justarant: 4th realtor just left, and left me literally

[northernlights]

screaming at him. :mad: Negative, negative, negative. The market is no good. It's going to get worse. Why don't I take out a home equity loan instead? What am I going to do about all my animals? (NONE OF YOUR EFFING BUSINESS, HOW ABOUT ASKING ME ONE, JUST ONE QUESTION, ABOUT THE HOUSE, THE BARN, THE GARDENS, THE ORCHARD, THE FENCING, SOMETHING ABOUT THE EFFING LISTING!?!?!?! she wondered, blood pressure rising precipitously...) I normally have below-normal blood pressure. This guy had my pulse pounding and my head aching. He raised every deep fear I'm trying to deal with every day, and threw them all in my face. All in a row. Over and over and over.

And then, not one good thing to say about my property -- he barely glanced at it. Whining about how much work it is to keep up. Pretense at doing "special" marketing, but I'd say really no marketing smarts at all. I checked their website and it turns out he's a psychologist. I should have known. There's been something about me and psychologists -- I've had various dealings with half a dozen of them over the years and they *all* manage to piss me off within 5 minutes.

Fortunately, I'm already happy with the 1st 3 realtors I interviewed, including the one that had misrepresented this place. 2 of them recognized immediately, and without any prompting from me, that this is a niche property that is not competing with the gazillion other properties on the market. That doesn't make it easier to sell -- just different.

One in particular had good ideas on how to target the niche. He was totally stunned when he learned what happened about the land, and I think that he was about to suggest something to make up for it and his partner interrupted him. I was less impressed with the woman who came out with him, as a sales person (although once she dropped the sales schtick she was very nice), but it turned out she is the managing broker, so negotiating a reduced fee could be tough.

The 2nd one I think of as "the huntress." She's definitely a warrior, and she scared me a bit. But she just sold a property down the street. And she did give me some hints on 2 things I can do at low cost that will help to sell it, so even if I don't choose her I'll take her hints.

I do wish I could do something about my birds. 3 of the realtors parked themselves in front of them and started talking loudly at them. The 2 nicest people simply left them alone.

[Why Syzygy]

1. You're planning to wait

until Merc moves forward before signing with any of them. Right?

[northernlights]

3. absolutely

I'm using mercury retro to do the research. That is fine from everything I understand abou mercury retro.

I'm not signing anything before it turns direct. I've had enough horrid experiences with starting projects during a retro...believe me! :D

[davsand]

2. Can I just tell you something about real estate and not get you all upset?

Seriously. I don't want to piss you off or ruin your buzz, but there are realtors who do not deal with a listing where there are dogs or or "atypical" pets. They will never refuse that listing, but they will maybe not work as hard to show your property.

By the same token, Buyer's Agents will often avoid showing properties where those same pets are because the perception is that buyers do not want to deal with looking at the property while Bubba the big dog or Pansy the python are taking the tour with them.

I am not advocating you get rid of your pets in any way, but what I suspect that guy was trying (badly) to say, was that you may find it a quicker sale if the pets are temporarily relocated prior to any showing. If you can reassure them that you can relocate the critters and still be ready to show in a short amount of time it should help to alleviate the concern.

Off the top of my head I can think of at least five different brokers I know in my local market that will skip showing any listing where a dog is present. This is a pretty common issue and in any market that is as competitive as this one, it might pay to keep it in mind.

YMMV, and I hope it does.


Laura

[northernlights]

5. I fully understand what you are saying

but my dogs were not underfoot and today's realtor didn't ask what I was going to do with the animals *when* he was showing the property. He asked what I was going to do with them *after* I sell it -- and although I answered his question, it was frankly not his business.

Anyway, this is not a city or subdivision (or sea captain's house with water views or trailer on an acre, which are a dime a dozen around here). It's a rural minifarm, among larger farms and trailers on an acre. And there are animals, farm and otherwise. It's a niche property for a niche market. I specifically explained to each realty, when I first called, that this is a mini-farm and I'm looking for a realtor that specializes, or is experienced, in selling farms and especially mini-farms. Farm, to me, implies gardens and livestock. So I didn't spell out the specific animals I have here, but they also didn't ask.

It was clear that today's realtor knew (and cared) *nothing* about farms. Actually, it was clear from his sneer when he first got out of his car that he wasn't interested period. He wasn't bothered by the fact that I had dogs. He was apparently bothered that they didn't come to him when he called them... because I had them on tie-outs. They are not junk-yard dogs and I don't normally put them on tie-outs, but that was my temporary solution to keeping them out from underfoot for an hour while I showed the realtors around. With the other realtors they ended up off the tie outs and running around being patted -- at the realtor's suggestions.

None of the realtors asked me about removing my animals, but I do have plans to keep them out of the way. The birds *may* go in the backyard, but that will depend on weather. Otherwise, they are clustered at the end of one room and it's easy to walk past without getting overwhelmed. The dogs will either be off the property with me at a lake down the street or in one of the horse's stalls. The horses will be in a back pasture, which allows visitors to tour the barn and main pasture without Dahli following them around nuzzling them and without them getting loose should someone forget to lock a gate behind them.

Today's realtor asked me a million and one questions about everything...except the property. Didn't ask to see the garage, the sheds, the barn. Claimed he was interested in seeing the "structural soundness" but didn't even ask to see the basement. He was interested in discussing financing my education -- which frankly is none of his business. He did comment on how expensive it must be to feed all my animals, and question the cost -- again, none of his business. He also questioned what I was going to do with my animals after I sell the house -- again, none of his business. He just questioned on and on about stuff that was none of his business.

I answered him, at first friendly, then polite, and then increasingly testy. And then he made a totally unacceptable comment under his breath. He's lucky I didn't deck him one at that point. :D

[MorningGlow]

7. Yikes! But it's not you--it's him

If he's a licensed Realtor, report him to the local Realtors Association. They don't truck with shit like that and he WILL be disciplined.

[northernlights]

8. good idea

I was thinking of just reporting him to his managing broker because I don't think it's his fault that he was sent to my place. I specifically requested someone who knows farms...and they sent him. But the realtors association could be useful too.

I'm also considering calling his office and leaving a message for him to not to bother with his market analysis, to save him some time. I really don't want to deal with him again, ever. But I do want to see his analysis in case he's doing more than the very obvious and incorrect analysis he discussed. Although the more I think about it, the more I think not.

I do think I understand what was going on. He's from a very high end (multimillion dollar coastal properties) realtor that initially I wasn't even going to call, but when I looked through their listings I saw they also had some low end properties as well, handled by a couple of people not him.

He reminds me of another idiot realtor from a couple years back. And the university counselor (great, another psychologist) who was not in the market for a used guitar, but was trolling for clients.

Bleah. I don't want the report. Waste o'time and energy!

[MorningGlow]

4. Gotta kiss a lot of toads and all that

I know how you feel, NL. I went through something similar just recently, interviewing contractors and landscapers for our home improvements. My favorite was the guy who advertises regularly in the local Pennysaver--when I called him, he sounded stoned as all get out! "Uhhh........yeah.......I can do that........................................." "...Hello?" "............Yeahhh....?"

Oh. My. God.
:rofl:

He said he'd call me back to arrange a time to meet. Luckily he never did.

Anyway, yes, there are some TERRIBLE real estate agents out there--I've met more than my share (we've bought and sold three times). Some of them will try to ditch the listing (discourage you from hiring them) by pointing out all the problems you could have selling your place. Don't listen to them--they're just not interested in representing that kind of property. (Some agents specialize in new builds, some in certain towns, some in just land, etc.)

I'd recommend going with the warrior. Yes, she could probably kick anybody's ass, but that's the person you want in your corner. Especially if she's already sold some property in your area. She may be brutally honest in pointing out any shortcomings your place might have, but it'd be "for your own good"--and if she's worth her license, she'll help you overcome those problems in order to make a sale.

[northernlights]

6. my thinking exactly

"I'd recommend going with the warrior. Yes, she could probably kick anybody's ass, but that's the person you want in your corner. Especially if she's already sold some property in your area. She may be brutally honest in pointing out any shortcomings your place might have, but it'd be "for your own good"--and if she's worth her license, she'll help you overcome those problems in order to make a sale."

I'm just waiting for her official report to see her marketing approach and what asking/selling price she attaches to it. And she literally just sold a little property a couple miles down the road.

But I also liked the partners because they had a better handle on the type of person that would buy my property -- a broader group and the man, in particular, got quite excited at the prospect of the llama/alpaca clique. Plus they are in a national chain realty, so already have a large web presence and name recognition. And they were willing to do extra advertising in niche portals (I know several horse forums and there also are probably some for gardeners, goat people, etc.)

The realtor I met a couple weeks ago was extremely nice, decent and honest...but not very imaginative when it came to marketing.