I know some of you may be agents and I don’t want to piss you off with this, but I know it may. I have started a low buget yellow campain by sending them to people who have have had there homes up for sale for more than 90 days and today I got a call from a agent that was in quiring about this letter. The phone call didn’t go well. I could have handled it better. Basiclly I pissed on her fire hydrant. Does anyone have any advice about handling agents when they are not the people I want to talk to.
I always treat everyone with respect. I talk to them and explain what they can do for me and what I can do for them. Everybody is on my team…everybody. Even an agent who wants me to not ply my trade. I explain what I am doing and how they can help me do it. If they have a different agenda for the conversation I fall back to my first statement. I always treat everyone with respect.
That happens all the time. I drop notes on the doors of listed houses, expressing my interest in buying, after the listing expires; intending to speak with the seller, and then I get an agent’s call.
This again, after my note reads, “Call me after your listing expires. I would like to buy your house.” The unmotivated sellers pass these notes to their agents …and then the fun begins.
For me, there is never an opportunity to work with an agent, except to work over their expired listings.
I’ve had agents get all angry and self-righteous, and know-it-all on me; telling me that I was committing a crime by prospecting their clients. Never mind I’m not an agent! hehehehe.
Agents often tell me they’re going to report me to the board of realtors. Oh, no! NOT ‘that!’
Of course, they tip me off when they ask me what my full name is, at the beginning of the conversation. nyuk, nyuk And then they predictably ask for my RE license number.
Then of course, I give them my made-up RE license number, and let them chase their tails. I’ve even had agents call me back all pissy that my number doesn’t come up anywhere. Oh, the hilarity!!! Well, then i ask their pardon, and ‘remember’ the ‘real one’ and give them yet another fake number to chase down. The fun never ends…!
If I get really ornery, I tell them that I’m a “special agent” that operates under board of realtor’s code “uh, oh, seven” and my number is hidden from public view. This usually just confuses and flusters them to the point they just hang up on me.
That’s all reserved for the stupid agents. The smarter agents understand exactly what I’m doing, and just go with it. They’re not in danger of losing their client, or their listing… Why? Because their client GAVE them my note, for Pete’s sake…!
FWIW
I wouldn’t encourage you to be nasty to the agents.Just show them respect.
I’m perfectly respectful. However, I can’t say that about the agents that call me and threaten “my license.”
Being a long time agent and an investor, keep in mind that in many states when a listing expires the agent has a protection period period built in to the listing agreement that can be anywhere from 30 days to 180 days or more after a listing expires. On average, I see a 90 day protection period from the date a listing expires so if a seller sells to a private individual or entity after the listing expires, then the agent may have had the seller agree to a protection period where the seller would have to pay the commission to the agent. In the end, its not the buyer who would be liable, it would be the seller.
As an agent, I prefer working with investors because it makes sense to work with someone who will buy more than one property and then there are those individuals who will buy only one home every so many years but they do refer family, friends, coworkers, and others if we as agents do a good job every time…
Thanks for the replies. Your information will be added to my knowledge base.
That’s correct. I remember when I was a realtor in my area there was a 120 day holdover clause (like you mentioned 30-180 days above) plus there was a standard clause in the listing agreement that said that if anyone presented themselves during the agent’s marketing period and later bought the property after the marketing period, then the agent would have a claim against the seller for their commission. So basically an agent getting a yellow letter during their listing period would be enough for the agent to sue the seller and collect their commission against the seller. There have been cases were sellers took the property off the market and sold it two years after the listing expired and agents successfully sued the seller because the agent brought phone records to court showing that the buyer contacted the agent during their marketing period.
These standard clauses even made allowances for bringing in a discount broker or flat fee realtor to broker the sale after the period where if the fee or commission was lower, then the previous agent who got the yellow letter during his marketing period would be entitled to the difference between his commission and the lower commission. There were even board rules that prevented agents from soliciting other agent’s listings during their marketing period.
Creating a paper trail by sending yellow letters to listed properties sounds like a complete waste of time. If the OP could contact the seller directly and explain to the seller the rules and suggest that if he doesn’t sell to not renew and wait 4 months that you’ll make him a genuine offer and not tell the agent anything about it it might be possible to get around it. But, if the listing were such a good deal, it would probably be sold by the agent before that time. Plus, because there are so many agents out there, a lot of agents have spent time prior building relationships with the sellers so that agent might go the same church as the seller or the agent may hire the seller’s services on a regular basis and the seller just doesn’t want to deal with the bad blood.
There’s better ways and a better use of your resources to find motivated sellers without dealing with agents like probate lists, we buy houses bandit signs, etc.
That’s pretty funny, Jay.
I’ve had a few agents call when I sent yellow letters to pre-foreclosure listings. It never ceases to amaze me how many of those homes end up being foreclosed when there is a buyer (me) ready to close! I don’t understand agents who let their client’s homes get foreclosed b/c they’re not willing to work with investors.
I’m always respectful to the agent but so many of them have no idea how to help their clients avoid foreclosure b/c they’re not willing to entertain low offers. I’ve also had many agents never give their clients my offers b/c they don’t know how to do Subject-To, owner financing or other creative ways to avoid foreclosure.
I’m about to do a postcard campaign to one of my preferred areas and will include several properties that have been on the market for over six months. I always feel bad for homeowners wanting to sell fast but some agents are blockers instead of helpers.