If you have ever listed your home for sale with a Realtor® and it did not sell you have most likely gotten the call or postcard from another agent to say “I have a buyer for your home.” Sadly, many agents crawl the MLS looking for expired listings. Don’t get me wrong this is a great way to find listings and or for sellers to find a new agent. What is frustrating is that many of them feel the need to lie about it. Of course there are exceptions to this and occasionally they truly do have a buyer for your property, but that is rare.
all most Realtors®) have a group of buyers we are working with. We want to find them the perfect home, but that does not equate to we have a buyer for your home. Many times since the MLS of Central Oregon shows the expiration date of a listing agents will miraculously want to preview your property just days before your listing is going to expire. Do they really think you are not smart enough to realize what they are doing? As a seller I would find this almost insulting. If you want to see my property for a buyer, great but if you are just preparing to market to me for the listing then is this really fair. Sellers go through a lot to prepare for a showing even a preview.
As Realtors® we have a code of ethics we must adhere to… one of the many of the issues we agree to is to not solicit to anyone that is currently working with another agent. So, if they are previewing your home with the true intention of marketing to you while you are still on the market, they are breaking our code.
I can’t tell you how many of my sellers that did not sell that call me and ask me to just put their home back on the market to make all the craziness stop. So, seller beware, not all Realtors® play fair or are honest with you, and if they were to tell you they are wanting your listing, well they would be breaking the code of ethics.
Personally, I do comb through the MLS expired listings – and will send those postcards and make those calls. I pay special attention to homes I think I could do a better job selling, mountain view properties that were listed for a year without a single photo of the mountain view, riverfront properties without river photos and so on. Not all homes or Realtors® are created equal. You should work with an agent that will represent you, your needs and your property not just put a sign in your yard or lie to you about what their intentions are.
This is not just a Central Oregon issue – it happens every where – my friend Mary Pope-Handy recently wrote about the same issue – you can check it out here – Your Home’s Been on the Market Awhile
Of course I would love to have the opportunity to meet with you to chat about listing your home.