Stop – You're Fired!!!

I attend a lot of networking groups in San Diego and just last week we had finished a networking meeting in which a new member was voted in.

After the meeting, the new member came up to pick my brain about her property which is listed for sale.  She seemed a little nervous since she had spoken to another realtor and they could not locate her listing on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service.)

I told her that if she sent her address over to me, I would have a look and see if her home in fact was or was not listed on the MLS.

Well, her mother-in-law was the listing agent or so she calls herself.  She is in Los Angeles, at least 2 hours from San Diego.  A completely different County, City, environment, and in this case a completely different MLS with different agents and buyers looking at properties listed for sale.  Most likely LA real estate, not San Diego real estate.

The next day I received an email from the girl with her address and a message saying that she “hoped” the property was listed on the MLS since they had been waiting for more traffic and viewings to their property for 3 MONTHS!  Yes, really, no showings for 3 months….?

I probably don’t need to tell you that the property was nowhere to be found on the MLS in San Diego.  The MLS, the place where all real estate agents get all information, stats, showing instructions, tax info and listing history.  Let me correct that sentence, where 28,000 agents go to get all information, stats, showing instructions, etc.  Why would anyone go to the LA MLS to look for San Diego?   Not to mention that if all eyes are on the internet, buyers looking for San Diego real estate most likely will not be looking in LA…to be honest, who would???  And for 3 months, really?

Sometimes trust is just not enough when you are working with someone.  Sometimes you really need to evaluate things once you see how they unfold and possibly in the words of Donald Trump say, “You’re fired!!!”

A second shocking scenario involved a family who had listed their home with a small “moms and pops” brokerage.  The listing agreement was for 2 years.  Yes, two years!  The agent was also in the hospital for over a week with no assistant, support, or service to handle any marketing, calls, or showings for the family’s property and the possibility of not returning to full time work immediately. 

Needless to say, they wanted to cancel the listing, however he stood by his two years and would not let them out of the contract at which point it would involve something more complex such as mediation to allow them to breach the timeframes on the documents.

When you hire an agent to list your home, ask them where they will be marketing the property and if they allow for a cancellation of contract if you are not satisfied with their work!  It’s important.  It’s your house and your house is worth a lot of money.

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