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How One Act of Disrespect Killed the Real Estate Deal

Remember the GOLDEN RULE? It states that you should "Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you." Carl’s phone rang, and he picked it up. On the other end was an agent who sounded pleasantly asked whether she could make an appointment to show the inside of a home Carl had for sale. The agent specified a time to drop by the following day and Carl told the agent that he would call to confirm the appointment with the occupant of the property. Carl called, confirmed the appointment, and called the agent back the same day. The agent had given him two phone numbers to call back and he called both numbers. Each time he called, a voicemail came up and prompted him to leave a message. Wanting to be thorough, Carl left messages on her numbers in case she checked either phone.

Carl finally got through after a second phone call on one of the phone numbers and a live person (not the agent though) picked up the phone. He left a message with that individual to have the agent call him back. The person indicated that the agent was out showing homes and would return the phone call. Carl NEVER received a call back! Whoaaa! Is Carl supposed to be cool about this? Isn't this rude?!

Can you count on one hand only the number of times agents do this? Why are some agents so unprofessional and do not return the phone call when they are the one who initiated the request for an appointment? I find this to be rather rude. The proper thing would be for them to have the common courtesy to call back to either confirm or cancel the appointment. Don't just ignore it. All it takes is a phone call to reply either way. That way, the occupant would be aware of the situation too. These are the same people that make appointments and never show. If the roles were reversed, I'm sure the agent would not be pleased if they were in Carl’s shoes. Maybe they had forgotten the Golden Rule...whatever the case may be they should learn to show some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

What has been your method for dealing with agents who are like this? In my informal survey of this issue, I’ve gotten a multitude of responses on how best to address this. One person suggested calling the agent's broker to complain about this, however, they also felt the broker most likely wouldn’t even care. Another advised calling the agent’s two phones and saying you are cancelling the showing since you did not hear from her/him. Some suggested sending an email to the agent who did not call back to notify the agent that the messages were left on their two phones to see if you get an explanation. Others suggested that in the future, practice preventive medicine by not allowing the agents to come see the home unless they have confirmed the appointment beforehand. One response even suggested treating other agents the way THEY want to be treated. So, in the circumstance described, it is obvious the agent likes to be treated poorly...otherwise she would not have treated others so badly! One day, she’ll get a nice dose of her own medicine.

Many advised just letting go of the hassle and moving on to more productive activities. Who knows what happened to the agent—maybe they had a sick child and forgot to call back, maybe they had a flat or maybe they didn't get the message because by some miracle, both of their phones ran out of battery or got left at home, or maybe they are simply really rude. It’s easier just to give them the benefit of the doubt and not let it get to you. Rude people are not worth the negative energy that they bring about.

For situations like this, it is the sellers who also are harmed by these types of agents since the homes represented by these agents are not getting the exposure they should be getting. There are many occasions where other agents need responses to questions before they submit an offer or where they need to schedule an appointment to show the home, however, because the agent representing the seller is not responding, nothing happens. This type of unreachable agent could be the reason why the buyers can’t get into the homes that would have suited them perfectly if their agent had taken them to it.

Considering what we have discussed, the take away idea is that we all need to maintain a professional image and be respectful of other people's time. Eventually, agents such as the one described in this story will find that their attitude and lack of professionalism will choke their ability to work with buyers and sellers and they will end up losing in the long run. The formula for successful relationships starts with respect of someone else's...(you fill in the blank)…we should treat others as we would want to be treated.

Article Source: http://www.noviceinvesting.com/Article

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