Archive for the 'Selling' Category
Firing Clients
The other day I called an agent to get some feedback after they showed one of my listings. The agent informed me that they were not sure what the person thought about the home because they had fired their client and would no longer be working with them. The agent indicated that the client repeatedly wasn’t respectful of their time and the agent was cutting their losses, rather than continue to be disrespected.
Honestly, it is not a common practice for real estate agents to fire clients. Most agents realize that this is a high stress job and do their best to provide good service to their clients. We work with all different types of people and personalities who are partaking in a large, often stressful, financial transaction. Some clients are easier to work with than others, just like you would see in any other customer service job. Agents that do well in this business are able to adapt to work with a variety of personalities and put things in perspective for people, when needed.
But there are times when certain clients do just need to be let go and told that the business relationship is not working. I have severed relationships with less than a handful of clients during my time as a real estate agent. I don’t take firing clients lightly. In each instance I thought long and hard about it, but in the end it was the right decision.
What would lead to me firing someone? Verbal abuse, for one. I had one seller client that verbally disrespected me during nearly every conversation. I have enough self respect for myself that I won’t put up with someone talking down to me. I suggested that our relationship wasn’t working and that they would be better served by someone else. I cancelled our contract and went on my way. They did hire someone else, but their home still has not sold. I hope the new agent is receiving more respect.
The only other reason I’ve found to stop working with a client is the same reason the agent above mentioned, disrespect for my time. If you’ve asked me to schedule showings for you, please show up at least remotely on time. It’s disrespectful to the seller and to me if you don’t. I’ve had a few clients that wouldn’t show up for showings and wouldn’t call me. Or others who repeatedly showed up more than a half hour late and wouldn’t even apologize. Changing your appointment times or being late every now and then is understandable. Everyone is busy. But repeatedly being a no-show or really-late-show wastes my time that I could be spending with other clients.
I have good relationships and experiences with the vast majority of my clients. I enjoy helping people and I think that shows in the service I provide. But at times a client relationship just doesn’t work. In those situations it’s sometimes best to be professional and let them know they may have a better time working with someone else. Hopefully everyone involved will have a better experience.
Should I List My House in the Fall?
It’s the middle of October in Greater Hartford. The leaves are turning. It’s getting dark outside earlier. We’ve turned our heat on (much to the chagrin of my better half). To me, this signals the seasonal slowing of the real estate market. But I’m still getting phone calls from folks that want to sell their homes. Should they list their house now? Or should they wait until the spring?
There are a few things to consider when selling your home in the not-Spring market.
1. Does your house show well when the landscape isn’t in bloom?
2. Are you willing to keep your heat at a reasonable level to be warm and inviting for showings and turn on numerous lights for your showings?
3. Are you willing to have your home sit on the market a little longer than it would if it were Spring?
4. Are you willing to have fewer showings of your home than it would if it were Spring?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, it should be fine for you to list your house in the late fall and winter months. Realize that there will be fewer buyers (so fewer showings) in November through February. Typically only serious buyers are looking during these months. They are not preoccupied with holidays and need to focus on finding a home for one reason or another. That can be a good thing for sellers.
Many homes come off the market in the late fall that didn’t sell during the Spring and Summer market. This means less competition for sellers that are newly entering the market. Another good thing.
I always advise my fall and winter sellers that they need to be a little more patient with the market. Most are fine with this because they’re making the conscious decision to list now, rather than wait for the Spring. Fall selling isn’t for everyone, but if you’re not the nervous type, it may be a great time to put your home up for sale.
91 Girard Avenue, Hartford’s West End
Steps from the UConn Law School and Hartford Seminary, this West End home has 4 bedrooms and 1.5 baths over 2,230 square feet.
This classic Scoville Victorian offers original architectural charm and a bright, open floor plan. The foyer with its turned staircase opens into the formal living room with fireplace. The formal dining room has plenty of space for entertaining and leads to an office. The remodeled kitchen features great cabinet space, granite counters, stainless steel appliances and an eat-in area. A renovated half bathroom and mudroom complete the first floor.
Upstairs the master bedroom has a dressing room space with built-in storage. The second floor has three additional bedrooms and a remodeled bathroom.
The third floor has a finished room and plenty of unfinished space which could be completed for additional square footage, if needed. Skylights make this a bright, welcoming space with great possibilities.
Outside the backyard offers privacy, a slate patio and 1-car garage.
91 Girard Avenue is offered at $272,000. If you’d like to see this home, please have your agent arrange a showing, call me at 860-655-2125 to schedule a visit, or stop by the open house on October 23rd between 1:00pm-3:00pm. More details and a photo tour are available.
September Contracts: A Modest Fall
Single-family contracts continued the downward trend in September, falling to 497 for the month. Through nine months of 2011, we remain on pace to finish the year slightly ahead of 2010 but behind the 2009 total.
There was a lot of interest in our markets at the beginning of September; it was a noticeable increase from the end of August and much of the summer. The rest of the month seemed pretty active too, so I’m a bit surprised to see the number of contracts come in at a lower level than August, though 35 deals (532 in August versus 497 in September) isn’t a huge number.
Looking a little deeper at last month versus this month, it appears that two towns experienced major slowdowns that nearly equal the total for the County. The number of contracts accepted in Southington decreased by 15 deals from August, while Windsor decreased by 13. Other towns also saw a less active September, but not by such a wide margin. Manchester, East Hartford, and Marborough reported decreases in the number of contracts of 8, 7, and 6 respectively. On the other side of the ledger, the town Bristol was up 7 deals and Glastonbury was up 6 deals.
Each town is its own market, and this is yet another example of how the data can vary. Below is the year over year comparison for each town in the County, showing a 12% increase in activity for September 2011 over the same month in 2010.
Sharing the Misery
The real estate market right now is not a lot of fun. By that I mean that I’m seeing a lot of behaviors out of buyers and sellers that have me scratching my head. Another agent mentioned to me the other day that she’s starting to lose faith in humanity based on some of the garbage that she’s seen and dealt with this year. I was glad to hear that I’m not the only one struggling with the way people are acting.
Yes, it’s a Buyer’s Market in many cases. But let’s have a little common sense and decency, shall we people? For example, when a house is advertised “as is”- meaning that the seller isn’t going to fix any inspection issues- and you have your home inspections done, don’t come back to the seller and ask for TWENTY EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS in repairs. Not that I had to help a client deal with that exact craziness earlier this year…
Negotiations are long and drawn out these days. Each side is trying to get the better of the other side and “win.” Getting an accepted offer is only a minor victory. Inspection negotiations are terrible in most cases. Buyers, it seems, are trying to extract every last pound of flesh, or dollar, that they can. I say a little prayer, carry a rabbit’s foot, four leaf clover and wear my lucky socks to every appraisal. Because that’s what a crapshoot things have become. Honestly, I wish I could share half of the ridiculousness that I’ve seen this year. But I can’t. Client confidentiality. To protect the guilty. Attorneys are telling me that only 50% of the files coming across their desks are actually closing. It used to be as high as 80-90% of files would close. People really aren’t seeing eye to eye these days.
There seems to be very little taking the high road. I’ve seen instances where a person feels they are being wronged in one transaction (say, on the sell side) so they then carry out equally abhorrent behavior on another transaction (say, on the buy side) to even things out.
Karma, people. Karma. And that’s all I’m going to say.