It was a delightfully pleasant day, and you can be sure I was enjoying every moment possible while outdoors. After writing last night’s journal page, I was contacted by another Realtor wanting to show one of my listings, and since it was so late, I had to wait until the morning to call my sellers. When the hour of eight arrived, I was on the phone with them to set up a mid-afternoon showing, and after that was done, I headed out to put a good four hours yard work in before I had to head back to office and busy myself at getting some showings set up for this afternoon, as well as placing a call to one of my sellers to go over an offer that came in this morning.
When I arrived back at office, I changed my clothes, cleaned myself up, and proceeded to start placing calls. I did get my showings set up, but unfortunately my seller wasn’t answering, so I sent a text. When I did get the call back, I was already out showing homes. I briefly went over what key points I remembered, and then agreed to give a call back as soon as I was finished with my buyers.
After my last showing, I returned to office and called my seller to go over each item on the purchase agreement. There were some things about it that had to be slept on, so I’ll likely be getting a call tomorrow morning with a final answer. I personally thought it was within range, but certainly not my call to make, so we’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.
I’m now climbing up on my soapbox to talk about this Zillow issue I have which is becoming all the more annoying for me, and it centers around what I believe to be unfair business practices. Ok, now I want you to put yourselves in my shoes when asking how you would feel if your own listing was showing up on Zillow, but no contact information for you the listing agent? Well, that’s exactly what they do, and instead of posting the listing agent’s information for all to see, they have a tab that you click on that send’s you to a “Buyer’s Agent”. Each and every time someone has tried to contact me thru Zillow, they get a call from one of my competitors who’re paying big bucks every month to be in the top revolving slots of agents who’ll be called on every listing we have in our MLS. I’ve been contacted by Zillow numerous times to join their “club” of paying agents, and each time I refuse because the staggeringly high amount of money they want each month, along with having to sign up for a minimum six month contract, has not been to my liking.
There’s no way shape or form I believe such practices are fair and equitable for the listing agents, and especially those young ones who’re just getting started. If I had to pay such fees back when I first started selling real estate, I would’ve starved to death because those deep-pocketed seasoned agents would be getting all the leads, and especially the buyers who were looking online. Zillow’s practices are definitely not the wheel of fortune for the listing agents, and in fact it’s counter-productive.
Now if you go on Realtor.com, you’ll clearly see not only the listing office, but also the listing agents’ contact information. I believe Realtor.com does promote buyers agents who’re willing to pay for their mug shots in the side-bars, but at least it gives all those listing agents a first chance to be contacted. With that said, from now on, I’ll be strongly urging buyers to steer clear of Zillow, and start using Realtor.com which supplies the very same listing information as Zillow. It’s no wonder Zillow is now starting to open their own real estate offices. Talk about squeezing out the little guys! I still prefer offering hometown services with a little more personal touch instead of running around out there trying to grab every buyer to be had. As I’ve said a number of times how exceptionally thankful I am to have loyal and faithful buyers and sellers in these tumultuous times of real estate sales.
We weren’t able to get that offer put together on 207 N. Hampshire, so it’s back to the drawing board. When relaying the information to my seller, I could tell she wasn’t the least bit happy, but I did remind her we’ve had four offers on it, so hopefully the next one will be the clincher. Without a doubt, if I were a first-time buyer, I would’ve had that purchased the first week it hit the market, but many of our young just don’t have the eyes they used to 20 years ago. There still are a few out there, so hopefully it’ll catch their eye.
While I was out showing today and standing outside a home visiting with the buyers, I was nearly covered with those little black bugs most refer to as “no see ems”, and boy do they bite. Thank goodness one of the buyers noticed them on the back of my white shirt and was good enough to brush them off. Those nasty devils always seem to arrive around this time of year, and are a nuisance until we’ve had a killing frost.
One of my buyers who happens to be a bedside nurse, mentioned just recently how shocking it is when a patient is on a fast-track to the grave, and suddenly the relatives descend like vultures, and the more money there’s involved, along with the number of immediate family members, the worse it gets. From what it sounded like, it’s more the rule in these times instead of the exception. My oh my how we’ve moved into a very material world. It seems before they’re cold in the ground, the executors are getting cards in the mail saying, “Check please”. Gee, that sounds like someone getting ready to leave a table at a restaurant. So much for love and affection. Right?
It looks like we’re going to have a pleasant day tomorrow, so do try and get out and enjoy this weather while it lasts. Just remember, Christmas is only three months away.
Tonight’s One-liner is: The appropriate quotes have the ability to inspire people to change their ways for the better.
