When I arrived at the office this morning, one of my fellow agents was already here  pacing.   He had submitted an offer yesterday.

The property is listed at $2 million.  His client submitted an all cash, close in 15 days offer at $1.7.  This is a perfectly NORMAL starting place for this market.

The listing agent (not in my office or else we’d all be kicking her and then sending her off to work for another company), said that the offer was too low and she recommends they not even counter it.  

What???  How can you not even counter it!?  She said they have NO OTHER OFFERS!   Why, on earth, wouldn’t you counter someone with $1.7 million in CASH.  Are you worried they might not be a real buyer? Is the ONE PAGE Counter Offer too much of a hassel? This agent is SABOTAGING her client. And, unfortunately, it is more common than you might think.  Which is why I’m writing this tonight before I go home.

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How will you know if your agent and the company that backs them up are sabotaging your sale? 

Here are some things to look for:

  • Poor quality or missing photos.  There are many listings without a single photo… Realtor.com, Trulia, and all the other internet sites pull their data from this source.  Who wants to look at “No Photo Available” when searching for properties?   Ask to see what your MLS sheet looks like.
  • Do they lack marketing?  I’m talking PRINT and INTERNET.  More than 80% of buyers are online looking for homes.  What sites will your home be on?  Will you be intentionally excluded from some sites…?  Some agents & companies choose to have “Unpublishable” listings which means that your home will not show up on competing companies websites.  You can easily tell because your MLS number will start with a (drum roll please) “U”.  (Why are they choosing to hide your home from potential buyers???)   Does their marketing go beyond local papers and how often?  What is the circulation of those publications?
  • Will your agent be honest about what you need to do as far as improvements (whether you want to hear it or not) or will they take the listing and never advise you? 
  • Does your agent return your calls promptly?  This is a huge indicator of whether or not they are returning other agent & buyer calls promptly.
  • Does your agent appear to make decisions for you?  (About what offers you will accept or counter?)  Or worse, will you actually see every offer?  I’ve had agents not even let the seller know there was an offer.  Maybe they didn’t want to offend the seller with something that seemed low or in other instances, they had their own buyer…   (I’ve seen this happen even with full price offers.)  Integrity, are they overly anxious about “double ending” the deal by enticing you with lower commissions or rebates?  Will you really make more if they also represent the buyer? 
  • Will your agent be sharing confidential information with other agents and potential buyers?  (”I know they will take less….  is extremely common and sometimes they tell you before you even get to the house!)

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea…   

So, please take a close look at your situation.  Is your sale being sabotaged?