Attentive (and Not So Attentive) Agents

Overeager Seller? No, Overeager Realtor

At one extreme, there are Realtors who don't return your phone calls even when you're trying to find out how to submit an offer your client has written on one of their listings.

That's actually happened to me -- twice -- in the last year.

Surprise, surprise . . . . both were foreclosures.

At the other extreme is what happened this weekend.

Out of six townhomes I set up for showings, agents on two of them sent me "pre-showing" emails extolling the townhome's (many) virtues, encouraging me to "have a good showing," etc.

I certainly appreciate the attentiveness.

However . . . . a) it comes across as overeagerness, at least to me; and b) it's premature, given that my client hasn't even been through yet.

Usually, major things like total square feet, floor plan, condition, and location speak for themselves -- and trump details like whether or not the living room furniture is included.

When it's not "Overselling"

Are there exceptions to getting in front of the Buyer's agent ahead of the showing?

I can think of three.

One. Letting the showing agent know that a price reduction is imminent.

Two. Informing the showing agent that there's intense interest from other Buyers (and time really is of the essence).

Three. The property has a number of features and amenities that might otherwise be overlooked.

That can easily be the case with an upper bracket home that trips, say, more than 5,000 square feet.

A fourth situation involves letting the agent know about a temporary problem. For example, the basement got water from the storm the night before and is being dried out, a stained carpet is being replaced, etc.

Those kinds of situations are always judgment calls, but in my opinion are probably better addressed by temporarily taking the home off the market. In fact, MLS has a status, "TNAS," or Temporarily not Available for Showing," specifically designed for those situations.

P.S.: also in the "overeager" category would be the cell phone call for feedback . . . while I'm still doing the showing!