Expert: Jessica Bryan - 6/25/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi Jessica, thanks for being available.  I bought my home in suburb of Cleveland, OH 9 years ago.  Now I am looking to sell, & tried to do it by owner.  For the past 5 Sundays, I posted my realtor-like signs for open house, didn’t do any advertising, but hoped to attract some homebuyers looking at open houses.  Only 1 couple showed up during all 5 days!  They were from down the street, & just curious.  I know the market is at its worst, but that is ridiculous!

Anyway, I’m very suspect of realtors.  When I was searching for this house, I ran into several realtors that gave me a bad vibe.  Then after viewing a few open houses, I went with a friend of a friend’s realtor.  He was nice & all, but seemed really useless.  When I was interested in 2 houses, I asked him what he thought.  He returned, “Well, what do you think?”  What is the deal?

Can you please explain this to me, since you know the real answers?  Why do realtors, at least in this area, seem worthless, but you have to deal with them sooner or later?  Why does it look like I’m gonna have to sign with a realtor to sell my house?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Have a blessed day.

ANSWER: Dear Greg;
I am sorry that your experience has not been positive.  Most REALTORS I know are highly professional and outstanding business people.  Perhaps you should look for qualifications like higher designations...CRS, ABR, or some other designations that show that the agent is a motivated professional.  

Perhaps the agent who seemed "useless" was not willing to say too much since he was not your agent and therefore not representing you.  We are all careful not to overstep our limits of agency relationships.  When you 'employ' an agent they are much more likely to give you the service you deserve.  By interviewing a buyer's agent or agents and asking lots of questions, i am sure you will find a 'go-getter' and someone with whom you feel comfortable and confident that the agent will work hard for you.

Best of luck,
Jessica Bryan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: "Hi Jessica, thanks for the advice.  I had a realtor from On The Go Realty stop over the other day & offer a basic package, which includes MLS listing, a lockbox & phone service.  He compared himself to agencies like Ohio State, Nexthome, etc that charge a flat fee.  What's the ad/disadvantages?"

Answer
Hi Greg;
The advantage is the reduced fee; and if you are in an area where homes sell quickly this works quite well.  However, it can be just one step up from a 'for sale by owner' and you are not receiving the best marketing on your home.  Since you already tried to sell the home by yourself and found that there weren't many potential buyers coming to see it, I would suggest that you look for a full-service real estate company. You can still negotiate the fee and get a lower fee perhaps, but the advantages will be numerous.  For one thing, you may actually get a higher price on your home.  Many people (buyers) who see the reduced fee listings think that they can offer less since you aren't paying much in the way of fees.  In fact, when agents are involved they tend to get you a higher price and take care of more of the details that can end up costing you if overlooked.  A full-service agent will also market your home aggressively not only to the public but to the rest of the real estate community keeping your property "top of mind" in a selling agent's eyes.  This can be important when an agent has just a couple of hours to spend with a client and must choose some homes to show at a moment's notice.    Often, when I see a home or get a flier for a home and then on that same day might get a call from a buyer, I will suggest that we look at the home that I remember from that day.  Or...if touring at a broker's open house, I may call a client that I know might like the home I have just seen.  Granted, I send clients lots of information from the MLS but sometimes that can be information overload and good properties can get overlooked.  

Another advantage to using a full-service agent is that they will go over your home with you to make it more marketable and compare it to the competition to make sure that your shows well and holds up in an extremely competitive market.

There are many other reasons to use a full service and non-reduced fee agent.  Perhaps you should call one and interview the agent to see the difference for yourself.  However, I hasten to add that we are all independent contractors and each agent may do their work differently so it is imperative that you ask lots of questions and get everything in writing.

Good luck and best wishes.