The Duty of An Estate Agent

I recently sent out a flyer stating that I was willing to do a free comparative market analysis in my area and surrounds. This CMA will be based on the market activity in the immediate area of the property in question and aided by experience that I have gained in the past five years.

I have received several calls and in doing my rounds I have met with the same story over and over again. People who are now desperate to sell due to ill health and/or financial constraints. People who have had their properties on the market for anything up to five years and who have also never heard from the agent they first contacted again.

Properties that the agent views, photographs and then leaves. With no word of advice - no CMA - no mandate and no FICA documents requested. The seller who is none the wiser then waits.... and waits.... Maybe at the time of first placing the property on the market there was no immediate urgency to sell. This later become almost a dramatic situation. The agent asked them what they wanted and then left, creating the false expectations right from the outset.

Training is the key, but then the desire to do ones job well is the next major issue. It is never easy to tell a buyer the truth, especially, as with many is my area, they paid too much for their property in the boom period and now sit with mortgages that, if they sold at market value, would leave these guys with a recognition of debt towards the financial institutions.

However, not being professional, and not providing the correct advice, no matter how painful, can lead to even greater discomfort at a later stage. When one or both of the sellers are in very poor health and or over indebted and facing foreclosure.

The problem I am trying to highlight is, when I do the job right and I see the shock - surprise - and even the gratitude I get from the seller. It makes my blood boil... thinking of all the agents out there who even after all the training, the hours in boardroom, still do not act responsibly.