When a house doesn’t sell after a prolonged campaign, there is a natural tendency for the seller to look to other avenues for success.
The first port of call is often to change the real estate agent.
But is the grass always greener on the other side?
Some lazy, unethical real estate agents will specifically target their searches for new ‘listings’ at those homes that are already on the market with one of their competitors. Whilst this is the industry equivalent of stealing and is actually professional misconduct, it generally goes on unpunished and hence is rampant with these unscrupulous agents.
It’s very difficult to know that a lie is a lie when it is something you want to believe. So when this other agent says that your price seems reasonable or too cheap, and/or that they have a buyer for your home, it can sound very alluring. Don’t fall for these slick lines from agents that resort to these tactics. Think about it – how can they be so sure they have a buyer for your home if neither them, nor their buyer has even seen inside the property?! And if there was a buyer, don’t you think they would just come and inspect with the agent that has it for sale?!
Many sellers do end up believing that the ‘grass is greener on the other side’, and change their agent, only to remain unsold as the reality hits that it wasn’t the agent that was the problem, but the fact that there were no buyers for the home at the price being asked. Often these properties do end up selling, but only when the seller changes not the agent, but the price, and the frustrating aspect is that the unethical agent is often the one who ends up being rewarded.
So, what’s the answer?
Change the price, not the agent.
If your agency is proactive in the local market, your representative keeping in touch with you, marketing your home on all the main online portals and you feel comfortable that they have your best interests in mind, then stick with them and listen to their advice around price.
No agent enjoys broaching the subject of price re-positioning with their sellers, and these conversations are avoided by weak agents, resulting in homes languishing unsold on the market for months, often because the agent only won the business in the first place by ‘over-quoting’ the likely selling price!
The agent who has the courage to confront the reality of the current market and where your property sits within it should be rewarded, not penalised by withdrawing your business in favour of a lazy, unethical agent engaging in misconduct. Think about it, if they conduct themselves that way to win a client, do you think they’ll suddenly become ethical in their conduct once you are actually their client, trusting them with the sale of your greatest asset?