Real estate agents should avoid buying a listing

admin — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:37:35 +0000

What does it mean to “buy a listing”?

Buying a listing as it relates to real estate agents and their careers,
means taking the listing at a price considerably higher than the homes
market analysis indicates the home is worth; with the seller’s full
knowledge that the desired price is too high for the current market.
Agreeing to take this type of listing is often called “buying the listing”.

Agents who “buy listings” or agree to list properties higher than the
property is worth are not doing the sellers any favors and are most
likely newer agents or agents who are not enjoying success in their
business. These agents fall victim to magical thinking, the belief
that even though the property is too high, somehow a buyer will
magically appear and pay more than the home is worth. Or, they are usually not confident in their own ability to procure and then sell good salable listings and have
no real valuable marketing plan to offer home sellers.

Successful agents understand that when sellers desired price has
absolutely no chance of being obtained, listing the property will only
result in disappointment and frustration to the seller and
themselves. If the seller is unable or unwilling to list at the
correct price, the realtor needs to politely decline the listing
stating their reasons.

Buying a listing does not result in a commission check and it will
cost you time and money you may never recover.

Learn how to say no to a listing!

admin — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:16:51 +0000

If you are new you may not believe this but there will come a time in your career when you say no to a home seller. Even though you will hear that you must “list to last”, successful real estate agents learn that you do not have to “list everything to last”. You must learn to say no and walk away from listing opportunities and you must learn to identify those listings that you should walk away from.

Unreasonable sellers

The first step of deciding to walk away from a listing opportunity is to recognize when you have an unreasonable seller. If the seller is being unreasonable on pricing, or the seller has a strict guideline of when the home to be shown or they expect you to market their home how they want and not how you know works, all of these are qualities of an unreasonable seller and are sufficient reasons to say no to the listing.

Uncooperative seller

This seller will seem to be disinterested in the entire listing and sales process. It may be that they are selling a home because of a distressed financial situation. They may be unwilling to leave utilities on for the convenience of buyers to not only view, but also inspect the home. These sellers will be unresponsive to your requests for documents that their lender needs to consider a short sale. Keeping the home cleaned and ready to show, making minor repairs are not high on the seller’s priority list.

When you are faced with these types of sellers you will want to turn down the listing. You should be honest and genuine with the seller letting them know that your decision to decline the listing is in everyone’s best interest. Saying no keeps you freed up to handle money making opportunities and not bogged down with unrealistic demands from an owner of a house with no chance of selling.

Photo credit bysmlp.co.uk

Real estate career » turn down listings

Real estate agents should avoid buying a listing

Learn how to say no to a listing!