Why don't you ask hime to let you out of your listing contract early since you're not happy with him? I know of several people that have done that.

Then you can list it with a real "go-getter".

I hope it all works out in your favor, Susie. Keeping my fingers crossed for that miracle!

Linda

Linda...I did kick that idea around. Frank had placed a call to the agent who sold the other house on the street in under a week and for his asking, he said to call him when the contract was up.
Seems these agents have some sort of unwritten boundries because I talked to a customer who is also an agent and she also told me to call her once the contract is up.
Jeez!!

AS of this morning the new pics and text is still not up on the listing.

(sigh)

I just feel so regected...I mean I know a lot of it is me not feeling well but I have found myself welling up over this and thats not in my characture. I've also been at odds with Frank and its not at all like us to argue.

Maybe we'll get some nibbles this week.

Susie

Susie, don't give up! Is your agent the owner of the realty office or is he affiliated with another, larger well known company? If so, I'd go further up the ladder and let them know loud and clear how unresponsive he is being.
Let's face it, whatever is new is fresh & interesting to the businessman and but old & routine gets kicked aside. Let his bosses know, time to "freshen" up your listing!

Ellen,
He is a broker/owner of his office. Its Century 21 so I'll take a look at the site and see if there is anywhere to voice my concerns.

I feel pretty happy going to the Philly board of realtors to file a complaint. I read one of the bylaws...it stated the realtor must act in good faith ect....it goes on to talk about neglecting a home owner which is exactly how we feel....like we are neglected.

Perhaps John figures our home is a lost cause...we do have a lot against us and very little we can do about it. The economy stinks, our area is pretty bad, people are nervous ect...the only good news is the folks in our target area aren't selling either.
Some homes we are tracking have been up for many more months than ours.

Shanen wants to take us out looking tomorrow. I have mixed feelings about it since there is no word on our house. I do see her point as its a rare day that Frank and I and my FIL are all off together so she wants to jump. I will be taking my own car just in case someone wants to see our house-I can bail out and go home LOL!!

FIL is coming along because Shanen wants him to see the New Jersey Ave and the Woodlawn Ave (oil tank) houses to get his opinion....FIL is a handyman and can spot any problems.
Maybe St Patrick will smile on us!! LOL!!

Cheers!
Susie

"THUD"

Thats the sound of Frank and I smacking ourselves in the head.

As of today the text is changed oh boy is it changed however the pics are still not up.
In regard to the text...well we took a lot of time to write the text. We read a lot of others listing and asked a lot of friends to critique our ideas. In the end everyone was thrilled with our text-even John called to say he LOVED it.

So why did he mess it up??
Its like he peiced together parts of what we wrote interwoven with parts of the original text that he wrote. It just doesn't read well and maked no sense. It looks like a 3rd grader wrote it.
Then theres the part about the new windows in the master bedroom....ah, we never put new windows in the master bedroom!!
The windows were re-strung a few weeks ago but new?? Nope!

The pics are still the same. He's had the pics for a week now so you'd think he would have gotten around to it by now.

So at least the price reduction and sellers agent bonus is in there so thats a good thing!!

In an effort to try to be proactive I made a flyer. I used my own text as well as all the room measurements and all of the pics. I printed 5 copies to give to anyone coming to see the house. I think they turned out really well and Shanen LOVED it!!

So we went looking at houses yesterday...even let Drew skip
school to go looking...FIL took a long look at the New Jersey ave house and he really thought it was a good house.
I mean he knows it needs a few things but it was certainly a well maintained home. He gave 2 thumbs up.
WE also looked at a split level with an in ground pool. It was nice but FIL noticed some cracks that spanned from foundation to ceiling. Plus I took a long look at the older lady who lived there and saw how she pulled herself up the steps and I saw myself in 20-30 years and thought "nope, a rancher would be best LOL".
We also looked at a lovely cape cod on a smaller lot. It was 2 guys and this house was adorable. Very clean and well staged but oh so small. The kitchen was TINY!!!
It was a cute home for someone maybe who doesn't cook but for me, well I kinda live in the kitchen so it would not be for us...no dining room and 4 small bedrooms.
Finally we looked at a foreclosure. The bank is asking $230 for this home. It was a mess!!
I think if I were a little younger and had some extra income I would have snatched it up as I could see it was once a terrific house. But with forclosed homes you have to have a lot of cash up front...oh but it was a grand house!!

Lastly we had to hurry home to show our own house at 2pm....a girl from Johns office. (I was SO GLAD I didn't add the cabbage to the crockpot as that may not have been the best house smell LOL)
So I was able to use my flyer!!!
Then just as they left we got another call to show the house at 5 pm!! Again I got to use my flyer so I was so happy I did it!!

I did not get to read their expressions as I took a walk when they came thru...I actually went to my neighbors house but both showing the street was super quiet, clean and had lots of parking.
I am hoping to get some feedback!!

I finally added the cabbage at 6 and had my St Paddys feast while watching idol!!

I do feel a little better, even went back to the gym which helps to relieve stress so maybe things are looking up.

Cheers!
Susie

Well that sounds a bit better Susie, but that agent.. sheesh. Keep your chin up and hopefully you'll be over on my side of the river soon.

Yay. You made all the right moves. So where is our Idol update?

Just to make you feel better about the other agents, I don't believe they are allowed to talk to you about your listing while you are under contract with another agent. We get flyers all the time from agents wanting us to list and they always have some sort of disclaimer about disregarding them if we are listed with someone else. I would definitely tell your agent his deficiencies before I reported him. It would give him a fair chance to let you out of your contract. If he refused to drop the contract (with no strings attached like not being able to relist the house for x amount of months) then I would file the complaint. Keep a copy of the email or letter you send to him documenting your complaints and his failures so you have something to show to the board.

Good luck!

Over the past few weeks my Chiro and his receprionist have been telling us to call this guy they both know.
I just took their advice thinking we'll put him on the list of realtors to call once we were done with John.

Well yesterday the Chiro talked to Frank and told him to call this guy tonight (last night) that he was expecting our call.

Frank did and now he is coming over tomorrow to hash some things out. We may ask to be released from our contract with John but then again we only have until April 16...less than a month so we may just ride it out.

Seems this new guy also used to work with John and said even back in the day he was a slacker.

So in hindsight it appears we are doing everything right, we just picked a lousey realtor.
Makes me feel better since here I thought we were just doing everything wrong, also makes me feel like I just wasted 5 months. (sigh)

What an ordeal!!

Pam, sorry no idol update...last week I was so sick! I did plan to write about it but I missed most the show as I was confined to the bathroom...this week I had to work.
Based on what I saw I feel the wrong person went home but I didn't see enough to vote so I accept that America got it right.

Cheers!
Susie

Just a suggestion: Document your complaints in as objective a manner as possible. Include dates and specifics. Then ask for a meeting with the realtor and outline that you are unhappy with the service received, feel that you are being neglected and that he is not acting fully in good faith. (Key phrases there.) Tell him that you feel the relationship has soured to the point that he is unable to represent you fairly. Don't lay blame, but don't take any either. Then ask him if he would be amendable (don't say "willing") to you releasing him from this contract that he obviously has little interest in so that he can concentrate on more profitable opportunities. Then make sure he agrees that you are free to relist the property immediately, but act like you have no clue yet who you will list with. Then, if he agrees, get in all in writing. If he refuses to release you from the contract, shake your head sadly, say you hoped it wouldn't come to this, but that you feel you have no recourse by to write Century 21 and the local realtor association and let them know that you feel you have not had your best interests represented.

The wording in imporant. If you make it sound like his idea and in his best interest to release the contract, then he's more likely to oblige without reprucussion or cost. (Read the contract very carefully for hidden costs.) Ok, so that's not the real pictures, but if appealing to his vanity gets you what you want and it's all legal and ethical, what's a little false remorse on your part? It's cheaper than waiting another month and resenting it for months to come. :)

Realtors do have strict (writeen and unwritten) rules about when, how and to whom they can talk about listings. The are particularly wary of anything that might appear to be "poaching." You're only going to buy or sell one house every few years at best. They have to deal with each other sometimes weekly, and the gossip and politics are brutal. Our second realtor was VERY careful not to say anything at all negative about our first realtor until everything was final and she knew we were leaving town never to return. LOL! She couldn't afford to do otherwise as she owned the agency, was high profile in the area, and had lots of folks who'd like to bust her down a notch for her success. She finally did allow that our first realtor (who once worked for her) was all talk, no followthrough, and a bit of a nincompoop.

We had our house for sale for 17 months, and that was in a pretty still-sold market. We ended up with three offers ranging from a risky one at full asking price to a rock solid "let's do it right now" one at 8% below asking. Had we not gotten sidetracked by the first (lazy) realtor, it probably would have sold in 8 months at 3-4% below asking given the market and location. Sometimes time really is money.