Here Is Why I Don’t Give The Listing Agent Feedback
Sold, without being staged even? Why hasn’t your home sold yet?
It is nice to be nice, isn’t it? Sure it is. I have found that actually helps in negotiations.
The minute I find a hostile or arrogant listing agent my sensors go into high gear. I begin to look for hidden problems. What are they hiding? Why is this agent insecure? Are they amateurs? Do they think their property is overpriced? I immediately start looking at the other options, will they be better for my client.
With that said, one friendly gesture I never make, may seem not nice. I never give the listing agent feedback. I don’t call them back, I don’t answer their email. Some of these agents are automated and start a campaign of emails, offering an easy question and answer page to respond to. Most of the time it is a phone call.
Now you the seller want your home sold. You want to know why it hasn’t sold yet. The answer is usually very simple and asking the buyers agent for feedback shouldn’t give you any new insights.
You have eyes, is your home an eyesore? You have legs, how does it compare to nearby homes of the same price? You know math. How many people have been through the home?
Priced right, in staged condition, and marketed properly your home will sell. Marketed properly must include getting your home’s information plastered across the internet.
As your listing agent, I will talk with the buyers agents that went through your home. Not to get information I already know the answer to, but to sense what is going on if we get into negotiations.
As your buyers agent, I even I the nice guy, will never give the listing agent feedback on the homes we went through. It just may hurt you, even unintentionally.
This article was inspired by my friend and associate Teresa Boardman of St Paul, Minnesota. She writes on several blogs. My favorite two are her StPaulUndressed and the St Paul Real Estate blog. If you are moving to Minnesota, Teresa is the best.
Teresa wrote this article on Agent Genius, she is a contributor on that blog: it is a great article….. here is a portion - Sellers appreciate feedback and agents in my market are aggressive about collecting it, I guess I am too.
Yet it causes a dilemma. One of the questions on most feedback forms asks about pricing. If my clients are interested in the home, I may be doing them a disservice, and even violating my contract with them, by letting the listing agent and sellers know that my buyers think the pricing is great. I may also be doing my buyers a dis-service by reporting that the house exactly fits their needs and that they like it as well as or better than the other homes they have seen.
If I give negative feedback about the property and my buyers later decide to write an offer the sellers may have formed a negative opinion of my buyers and that could make the negotiation process more difficult.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Regarding listing agent feedback - it just seems like a matter of professional courtesy. Obviously, if you clients are interested, you should keep your cards close to your vest, and not give out any information that would hurt your future negotiating position. However, if your client intends to pass - for whatever reason - it sure is nice to hear from another professional the reason why. Was it deemed overpriced, too small, too cluttered, - perfect but too expensive ? This feedback can help everybody achieve a more efficient market. To ignore fellow agent phonecalls and e-mails seems short-sighted, petty, and unprofessional to me.
December 5th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Agent Orange eh? How can you be sure? I consider one of my greatest skills is the ability to read the other side of the table. How do I know the client that says they aren’t interested won’t change their mind? I don’t..
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To me it became a matter of agency. Do I owe the listing agent professional courtesy more than what I owe my buyers.
Those things you say are nice to hear about need not come from the buyers agent. If you as the listing agent aren’t sure, take some agents from your office through. Hold a brokers open house and get feedback..
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I know I am not alone on this point. I would say that sometimes less than half of the agents that view my listings return my calls. If it took a couple of days to get to them and they saw a dozen homes they don’t even remember my listing.
Also, how can you count on their statements. If they are interested, they may say the price is too high. That happens.
One point of this article is to say, being nice, being professional is a good practice. Feedback to listing agents, probably not.
Sorry to disagree with you,
Lar
December 5th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Larry-
I disagree with you too. I am happy to give feedback if it doesn’t interfere with my agency obligations. I appreciate feedback on my listings and I try and give honest feedback when I can. If there is a strange smell in the house or the orange carpet is a distraction, why not tell the listing agent. Sometimes we listing agents need confirmation that our advice to our sellers is on track. By maintaining good relationships with my fellow agents in a small market, I increase my client’s chances of getting their offer accepted (even if the price is a little low.)
December 5th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Geordie,
Civility, Professionalism, and Courtesy toward fellow agents certainly helps everyone.
None of these require my giving feedback on your listing. Consider the last time you requested feedback and didn’t receive it. Did you write down that agent in a book? Probably not. You have no idea if they were just swamped or ignored your call. Just swamped happens to all of us.
Now as a listing agent, I want to talk with the buyers agent. My role is different here. I won’t hold it against you if you ignore my call. I might even respect you for it.
I understand stubborn sellers. They make it difficult if they price too high, ignore the smell, won’t clean up the place. For this I go back to the office agents or brokers open for support. This will give you the ammo you need.
In considering this post I reviewed all of the times I have been able to find out information I should not know, by a friendly conversation with the buyers agent.
To me, agency overshadows feedback.
Thanks for your comments. Sorry to disagree with you.
Larry Almost Always Courteous Cragun
December 5th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
When I got started in residential sales I was taught by my mentor to never provide feedback to listing agents. He said there’s no reason why we should be doing the listing agent’s job for them. If there are no obvious defects and it is properly priced then the reason would be personal. End of story.
I don’t ask agents who have toured my listings for feedback either. I may know it is overpriced and may not be able to do anything with an obstinate seller who hasn’t been worn down yet. Why give another agent power by asking their opinion?
If an agent does manage to get me on the phone, normally it is a couple of days later and I DON’T remember which house it was. With that many numbers/addresses running thru my head I would have to refer to my notes. And I am not getting paid to shuffle thru my papers and give them my opinion.
December 5th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Wendy you state the case well. Lar
December 6th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Larry - I am a listing agent who asks for feedback and am amazed at the agents who provide more information than they should, especially if you can get them on the phone. I am guilty of sending the emails:)Time spent on the phone is better spent marketing my client’s home.
When I represent buyers, I simply state the home won’t work for my clients at this time. If it is significantly overpriced, I state so. If my clients are interested in the home, I may even suggest the price is too high - works for my buyers.
I am neither for or against feedback. I do agree a broker’s open or agent tour is the best remedy for getting professional feedback. Problem here is getting the agents out to the Broker’s Open.
December 6th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Thanks for your experience Paula. Lar
December 6th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Hi Larry,
Good post. I do agree with much of what everyone has said, especially Paula. I do ask for feedback as a listing agent on behalf of my seller. If other agents don’t get back to me, that is certainly their perogative. If agents call and dish too much, that’s okay, too! I figure as a listing agent I have nothing to lose by asking and everything to gain for my seller.
As a buyer’s agent I am always careful at the responses I give to other agents. My first responsibility is to my client and feedback to other agents is based on how it works for my client to be giving information to the other agent.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Thanks Debra, I thought you were headed for Europe or something fun. And here you are reading blogs.