LACKIE: Blame the sellers, not just their agents.

[ad_1]

In case you missed it, the real estate market went from dead and destroyed to alive, (sort of) well, and hopping in a matter of weeks.

This ad has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

We apologize, but this video failed to load.

And like clockwork, we were already back to see some of the nonsense that everyone hates real estate agents.

I came across a Twitter thread on Friday in which a seasoned mortgage broker furiously recounted the experience of one of his clients on a deal last week.

It’s a scenario I’ve witnessed more times than I can count: a buyer sees a house for sale with an offer review date. The buyer knows enough to know that the price is not really the price and the property has been strategically priced below its value in order to invite multiple offers and drive up the price.

Thus, the buyer submits a firm, unconditional and good faith offer at $175,000 above the asking price and obviously lands ahead. But what does the seller do? Well, the agent comes back and lets them know that the seller would like them to improve their offer by $25,000.

This ad has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

When the buyer refused to bid against himself and presumably told them to kick the bucket, the agent informed them that they would put the property up for sale again the next day with a price $200,000 higher than what they had originally requested.

Everyone is furious. And rightly so. What a waste of time for everyone involved.

Recommended by the editor

Surprisingly, Twitter agreed. Rarely do we see such a completely unified response thread in the collective fury. The target of their anger? Not the greedy seller. No, I don’t hate the real estate agent, which I fully understand in many ways.

As a collective, my industry would do well to take its time and reflect on the practices that make everyone hate us. And nonsense like this is right at the top of the list.

This ad has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

But do people really think that agents alone are responsible for all the antics?

That our customers are just unsuspecting victims of our manipulation and incompetence, blindly following our unscrupulous whims?

Hasn’t had some tough conversations from the time we were called to introduce the business to when an offer lands and beyond?

That the customers who need a reality check the most wouldn’t balk at a forceful candour and fire us?

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video failed to load.

I completely understand the position that an agent’s job is to guide our clients in the right direction. But I would humbly say it’s not always that simple.

Salespeople are walking, talking, sentient beings who want the absolute best return on investment. When everyone and their mom knows a guy or has a neighbor who got 17 offers and a great nightly price, it can be hard to convince them to deviate from the path they think got that seller to get this high price.

And yes, I’m obviously talking about the good agents among us and not the bad apples that are shady in the market and ruining it for the rest of us.

But the fundamental reality is that agents can only advise while the seller is leading.

So yeah, blame the agent for not putting his own principles above his need to earn a living and not putting his foot down. But perhaps we could also allow for the possibility that since we are looking at the behavioral by-product of an unbalanced market, it is the sellers who decide everything.

[ad_2]