Some of you Listing Agents need to do better!
As a listing agent, I believe it's important to make the property easy to buy. That's because you're trying to sell it. Because I also work with buyers, I've been spending some time on the other side of the transaction lately. Here are some things that I've run across over and over when attempting to bring you a buyer.
1. Incomplete MLS info. The buyer needs as much info about the property as possible. If we don't know anything about it, why would we buy it?
2. Answer your phone. Since you didn't put much info in the MLS, I'll be calling you. If you don't return calls for several days, don't expect my buyer to stick around and wait.
3. Accurate showing and keybox info please! I'm standing in the rain with a buyer and we can't get inside the property because there's no keybox, or the keybox is empty, or the PTS is wrong, and of course, you don't answer your phone.
4. Terrible pictures. I see this over and over and over. There's a "luxury" expert who seems to get a lot of listings in Seattle and she rarely bothers to post many pictures. I'm looking at one of her condo listings now and there's an exterior shot, two photos of a toilet with the seat up and a photo of the building's fitness center. How does she keep getting listings?
5. Attached docs. If there are docs I need, take the time to attach them to the MLS listing.
In short, do your job. Don't make the buyer's agent beg for info that you should have already provided. Make the property easy to show, and easy to sell. This seems like common sense but it's amazing how many sellers and landlords hire agents who seem to be working against them.
Comments
4) Photos. Professional photos are great, but keep them real, please! Too many of the professional photos are exaggerated High Definition images or extreme wide-angle shots, making the rooms look unusually large or otherwise not 'real'. That only disappoints the buyer when they tour the home and the rooms are tiny.
5) On-line documents. It's my preference to not place the Seller Property Transfer Disclosure Statement on-line for anyone to access. It's private information which, in my opinion, should only be shared with the most serious of potential buyers. Sharing private disclosures (including historic defects which have been corrected) without the opportunity to explain some of the checked items, could lead to incorrect assumptions by buyers and buyer's agents. That might discourage a sale, rather than promote a sale. I make it a habit to respond promptly to agent inquiries, so getting access to private documents takes just a phone call or an email. The personal contact with a buyer's agent provides me the opportunity to explain, in detail, any issue on the disclosure form.
Thanks for your thoughts.