where people feel comfortable putting in a lower offer and a price where they won't even bother.

If she is calling the buyers directly, it is VERY common that they won't return a call...but other Realtors most always do b/c they want you to do the same courtesy.

However, if they REALLY like the house and it's priced well...nothing that a listing agent does is going to drive a buyer away from a sale, b/c good properties are hard to find, and think about it...if you really, really loved a home, would you not buy it b/c the listing agent was bad?  

Of course you wouldn't.