Samantha

I wanted to respond to the question where the user asked if I keep my word and did I break a contract or use a realtor without signing a contract etc - my word is as good as gold and it always has been. I had a realtor and an agreement that I adhered too until the agreement expired. Once it expired I decided to list it on my own using flat fee mls - that is done through a realtor (the only way you can get on the mls) and with an agreement that when a buyer comes with a realtor I will pay a commission. I have always honored my agreements and I cannot understand how that reader interpreted otherwise. I am no longer under contract with the initial realtor because my contract expired, I re-signed with that original realtor over and over and the house didn't sell. This time I decided to try something new. As for price, people keep writing back and saying that it must not be priced correctly. I tried to make it clear that I had showings when it was priced 20k, 40k and even 80k above this price! I not only had showings but I had second looks and very serious people who didn't wind up buying it but were serious about it. Now, it is 20k less than when it was with the realtor last and now it is in a whole different price range and other houses have gotten contracts during the past week and I didn't get a phone call... it is on the mls just as it was before so you would think that realtors are letting their clients know about my home as they are showing them those houses that have interested them so much, prior to the people putting a contract on those four homes to which I refer - wouldn't it be standard practice for each of those realtors to acquaint their buyers with the few homes on the market other than that one and likely a showing would result? Showings were good before my contract with this realtor expired (they were decent but he didn't show the house once himself). Now no showings? How do you really justify that? You say marketing (I know, typical agent speak - where are you marketing your home beyond this) but you know what, the ad in the local paper (the only marketing that my agent did that I haven't done) didn't reel anyone in - it was the agents, working together (you scratch my back and I 'll scratch yours) that brought the potential buyers to my home, other realtors would want to expose my home to their buyers because the buyer might benefit AND because that realtor knows that my former realtor would reciprocate. It isn't marketing. The MLS, realtor.com, Zillow, google and yahoo and 90 total websites have my home on it as well as craigslist. My photos look beautiful and very similar to those of my former agent, my description is flawless. I know realtors, because it is their livelihood would like to attribute this lull to something that I am not doing but the absolute only thing I am not doing is I am not putting it in my local paper as my realtor received no calls from that venue. - Wed Aug 20 2008, 17:58