By: Julius F Zatopek III –
Broker/Owner – Zatopek Properties
When real estate agents show your property, wouldn’t it be
nice to know what their clients really thought?
Wouldn’t it be nice to know that they actually showed up? Wouldn’t it be nice if they showed up during
their scheduled time? Wouldn’t it be
nice if they scheduled the showing within a one-hour window, versus two or
three?
These are just some of the complaints sellers typically
voice when they have their property listed for sale and an agent schedules an
appointment.
Wouldn’t it be nice
to know what the agent’s clients’ really thought about your property? Maybe not!
However, it would be nice if all
real estate agents would extend the professional courtesy to the listing agent,
and more so to the seller, and give some type of feedback within a reasonable
amount of time (i.e. 12 hours or less) after showing the property to their
clients; especially when asked. Most
listing brokers use some form of automated system to schedule appointments and
send feedback requests via email or text to showing agents. When the showing agent does not respond, the system
generally sends them another request – sometimes up to four times in a 24-hour
period. If the showing agent does not
respond to any of the requests, it is not only irritating to the seller and
listing agent; it also displays a total lack of professional courtesy and lack
of professionalism by the showing agent. Any feedback, whether positive or negative,
is very much appreciated by the seller and listing agent. Even totally honest feedback – for
example: I had a property listed with a
gallery of windows from the master bedroom t o the kitchen, which ironically
extended right past the front door. An
agent showed the property to her clients who informed her they like to walk
around in the nude and would be afraid they may offend the neighbors who could
see into the gallery! Obviously, there
is nothing the seller can do to correct the situation – however, at least they
knew exactly why their property did not appeal to these particular buyers - and
we all had good laugh, as well!
Wouldn’t it be nice
to know if the agent actually showed up with their buyers? Believe it or not, it is against the Houston
Association of Realtors MLS Rules & Regulations for an agent to leave a
business card, unless the listing agent informs the showing agent is asked to
do so. Without going into detail about
the reasoning, I actually agree with the rule and never ask showing agents to
leave business cards; even though some irresponsible and unprofessional agents
who do not keep up with the rules & regulations still leave them! Anyhow, there are multiple other ways to know
if the agent showed up or not, but nothing beats feedback from the agent as
mentioned earlier.
Wouldn’t it be nice
if showing agents showed up during their scheduled time? And, wouldn’t it be nice if they scheduled
the showing within a one-hour window, versus two or three? Without harping on the unprofessionalism
of some showing agents, of course it would nice for showing agents to show up
on time and within a one-hour window. It
is not very difficult to plan your showings and have a pretty good idea of when
you may arrive. Those that don’t
obviously struggle with organization and planning – and if that’s the case, I
feel sorry for their client since this agent is going to be handling one of, it
not the largest financial investments for them.
I would like to have someone with that type of responsibility on my
behalf to be organized and now how to plan.
However, in defense of most agents, sometimes things do happen and they
will fall behind schedule. If that is
the case, most will call the showing service and inform them of their new
scheduled time. One other note about the
one-hour window – many sellers feel the agent will be showing the property
within this window – and most times they do – however, it merely means the
agent will arrive sometime within that scheduled hour.
I made mention many times to the
unprofessionalism of agents in the above article. I do want to say that this is typically not
the norm. Most real estate agents I know
are extremely professional and will go out of their way to extend their
professionalism to all parties in a transaction and within our industry – and
to all of you – THANK YOU!
For more
commentary from Julius, pick up a copy of his book entitled “The
Truths and Myths of Real Estate” – available at LuLu.com at: http://www.lulu.com/shop/julius-zatopek/the-truths-myths-of-real-estate/paperback/product-21118216.html
