Realtors Who Don’t Do Their Job

Like most hardworking Realtors, I look through MLS listings daily, and often I am surprised at what I see Realtors doing. Here are some of the things that really make me wonder whether the seller knows things could be better, that they deserve more, and why the agent is doing business in that way.

Know the facts! If you take a listing, make sure you verify all the facts before publishing it to the MLS. I showed a home last year that had the wrong zip code/city listed. My client had asked about a home in a particular neighborhood, and it was not coming up in local searches of the neighborhood. If your home has a “peek” as opposed to a view, be honest about that. If you don’t know something and cannot find out, state in the listing that the answer is not known. I have seen all kinds of data mistakes over the years, so it is imperative to be careful.

Listing photos: Every agent should use a professional photographer to take photos of a listing. There are a few exceptions, but the majority of properties just show better if a professional photographer takes the shots. Lighting and special lenses make a huge difference. Today I saw a few listings that had pictures that were blurry, dark and just hard to see. This does no justice to the property, and there is evidence that buyers who look online will not click on listings that have bad photos, or only a single photo. The money you spend on a photographer who can also provide a virtual tour (people love videos) will pay off.

Using comments to create a sense of urgency:  “This one won’t last” and “hurry” may seem like a good idea to some, but this type of posturing wouldn’t make me want to see the home, especially in a buyer’s markets. Instead, you want to use descriptive language to really highlight the home’s features and make the buyer feel that the home is special. If the home sits for a while with no bites you may want (aside from a possible price reduction) to change your descriptions.

Typos and grammar: Maybe it’s the writer in me, but when I see a listing with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes I cringe. If I were the seller I would NOT be happy if my home were listed in this way. Seriously, if you cannot proofread, or if English is not your first language, please have someone proof your comments for you before you post the listing to the MLS! Not only are you doing your seller an injustice, but you are also making yourself look unprofessional.

Some photos have an expiration date: If you listed a house before Christmas and you have photos of the living room with the Christmas tree and stockings, there comes a time to take new photos. No one should see that tree or snow in the yard in August. Again, it’s not helping your seller or your reputation.

List and pray technique: As the majority of us know, if you have a listing you can’t just put it on the MLS and hope to get offers. Believe it or not there are many agents who do this! This is a blatant failure in client representation, and in my eyes it is a breach of the duties we owe our clients. A client recently told me he “knows that listing agents don’t really do much.” Well, I don’t know about you but if I got paid for the time I put into each listing I would be a happy camper. An agent should be working his/her tail off to sell a listing. It involves not only money but a lot of time, hard work and creativity. Sellers should realize they deserve this – they are paying for it!

There are slackers in every profession, and there are those who are successful but seem not to work too hard. I believe that you are only as good as you feel – if you can truly believe that you worked as hard as you could to help a client, you are doing the right thing. If not, learn from your mistakes and do better next time. There is always something to learn, and always ways to improve.