Today was the first time in my 7 year real estate career where I wanted to reach across the table, slap the seller, and give him several pieces of my mind with a few choice words... Boy, was it hard to restrain myself! I ended up just gathering my things, wished him luck, and walked out, but I did get him with one last jab as I walked out. Here's what happened.
I got a call yesterday about 5pm. This seller wanted me to come meet him right there and then that evening. First, I'm not a "Pop-Tart" Realtor who can drop everything and run out the door with the snap of a finger. Once you give them that control, they'll have it the entire time you're working together. I suggested two other times, neither of which worked for him, and his attitude was "I guess you don't have time and we need to do something." And let me preface this with saying, he gave me one option and then said he was leaving town for over a week, but wanted to meet before leaving town.
I finally suggested this morning at 8:30am. Calling at 5pm last night (with my Father-in-law in town) didn't give me much time to prepare for an appt first thing the next morning, but I did stop a couple of things in order to make it happen before he left town.
I got to the Condo, and was greeted by a massive cloud of smoke. WOW, was it bad!! Not only do I suffer from migraines in which cigarette smoke is a big contributer, but I'm 8 months pregnant trying to hold my breath as much as possible. The man that comes to the door looks to be about 5 foot nothin' and about 70 years. He takes me around the Condo and every time I ask him about updates or repairs, he shrugs. He says he bought it from him father who was elderly and too old to do much. I'm thinking, if this guy is 70, his dad must have been REALLY old!
Anyway, we sit down to talk about numbers, the average Condo that has SOLD in the area in the last 8 months sold for about $61k. The average Condo for SALE is currently listed at about $82k. The SOLD properties sold, on average, in 88 days at 90.68% of asking price. The ACTIVE properties are currently active on the market for 105 days. The Active properties have already had price reductions of about 2%.
Looking at these numbers tells me that the current sellers are not looking at any of the sold activity and are grabbing numbers out "of the air" for lack of keeping this clean. The seller has already bought a property in Oklahoma and wants to sell immediately. I explained to him that if his goal is to actually sell his property and to sell it quick, we needed to price according to the sold prices and not the currently active prices since the active prices aren't moving.
He raised his voice at me saying that I can't come into his home and tell him he needs to sell for such and such amount when he wants such and such amount. I hadn't even told him the price I was thinking yet. Everything had been in general terms at that point. I reminded him that a seller can price their property at whatever they want, but if the buyers don't like the price, and if the appraisers can't appraise that high, it's not going to sell. He reiterated that his property was worth way more than any of the others, and he would only look at this one particular property as a true comp, and it sold for $88,600. I reminded him that an appraiser must turn in at least 3 comparables and sometimes up to 5.
He got a little irrate, and I thought to myself, "Donna, why bother fighting for this? He's not happy now, he wasn't happy when you didn't jump and meet him last night, he's never going to be happy no matter what you do for him. Get up and walk away."
I sat there for a second, and then just reached across the table and gathered all my paperwork. He tried to reach for the piece of paper with the questions he was supposed to get answered by the HOA, but I wasn't going to leave him any information to help him with whomever he ends up working with.
As I started walking towards the door, I turned around and said one final thing, "This place smells! How do you expect to sell it when most buyers will just turn around and walk out!" Yes, I know, shame on me, but I'm 8 months pregnant and I'm allowed to say it how it is!!
Donna .... Good for you. If you had taken that listing youwould have been fighting the seller every day....It ain't worth it.
Sean Allen
Sean, I know, and at this stage, it ain't worth fighting over a $70k condo. If it was in a higher price range, I might have folded my hands, smiled, and asked him for his opinions on things. In this price range, there is nothing to look at but the comps.
Linda, That's exactly why I don't jump when someone says to, and Thank you for the Congrats!
Donna,
Sounds like you made a good business decision, you know it wasn't meant to be. Btw, I love your exit...:)
Shucks. I don't know why you even walked into the unit. The cloud of smoke would have sent me away without any talk about price.
Well done, I would have done the same thing, especially in this market. Listings tend to be a dime a dozen right now, there's no need to work with a seller who doesn't respect your professional advice.
Makes me feel like my day was not so bad afterall. Good luck.
Teri, Commissions are non-negotiable in this tiny price range, so that would have been interesting. And, with the smell all over me and my clothes, I couldn't breathe! I rushed home before my next appt so I could change clothes and had to leave the windows down for a couple of minutes as the smell carried. It was horrible!
Suzanne, I always try to make an exit people will remember!! LOL!
Heather, Thanks! It was definitely a first. It felt great, and I think I'll do it more often!!
Lenn, I definitely hesitated as I walked in. I also almost asked him if we could open the door to air things out.
Pamela, I definitely have the property on my list to check MLS to see what agent does end up listing it. More than likely, it'll be a guy. With him being a much older (grumpier) man, he probably will only listen to another man.
Dan, Thank you!
Cindy, Thank you, and yes, I marked that comment as spam.
Donna,
Congrats on your courageous move. If you can't make sense with a customer no matter how hard you try, it's time to pack up and leave. Unfortunately there are customers like that, making these quick appointment demands etc., and past experience has taught me that if they don't settle for when your schedule allows, it's not worth it.
Donna,
I have found that people want us to JUMP on there time, are not the ones I want to work with. I did a listing appoinment last year and the seller almost came across the table at me, he was so mad at the price I told him.
I gathered my stuff together very quickly too, told him best of luck. They did find a Reator who listed it for what they wanted and they chased the market down, down, down. Further than I had told them and it sold for less. Tee hee.
I will NOT be spoken to be treated like that ? EVER. Good job.
Esko, True, very true!
Mary, Thank you!
Missy, Thanks!
ANd for the record, I've listed with angry sellers in the past, but they've only turned angry when they didn't get an offer in a week and had higher expectations than what I had set forth for them... if their attitude had come forth in the listing appts, those people never would have become clients either!
You go, girl! Good for you!
Cheryl, Thank you!
Sandi, Believe me, I wanted out so bad, but kept trying to ignore it. I even took a long look at the backyard so we wouldn't have to go inside too quickly.
Nancy, You're right, and thank you!
Debbie, And that headache would come from both the seller and the nasty smoke!! Thanks for the wishes.
Its been a good week for me also!! I lost a listing this week and I'm like you--its for the best--saves me time, money and aggravation. Let me explain...
This seller bought a condo 11 months ago --I sold it to them at 345K(new build--ultra modern home right smack in in an area of all old homes) and now the husband has taken a job in the northeast, they HAVE to sell and they insist the home is worth 550K!! Now we are in Austin Texas--a good market but not 200K increase in 11 months good and the market is beginning to slow somewhat. My comps say 380-390K at best. I told them all the usual stuff...needs to appraise,(she thinks someone will give them cash and it won't be an issue), time on market vs what they will pay out in mortgage payments, wasting the most opportune time to sell, etc etc. All very nicely stated. And they decided to go with another agent that was after they emailed the lender that did the loan on it and asked him his thoughts on doing a FSBO. I really think the old adage of its best to be the 1st child, 2nd wife and 3rd realtor is correct. We had a very good relationship all the way up to the point that I told them what I thought the house would sell for....after that they didn't want to hear another word...I really hope they don't call me back in 6 months when the housedoesn't sell...uggg--sometimes you are right--you just want to slap some sense into 'em!!!
Like someone said on another post...we can't sell $35 tubes of toothpaste no matter how much marketing we do.....
Jim, That's pretty funny. I've never done it like that to get the humor. I have asked what they thought the number would be and when their number is way off, I tell them to keep an open mind when we go through the information so they can see things clearly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Ann, I can't believe they would want $200k more in under a year! That's ridiculous!! And to get $380k from $345k in under a year is fantastic! My in-laws all live in Austin, and Father-in-law was in town earlier this week asking about our market here in Dallas. My response, "not as good as Austin's!" He was a little surprised.
That would have been quite a site, you reaching across the table and slapping the seller!!! HAHAHA.
Hi Donna,
Well, good for you! I posted something last week that speaks to this post. Be careful what you wish for because you might get it. Those are usually the ones that you end up wishing you didn't get so I would say this one was a gift to "not" get.
Good for you Donna. Sometimes it's just not worth it. I agree: if you give an inch, they will take a mile!! People just never cease to amaze me sometimes how these 'arm chair quarterbacks' think they know the market, when this is our full time job!!
Ahhh, don't get me started!
Good luck with your new baby!
:)
Good for you, Donna! I know that it's hard to walk away from business but there are certain situations (such as the one you describe) that it is the ONLY course of action. I've walked away from many and there were a few that I SHOULD have walked away from.
Stick to your guns...you did good. Remember, you're running a business and not his persoanl lapdog. :-)
GRRR! I have had 2 buyers give me heck this week over pre-approval letters. The first one I let get to me the 2nd I wished them luck...
It's soooo hard to keep your mouth shut all the time - especially for me, and at least you had an excuse!
Donna, Terrific Job! You acted professionally from your description. No one should have to put up with rude people who don't want to hear the facts.
I tell my sellers "I don't price your home and you don't price your home. - The market does. I show you the facts and then we determine the best price based on those. Even then there isn't a guarantee that we will get that price but I will certainly do my best."
Donna,
I like your BOLD move! I know what you mean when you say the place smells and it is not worth taking that listing. Good job the 2 of you (the baby that is)!
Dave
Good for you and Baby Harris Momma Donna! You didn't need that treatment or that client. Sometimes you do have to walk away. I've done it twice myself in less than a year and I've never once regretted it.
Hope you're feeling good these days your world is about to change soon!