How can sellers make sure they get a listing agent who works hard for them?
Sunday, October 21, 2012 at 11:53AM
Brian Donlyuk - Vista Filare Specialist
How can sellers make sure they get a listing agent who works hard for them? Interview carefully and ask to see copies of the agent's past listings. Watch for these listing flaws:

[caption id="attachment_1840" align="alignright" width="150"] Restricted access to home for sale hurts sellers[/caption]

  1. Restricted showings or making appointments difficult to obtain. Unless the seller has instructed the listing agent that there be no showings, denying buyers access to the home is not to seller's benefit. It has become the habit of some agents to advertise listings as "drive by only". This is common when selling apartments and similar investment properties where the buyer will not live in the unit and there is nothing wrong with the system. The drive by only rule does not make sense for condos or single family homes because buyers want to see the home before writing an offer. If a stream of buyers at various hours is not desirable due to seller's circumstances or a tenant-related difficulty, restricted days and hours should accommodate both seller and buyer. Who will write an offer without seeing the home? Buyers who must speculate about the condition and thus will lowball on price. The chance that the contract gets cancelled right after the buyer gets to see the home is fairly good. This strategy is never in seller's best interest!

  2. Listing agent is unavailable to schedule showings. Sellers should find out before listing their home, how the agent intends to handle showings. The Orange County Association of Realtors mandates that only electronic lockboxes be used, no combo lockbox. Out of area agents often place combo boxes which require the buyer's agent to phone, text or email to get a combo code from the listing agent if the agent does not post the code in agent remarks. What happens if the agent takes the weekend off? No showing because nobody can get in. The home sits on market longer than necessary.

  3.  Only posting one photo. A picture is worth a 1000 words. Photos should be flattering to the property. Close the toilet seat! It's listing photo class 101.

  4.  A one line description of the home in the multiple listing service. Any property deserves more.


Call me to find out how I serve Orange County home sellers with their best interest in mind.

Article originally appeared on vista filare (http://www.vistafilare.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.