More Reasons To Pick Your Tucson Agent Carefully
July 30, 2010
I showed four houses yesterday.
Well, I tried to, anyway.
The first house, the door, ah… broke when I opened it. Suddenly, the door and the hinges – not so much connected anymore. But these things happen. I could still get the door closed and locked, so we took a peek around, locked it up, called the agent to let her know, and went on our merry way.
House two was unremarkable. Well, other than the do-it-yourself acoustic ceiling made entirely of foam and the creepy dead bug filled basement.
House three was a thinker. You have to get into the courtyard to get to the lockbox and to the front door. But the directions said to open the gate to the courtyard… from the inside. Because the courtyard gate was locked. Once we got through that brainteaser, I opened the lockbox and there was no key inside.
Whoopsie. Guess we’re not going into that one. Quick call to the agent, and back in the car to house four.
House four was another riddle. Four doors, all in one corner: two wooden doors, each with a metal screen door. That’s 8 locks, for those of you counting at home: one for each doorknob and deadbolt. This lockbox had a key inside, so that was nice. Except it only unlocked one screen door, and not the wooden door behind it. Guess we’re not getting into that house either.
It really isn’t that hard to be a good real estate agent. Put a key in the lockbox. Make sure it works. Visit occasionally and make sure the place isn’t falling apart. Etcetera.
People, pick your agent carefully. Demand competence, some common sense. At a minimum.
The Effect of Great Marketing – And Good Pricing
July 26, 2010
I have this listing that I sold in 31 days in an area where the average market time is 145 days. I’m pretty proud of that one. I was very careful in my marketing approach – that could have been a very difficult home to sell. So I picked an approach, made a cohesive plan, and then marketed the crap out of it.
And it worked. We got a great price on it, and it sold quickly.
But there’s only so much that my marketing can do. If my seller had listed it at a higher price, I’m certain we’d still be sitting here, trolling for a buyer.
Great marketing can only do so much if the price is wrong. I do believe I got my seller more money than some other agents would have because of my efforts. I mean, I could be wrong, but I know I blew the pants off of the marketing on similar homes for sale in the area.
But if they hadn’t priced appropriately, all my efforts would have been for naught.
Buyers aren’t stupid. They’re looking around, they’ve become educated in houses and values after touring lots of homes. I can make them pique their interest in your home with my marketing, but without that proper pricing, we’re wasting everyone’s time and money. And I promise you’re gonna get real tired of keeping your house clean as it sits day after day on the market…
It’ll Be All Right
July 7, 2010
I was interviewing for a listing the other day, and as we chatted, I mentioned that I don’t do dual agency as a Realtor – I won’t represent both buyer and seller on the same transaction. The home owner was surprised – out of the 4-5 agents he had interviewed, I was the only one who said I didn’t do that. The other agents got to that part and somehow said dual agency would be okay, that “it would all be all right.”
Yeah. It’s not all right in my book.
I don’t double-end deals – I won’t represent both the buyer AND seller on the same transaction. The law allows me to do so, but – in my humble opinion – there’s no way to do so and provide what I believe is appropriate representation to both parties.
When I represent only one party, they get all my fiduciary duties: confidentiality, accountability, reasonable skill and care, loyalty, obedience, and disclosure. It’s the same duties that a lawyer has to his client – it creates an agency relationship.
When you represent both sides in the same transaction, things get murky. I know confidential information about both people, but I can’t let the other parties know what I know. In fact, the agency disclosure explicitly states:
There will be conflicts in the duties of loyalty, obedience, disclosure, and confidentiality.
So why would a buyer or seller ever agree to less than full representation where conflicts of those agent’s duties are expected?
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