Ok, Mr and Mrs Seller, this one is for you. You have listed your house with our agency or another agency so we are considering it "inventory". Your home is something we signed up to sell if we listed your home. We also signed up to market your home to ALL potential buyers, which includes, buyer clients of ours, potential buyers of ours and other agencies. We work for YOU!
So, with all our extensive advertising we pay for, we have your home on the active market and our goal is to sell it. Sometimes we advise you to declutter your home inside or out or both, we also advise you to change paint colors once in awhile and to even relocate furniture. We try not to be too much of a pest, but we want your home to show all the great space it has, or we want it to stand out in the crowd. We try not to spend too much of your money upfront, making repairs, but we are doing this all to help your property sell.
But, people will not buy your house unseen. Yes they can see pictures on the internet, but they need to be in the house and see the layout and the flow to get a feel for the house. Houses are major major investments and buyers need to be absolutely sure this is the house before they make such a long term committment.
Problem? Sometimes we can't get in to show it. We call for appointments and try to give you enough forwarning to get picked up and put away, but sometimes you just can't let us in. Typically, we have qualified buyers, we weed out the Looky Lous because we know how hard it is to keep your home in show condition. We have worked as hard as we can to make sure a qualified buyer is looking at your home only to occassionaly hear, "not today". It is kind of like getting all dressed up with no place to go~what's the point?
And sellers, your listing agent (the agency you listed your property with) sometimes, some agents ALL THE TIME, will not let us show our qualified buyers your home! Can you believe that? I can't either. They just want to sell it themselves so it doesn't matter to them that you are wanting and needing to sell, they won't return our calls or let us even make an appointment or pick up a key! I know, it is hard to believe, but trust me it is true. Those agents need to get out of the business and find something they enjoy instead of real estate because they just don't get it.
We are left sometimes, with our buyers sitting right there in our office, trying to explain to them why we can't get an appointment through your agent. We typically can't explain this very well, because we don't understand it at all ourselves
and Mr and Mrs Seller, you will never know about that because we can't tell you. All we can do is keep trying to call for an appointment, only to be refused time and time again. We even try email, only to have our email unanswered. If you asked your agent if they are like that, they would deny it. So sad. What kind of agent do you have? And remember, as much as we would like you to know your agent is treating you this way, we can't call you and tell you, we can't even tell you if you call us.
So, we have no control sometimes in getting your house sold because of limitations put on us by you yourself, or a bad agent you have listed with. Use a REALTOR, a professional who will expose your property and work with other agencies.
It isn't rocket science. Help me help you!
Mary Welch-Broker/Owner of Preferred Choice Realty, Harper, Kansas
Member Wichita Association of REALTORS, Kansas Association of REALTORS, National Association of REALTORS
Harper City Council
Harper County Economic Development