Sarah Reed, the listing agent of the still-unsold $1.275 million-dollar home left a comment on my recent post about her listing. I feel it is only fair to reprint her comment here on the front page so that more people are able to read her defense.
So here it is, word for word.
Regarding my listing on Avondale-I wanted to set the record straight about my intentional relisting of the property. I try to always write a shorter listing agreement than the average agent as it better serves the client/seller. I do not “cancel and relist”, or intend to deceive the consumer or other agents. I wanted the listing to expire contractually, and be relisted after the first of the year so that it would have an MLS # starting with 270. Largely because so many agents only search the new listings for their clients, overlooking perfectly fine homes with a bit of market time. Buyers always ask how long a property has been on the market, and I am always honest with my clients in every way. The Days On Market is clearly available to all agents, though the MLS does not print it to the consumer. My sellers always get a detailed explaination of my reasons for writing a shorter listing contract, and the benefits it gives them. Ultimately, the descision is theirs.
Certainly, I have had a few issues to overcome with this property, as the last agent blantantly overpriced it since he does not live in or do much business in the area. Also, he had it in the zip code for the city of Sammamish. Finally, the school district was wrong, and the photos were lack luster. The former agent really SHOULD have relisted the home with each of the massive price drops he was forced to do by his lack of accurate info and pricing, and did the sellers a huge disservice by not. He was likely afraid that they might cancel his service, which they were eager to do in the end. The home is very well constructed and finished nicely, and is finally appropriately priced. There was an appraisal done this summer for value only, and it came in at $1,550,000.
The current listing contract is written to expire the first week of March. I did this to appeal to the lazier agents out there that only search for “new listings”. More paperwork for me, but I’m not lazy.
One more thing. I agree that there are alot of unprofessional agents out there harming the public. It would be valuable to the industry and the safety of the consumer if we had stricter regulations surrounding the obtaining of a real estate license in this state. If you ever get the chance to vote for stricter guidlines and laws for real estate professionals, PLEASE DO! We try to be a self-policing industry, but not everyone shares the high ethics that we all should subscribe to. Unfortunately, there are alot of people that get in the business to take advantage of the public.
I’m not really sure what point Ms. Reed is trying to make here. Again, I’m no real estate professional, but the rule seems pretty clear-cut to me: “You may not cancel and relist a property, even with a new listing agreement and new listing input sheets, unless there is a material change to the listing” (emphasis mine).
I don’t understand how “I try to always write a shorter listing agreement than the average agent” excuses Ms. Reed from the rules.
Perhaps one of our readers from Rain City Guide can enlighten me?
P.S. (Please refrain from making personal attacks on Ms. Reed in the comments. Thank you.)