Recently in our office we have come across a situation where another local agent is approaching our clients with the promise of buyers who are waiting to see the clients homes. A few of our clients, have signed listing agreements with this agent very excited by the prospect of a buyer who is particularly interested in seeing their homes, only to find out that there is no buyer.
This particular agent has knocked on most doors of properties we have listed in the last couple of months with the same promise. It makes me sad to see that our industry has to stoop so low just to canvass business. As a home owner and a past seller myself, I know how emotional this time can be in someones life, and how exciting it is when you think there is a chance that the property might sell. It is a real let down to expect someone to come look only to have no one show up.
This got me thinking of a few other tactics that some agents use to try to canvass business. In particular, often in our mail boxes we receive letters from agents boasting about how good the market is, how many buyers there are, what little stock they have, or how they have people looking in your particular street or neighbourhood. Often some of my landlords receive these documents and call me up very excited wanting to take advantage of this and list their properties for sale.
Being in the industry, I know that these letters nine times out of ten are just marketing and there is no substance behind them. Often even while prices go down and buyers are scarce, agents will STILL send these marketing letters out and find the odd person who believes them.
I write this blog to make others aware. I ask you to always question the agents motives. If an agent tells you they have a buyer (and it seems like they may be just making an attempt to secure you business), then ask them as many questions as you can – what is the buyers name, where are they from, what are they looking for, have they been qualified etc. Make your own judgements, but always question the motive.
This is not to say that some letters are not genuine. Often as an agent, buyers will approach me regarding a particular property or a particular type of property and I need to send off a letter to the owner.
If your house is already listed for sale with an agent, and you are approached by another agent who “has a buyer”, ask the agent to contact your listing agent, they can do a conjunction. This is where the agents work together on the sale and share the commission. This is very common practice in the industry. For more information on how conjunctions work, please contact our office and speak with Sue Brown, Sales Consultant.
Are You Being Sold Lies?
Recently in our office we have come across a situation where another local agent is approaching our clients with the promise of buyers who are waiting to see the clients homes. A few of our clients, have signed listing agreements with this agent very excited by the prospect of a buyer who is particularly interested in seeing their homes, only to find out that there is no buyer.
This particular agent has knocked on most doors of properties we have listed in the last couple of months with the same promise. It makes me sad to see that our industry has to stoop so low just to canvass business. As a home owner and a past seller myself, I know how emotional this time can be in someones life, and how exciting it is when you think there is a chance that the property might sell. It is a real let down to expect someone to come look only to have no one show up.
This got me thinking of a few other tactics that some agents use to try to canvass business. In particular, often in our mail boxes we receive letters from agents boasting about how good the market is, how many buyers there are, what little stock they have, or how they have people looking in your particular street or neighbourhood. Often some of my landlords receive these documents and call me up very excited wanting to take advantage of this and list their properties for sale.
Being in the industry, I know that these letters nine times out of ten are just marketing and there is no substance behind them. Often even while prices go down and buyers are scarce, agents will STILL send these marketing letters out and find the odd person who believes them.
I write this blog to make others aware. I ask you to always question the agents motives. If an agent tells you they have a buyer (and it seems like they may be just making an attempt to secure you business), then ask them as many questions as you can – what is the buyers name, where are they from, what are they looking for, have they been qualified etc. Make your own judgements, but always question the motive.
This is not to say that some letters are not genuine. Often as an agent, buyers will approach me regarding a particular property or a particular type of property and I need to send off a letter to the owner.
If your house is already listed for sale with an agent, and you are approached by another agent who “has a buyer”, ask the agent to contact your listing agent, they can do a conjunction. This is where the agents work together on the sale and share the commission. This is very common practice in the industry. For more information on how conjunctions work, please contact our office and speak with Sue Brown, Sales Consultant.