Using Family as the realtor?
February 18th, 2010 by admin
My mother-in-law became a real estate agent about 1 year ago. We listed our home with her then and it has been 10 months and we are getting discouraged.
We have not had one offer. She has not made time to have an open house, even thought I made a flyer on my own time for it.
When we want to look at homes the response is very slow, but when someone else wants to look it seems like she jumps all over their needs.
Another problem is that there are 5 real estate agencies in town and all of the other agencies (the one she works for is really small) have the showcase, extra pictures and virtural tour features on realtor.com. The real estate office even thought it is small still sells things, but I can’t help but feel that we made a bad choice.
What is a good way to relist our house with someone else when this 6 month period is up without hurting feelings???
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My dad gave me all of his commission to put down on the house. Maybe you should lower the asking price of the house. There are many factors of why you aren’t getting any offers. Her advertising skills may be crap, too.
I did the same thing and it was a big mistake. Just tell her that you want to try a bigger firm because the house needs to sell quickly. Thank her for her hard work. Don’t let her talk you out of it.
Family and friends are not always the best to do business with. When your contract is up, list the house with another realtor. Its a business decision. Tell her she has had her chance to sell the house, now you are going to give someone else a chance. By the way, could there be a reason she doesn’t want you to sell, like you might be moving too far away?
This isn’t a real estate question, it’s a relationship question, but that doesn’t matter
She’s your mother-in-law so clearly you need to be sensitive, but certainly she realizes that she’s being unsuccessful.
Explain that having this sale take so long is really wearing on you, and that really need to move the property. Don’t make it personal though; make it about the company she works for not having the right kind of resources to help her be successful. Explain that you need to list through a different company. That will save face for her and get you out of a bad situation.
Did you sign a paper saying you would only use her?
I would jump the gun, but I would make sure that nothing will happen legally if you jump ship and go with a more experience realtor.
In the future–never work with family. It almost never works out.
Family or not, a realtor who stands to make money on one house and not on another will give attention to the house thay will make money on. Working with family for ages has proven to be a bad idea, and more hurt is caused then help. I would suggest that while you are still under agreement, do open houses yourself, and try to find a low cost way of advertising in local trade papers until the house is sold. If your agreement expires, tell your mother i law that you know she is very busy, and you have decided to list elsewhere where if you feel like you are not getting the proper attention you can make noise without hurting anyones feelings. While the market is slow, you have to do all you can to get this done. The other agencies offer more enhanced abilities to help sell the home, and you need to get this done. If her feelings get hurt, it will pass, and you can’t stay in limbo forever. Good Luck.
Go with experience. Listed 10 months equates to over-exposure. The property even being listed that long discourages potential buyers and broker’s. Sometimes, it takes experience, someone who has seen the conditions of the market change, someone with the support of a successful firm to help you navigate to your goal of selling.
Saving a commission fee is one thing. However, in hot markets, the 10 month period of time you’ve lost, could have been long enough for the home prices that you plan to buy, to have jumped the equivalent in value. Now, with the summer approaching, as the market will likely heat up, you need to ride that waive but this time, to the finish line, not back out to sea.
I would thank her for all the hard work and relist elsewhere. If she wants an explanation, give it to her.
Really, it sounds like she is putting you and your home sale on the back burner, as if she expects you to do business with her. You are a client like everyone else and deserve a level of service. In the scenario you describe, it doesn’t sound like you are receiving it.
Lots of times, useing someone you know, friend, family, etc as a Realtor is a bad idea as they tend to take your listing for granted – meaning they think you will use them no matter what and will not give you the same service they will give a Client they REALLY had to work for.
If you e-mail me, Ill look into who is a good agent in your area, then refer them to you, if you want.