I fired my realtor

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I finally got up the nerve to do it.  I fired my realtor in Wisconsin.  Now I hope I can find someone who is going to aggressively sell our house.  DH was really happy I did it so he didn't have to.  I feel like the bad guy, but business is business.  You wouldn't pay anyone else for a service they weren't providing, right, so why should it be any different with a realtor?

Now I have to start the process over in with another realtor... and try to get the place sold.  I think at least she'll give me some honest feedback.

[glenn kangiser]

Hope the next one is better.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I hope so too.  However, when I spoke with the relocation company that recommended her, they told me that they'd had a few similar complaints (she messed up listings, wasn't returning calls and emails, etc.) and that they were no longer going to use her services for anyone else, either.  I almost wish I'd spoken up a little sooner... our house might have sold by now.

[Sassy]

The FBI has arrested at least 400 real estate brokers & are planning on cracking down on others...  they've already arrested a couple of the head guys at Bear Stearns - why haven't any of the Lehman Bros. chiefs been arrested?  Could it be that one is on the Federal Reserve Board?  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7470381.stm

HG - maybe they'll arrest your realtor...  

[ScottA]

They need to arrest the federal reserve. They are the real criminals.

[southernsis]

Sorry you had a real estate person who won't do their job. I am a Broker/Owner and people like that give the rest of us a bad name. Interview the agents and have a list of questions to ask them. Find out how they are going to advertise, where and what else they are going to do for you. Find out what their track record is on how long the houses are on the market before they sell them. Grill them and if you don't like their presentation, tell them no thank you and move on to another agent. If a property is priced right it should be sold within about 3 months, 6 at the most. Good luck with a new agent.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I just got a call from the new agent.  She was the listing agent when we originally bought the house, and she knew the family who lived there before us.  She knows how much the house has changed since we bought it, and should do a good job.  I really liked her when we bought the house and remember telling DH that I wish we'd had her as a realtor all along.  We were going to list with her when we decided to sell, but the relocation service sent us another realtor.    She seemed ready and willing to do what it takes to sell the house.

[desdawg]

Good luck with the new one. It is hard to pick the one that is just right. Like any business person Realtors have to travel on their reputation. Around here so many people became agents during the boom that it got to be difficult hiring one without alienating the others and I knew so many and actually got referals for utility work from quite a few. Actually you only pay the one(s) that deliver. The listing agent will spend some money on MLS and advertising so they are not without some investment in the process and all of that is lost if they are not part of the final sale process when the home actually changes hands.  Competition for buyers is pretty fierce right now with circumstances being what they are. Some serius buyers can't get approved for financing and there are some tire kickers out there that take up a lot of someones time. It is a very difficult time for everyone involved in the industry if they have lasted this long. Foreclosures, short sales, etc. muddy the water. In another thread I talked about where I had made an offer on a short sale duplex and now two months later the bank's people have said they will take at least another month to decide what they want to do. I pulled my earnest money and almost forgot the whole thing which may be what ultimately happens anyway. It is a hard time to be a seller even if you are not amongst the statistics because they are competing for the same buyer.

[muldoon]

I hope you have better luck with the next one.  Your timing is bad on selling now, you likely know that already.  Is renting it out an option?  Maybe your new realtor can get it listed as each in hopes of getting it occupied sooner. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I really hesitate to rent it out.  We're not there to manage it, and I hate the thought of someone destroying it.  I'll be glad just to get shed of it... It's costing us an arm and a leg to keep it mowed because of the rain they've had up there.  My old neighbors up there tell me the kid I am paying to mow is doing a really nice job of making it look good, though.  I have high hopes for the new realtor...she's the one that sold me on it (certainly wasn't OUR realtor at the time because she didn't even want to show me that house.) 

[ScottA]

HG maybe the price is too low I heard houses over $20 million are selling really well right now. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

You're right, Scott... maybe we should round up to the nearest ten million?

[ScottA]

Make it asking 10 mil  negotiable

[desdawg]

Did you snatch up a couple Scott?

[ScottA]

umm

No 

[desdawg]

Better hurry, they are going fast. We can make more and call it a recovery if the demand is there.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

good news... new realtor has the new listings up (both for WI and IL) and I am very pleased.  She really plays up all the great points of our house in WI. She hasn't taken new interior pics yet, as her 99YO dad passed away the other day and she had to fly out for his funeral, but even with all that going on in her life, she did a great job of getting the listings up and the new sign up.  She has also corrected the mistakes that were in the first realtor's listings.  Now, just hope we find a buyer soon!

[glenn kangiser]

Great.

[desdawg]

Wishing you good luck from this end. Fresh enthusiasm couldn't hurt a thing.