Who shows your house?

I think the selling broker has an obligation to their client to be at all showings -- or at least to send someone from their office. This is their opportunity to pitch the property, answer questions, obtain first hand feedback; and, at least, to keep an eye on their clients' valuables; and they skip it??? I also agree with Rona's advice about the electronic lockbox. I recently had a broker give me a lock box combination KNOWING a) that I was not a realtor, and b) that I did not have a realtor.

We required our realtor to be at every showing. If she couldn't make it, we stayed behind. Before the house went on the market, the team (us, the sellers, and the realtor) created a detailed marketing plan. That's what we used when the house was shown to potential buyers. Messages were consistent and the buyers walked away knowing everything about the house.

We interviewed many realtors and more than half told us that they "don't waste time doing showings or open houses."

Exactly, then what do you do for your commission?

Those folks were quickly shown the door. It amazes me how real estate attracts the smartest people around--or complete idiots.

(Our house sold in 7 weeks, by the way.)

We had a difficult time finding any listing agent on the North Shore who would attend showings. It was a requirement for us, because we wanted our broker to at least be in the house if the other realtor or prospective buyer had any questions. Even with an agreement for our listing broker required to show the home, they only showed the home a third of the time.

Perhaps someone can explain to me why a realtor should get a check for a $30,000 commission when he or she can't be bothered to show up for the one and only sales presentation?

If a realtor normally does showings but can't make every one, fine. But how can it be accepted practice for a realtor to show up only twice--once for the commission contract signing, and once for the closing to get the commission check?

I agree with Marcus on this one, regardless of the reality of the situation, there is a perception that a real estate agent does very little (even after a four way split) to earn the commission check. For example, I think it is important to know the following:
1) School ranking and information on schools - number of teachers, etc.
2) Town demographic from the US Census.
3) Date of utility installation and last rehab in the neighborhood (e.g., when was the last sewer replacement? How old are the water mains?)
4) Neighborhood and house history: when was the home built? When was the neighborhood built? What additions are there on the house? Who did the work? Was a permit pulled to do all the work? Are there any discrepancies between the tax records and what I'm looking at in the house?
5) What are the crime statistics for the neighborhood?
6) What are the drinking water results for the community (which are required to be published once a year)?

Number of Real Estate agents I've discovered that can answer any of those questions, even with an answer such as "I don't know, but I'll get back to you" is zero. NONE. I've had plenty of "I don't know's." I've had lots of "I can't answer that, but the information is out there." (Of course it is). And even some, "Why do you care when the last sewer utility work was done?" (My answer: "I'm sitting on a pile of cash and I'm interested in buying this house, that is why I care.")

If I were a seller, I'd demand my agent had all this important information available to everyone looking at the house. Make a package - black and white, double sided printing, put a $8 paper holder on the table next to the entry with a sign that says, "Please take one!". Heck, I'd put it in the listing on-line! You can get the same depth of information for something as simple and inexpensive as a $13,000 Toyota, why can't you get it for a $330,000 house?!?!?! If I were a Real Estate agent reading this message I'd go about getting all this information for every one of my listings. It would make you stand out in the market and might get you a sale - to me.

And to think people are impressed if their agent shows up to showings. Talk about low standards....

Marcus, I show up for the home inspection, too, so that's three times.

Joking!

It's certainly shocking how little professionalism there is in real estate. But there are also a good number of agents who know what they are doing, know their subject and if they don't know an answer will find out. There are indeed some really sharp people working in real estate.

Michael M: I like some of the items on your list but the sewer one is puzzling. Is that public sewer lines you want to know about? Private septic is one thing... Is there an answer to this that would be a deal breaker for you? No one has ever asked me that one.

And what school ranking are you referring to? There are many...

An agent's prime duty is to represent the seller, thoroughly know the property, handle showings and open houses and collect offers and by license must present all of them to the seller. They must also handle deposits properly. They stage and market the property, negotiate and manage the transaction. So many little things must get done in a certain order. An agent should keep it all moving, reminding of deadlines and certificates needed.

I feel it's okay to talk about facts such as how many schools the town has or how many parks but I don't feel comfortable discussing things that I am not an expert in or know about first hand. For a number of reasons I think it is best to refer deeper questions about crime, schools, town demographics and the like to reliable sources for that information, which also is always changing.
If a buyer is interested in the property, they have some responsibility to acquire the information they need to make a good decision, for them. Also their agent can assist them in getting specific information about a community. All the towns have on line newspapers. Check the police logs!

When I have a listing, I ask the seller whether they want a Supra lock-box on their property or not. I will do every showing if that is what they want. As an agent you want to offer the highest level of service you can and behave in a professional manner at all times. It's not rocket science, as they say, but to do it well takes great organizing and interpersonal skills.

Sally:

The question on the sewer (and other utilities) relate to the utilities in the street. When did the town put them in? What materials were used? Are there any utility upgrades planned that may affect my service? What is the age of the wastewater treatment plant? Perhaps it is because I'm in the field that I am concerned about these issues; but I think they are valid questions. I'd like to know if the town has plans to rip up the street next summer, I'd like to know if I'm depending on a 100-year old sewer line when I flush the toilet. Toyota (and other automobile makers) considers that providing as much information about the vehicle is better than not providing enough. Perhaps as customers, home buyers just do not expect much from the transaction, and of course, a homebuyer (or Toyota purchaser) is responsible for doing their own due dilligence.

The school ranking information (e.g., standardardized test results, percentage of students that continue their education in college, number of drop-outs, student:teacher ratio) is also available on line. Likewise as is US Census data. While I impolre all home purchasers to double check information provided buy a home seller; I also encourage home sellers to provide the information - note I did not say discuss it, I just said provide it. Leave the analysis to the experts, but provide the information (e.g., be a value-added service for the real estate comission, and help undo the negative perception of real estate agents in the world).

Imagine reading in a listing: "Located in a school district with a 13:1 student:teacher ratio, 85% of graduates from the local high school continue on to college!" Of course, it should be true, but it is far more informative than "great school district!"

I have a good one- we were looking at homes to purchase and on one occasion our buyer's agent couldn't make it, so he asked the seller's agent if they could just let us in to view the property, since the office they were out of was in the same town as the home we were looking at. The seller's agent demanded HALF of our agents commission just for opening a door for us, and started yelling that they didn't want to open the door, etc. even after our agent had said we were looking to buy VERY soon. Needless to say, that turned us off completely, because in this market, any buyer is a potential buyer. The house is still for sale, and we have a great home that we purchased instead of that one. Seller's agents, why do you do this? What makes you think that you don't' have to do 'a litlte extra' every once in a while? We all do more than we have to sometimes at our job, what makes you guys different?

I had a buyers' agent once tell us that they weren't allowed to talk about the school systems because it could be construed as discrimination? For that reason, he instructed us to look up informatinon on the schools ourselves. Perhaps it's just subjective infor that's not as Rona, does that ring true at all? If so, could that be true of sellers agents too?

As mostly a buyer's agent, I have a bit of a different take on listing agents being present. Often I have buyers who want to look at multiple houses when we're out. It's very difficult to schedule this when I have to meet up with listing agents at every houses. If my buyer has questions, I write them down and call the agent, often on my cell phone as soon as the questions are asked. The bottom line for me is that if I have to arrange to have the listing agent present as well, I'm less likely to show the house.

And I think electronic lockboxes are very insecure. Anyone with a key can get in, and the owner cannot open the box to take the key out. With a combo, I tell my buyers to take the key out if a showing isn't scheduled.

These testimonials are loud cries for sellers to be more critical in their selection of an agent. An easy solution to these colorful anecdotes would be to hire only those agents who attend all of their sellers' showings (among other things). Those of us who hire Aunt Edna or friends with real estate licenses to represent us are to blame for this industry's abysmal lack of professionalism. My experience is that if you hire the busiest agent in your area, paradoxically she will always have time for your showings.

It is seller's agents like that described by Katt that make Realtor's have the stigma of "used car salesman". As a seller's agent I will do WHATEVER it takes to get a client in there. If a buyers agent has a legitimate reason for not making the showing, I will show the property to their client without them. But, you better believe that I will expect them to finish off the duties that they are getting paid for.
When you hire an agent make sure that they are a Realtor. Realtors have to abide by a strike code of ethics.

I am not a Realtor, but feel someone has to stand up for the perceived 30,000 commission that is received. In any transaction, whatever commission structure that is agreed to is split many ways. First it is split between sellers agents office and buyers agents office. Then the office splits it with the agent. Then the agent has a cost of business, license and continuing ed to cover. Who paid for all the gas while you were out looking or all the trips to your house to show it ?
In the end a 5% commission on a 500k house is 25k split and split and split. And dont forget the tax man and soc sec etc. As an independent contractor, agents pay the self employed rates on these as well.
Most agents dont earn what they are truly worth in the transaction. They are not a commodity nor are the surviving mortgage people and attorneys that chose to remain in the industry.

As an exclusive buyer agent, I would actualy prefer for the listing agent NOT to be present during the initial showing. Most of the time my clients have already scouted out the neighborhood and the exerior of the property and want to do a quick walkthrough of the property to determine if it is going to make the short list of second showings or not. If the listing agent (or seller) is present, often times they feel obligated to listen to the sales pitch on a property that they have no interest in.

If they are interested in the property, we will come back for a second showing. If they are interested and have questions, I can always follow-up with the listing agent.

What is helpful is to have a "Sellers Disclosure" or other document about the property available on-site so that if questions arise, they can be easily answered. Additionally, any information about utility bills, major improvements, plot plan, oil usage, copy of tax bill, condo rules / regulations and finances and age (if known) of major systems are great resources to have available. Also, if there has been major work it is very helpful to have a copy of the building permit (s) as well as any warranty info on major appliances.

When I am representing buyers, we usually schedule multiple showings and it becomes very difficult to coordinate with a listing agent who must be present; I had to do that this past Saturday and we had to wait 10 minutes for one and the other said he couldn't make it at the last minute - both had the keys so there was no lockbox option (and we never saw the 2nd place).

That said, I have agreed to attending showings for some of my listings, and they have often been awkward in that the buyers do not feel free to converse freely with their agent, who is often resentful that I'm there. In truth, I find there are more showings when the listing agent is not required to be in attendance (although that's a subjective observation). But in the end it's the sellers paying the commission.....

Regarding info about a property - I always make up a book with all relevant information about the property, including "highlights," building permits, etc, and usually include some public pages about the town and the schools. The disclosure is in the book, as is info about Title 5 (if applicable) plot plan, utility bills, condo information (if applicable), lead paint info, wetlands/conservation info, etc. No one has ever asked about the date the area utilities were installed, or the materials used or the age of the wastewater plant but if they did I'd probably try to find out, even though that's the type of thing I think is more appropriate for the BUYER'S AGENT to do (When representing a buyer I routinely double-check all seller-provided info anyway, after getting burned by a seller who blatantly lied in their disclosure).

Regarding lockboxes - I think the electronic ones are far more secure, but so many agents don't want to pay for the keys (which record access information) that they're becoming more difficult to use. I also have been given combo info without the listing agent doing much to make sure that I am indeed a Realtor. IF SELLERS TAKE NOTHING ELSE FROM THIS DISCUSSION, PLEASE INSIST THAT YOUR AGENT GUARD YOUR SAFETY BY TAKING PRECAUTIONS WITH A LOCKBOX COMBINATION.

I am a Realtor, and attend all showings, whether I'm the listing agent or the buyer agent. It's my duty, as I see it, to properly represent anyone with whom I have a contract. If another buyer agent cannot make it, I always honor the contract that agent has with his/her buyers. And, yes, as a Realtor (member of the associations), we are bound by a code of ethics, and a certain level of quality of service. I would not hire anyone who is not a Realtor.

And, thank you MortgageManager, for clarifying how many times that commission is split. The average agent makes about $28K per year...that's right, only $28K per year. Here's an example....I list a property for $200K at 5%. 2% is offered to a buyer agent who brings in the offer. The other 3% is split (based on the agents contract with their employer) at about 50/50. So, the listing agent, after paying their agency fee to their office, might walk away with $2800! AND, that could be for over a year's worth of work......showing the property over and over, paying for mailings, newspaper ads, association fees, gas, and time. Not much, when you think about supporting yourself in this business. It isn't easy, but most of us do the very best we can. Of course some agents don't go the distance. They aren't Realtors. If you hire a Realtor, and are not happy with their service, report them to the local Association of Realtors. You have to be a member of the State, Regional and National associations. Hold them to the code of ethics, or get another Realtor.

In answer to Michale M. As Realtors, we are not allowed by LAW to make judgements regarding such questions as "is this a nice neighborhood"...."are the schools good"...."is it safe here". These are judgement calls, and only the buyer has the right to make those decisions. If I were to say to you, ''Oh, yes, this is a very safe neighborhood", and you buy the house and it gets broken into the next day....you be on the phone to me immediately. Nobody can make these guarantees. I've had people ask me the most inappropriate questions about race, ethnicity, etc. I cannot answer these questions, even if you say, "I want to live where only Spanish people live"....not for me to say. I could be sued and lose my license.

Good agents are worth every penny and the bad ones will likely cost you more than the commission. The industry is full of bad ones though. I don't mean bad as in incompetent or worse. I mean bad in that they confuse effort and effectiveness.

My experience with sales people in general are that the effective ones exert effort appropriately and spend time on meanigful, value added tasks. The effective sales people recognize that every selling situation is dynamic and respond appropriately to the situation. Unfortunately, bad salespeople (the majority of real estate agents) rely on what worked for them before or take a formulaic approach to selling. The only way that works is if you call on enough people.

To nitpick, the full commission cost of selling a house is 5% irrespective of how it is split. Take off the overhead of the brokerage firm - say 50% - and the brokers split 2.5%. The arguments presented by realtors all assume that they get only one side of a transaction yet the total commission going to brokers is 2.5%
Also, "showing the property over and over, paying for mailings, newspaper ads, association fees, gas, and time" is overstating it a bit. Any business expense you incur as a private contrator to a brokerage firm is, dollar for dollar, deducted from your income. If you are not a private contractor, then you can deduct any non-reimbursed expense.