When Listing a Home in Sacramento is Begging for Trouble

One way to turn down listing a home in Sacramento is to suggest a FSBO to the seller.

There is no law in the universe that says a Sacramento Realtor must work with every single person who calls her about listing a home in Sacramento. Let me preface that by saying I work with all kinds of people and do not discriminate against anybody for any reason. OK, I would not represent Rush Limbaugh but just about anybody else, and even politics don’t typically enter into the equation. My job is to represent the seller, sell the home and make the seller happy, and THAT I can do very well. Totally crazy people, though, I can’t fix or workaround.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve represented some loopy individuals over the past 40-some years. People who could barely function or communicate. People who sit in the dark, rocking back and forth and sing to themselves. No problem. I still do the best job I can for them. But the super mean and the uber crazy I refuse, regardless. No exceptions.

I had a creepy feeling last summer when I listed a home in Sacramento. In retrospect, I should have called the previous agent. I was in a rush, so I just listed it. The seller sat too close to me on the sofa, and he muttered weird things that made my stomach churn, but did I get up and leave? Just one more thing to sign and then I could go. He was probably one of the harmless nut-jobs, I told myself.

Well, I had it listed for about 24 hours before the seller blew up. He skidded off the deep end, whipped off a stream of threatening text messages for no particular reason, so Lyon canceled the listing for me. Other agents obviously see that withdrawn listing in MLS. A few listed after me and some lasted a week or so. I’ve had a few calls about it since then, and I’m always honest with the agents who call to inquire because they see the red flags in the history.

I blocked him from my cellphone but he still sends creepy test messages now and then.

If you’re an agent who spots a long history of withdrawn listings in MLS, especially with some entries listed only for a few days, it’s a sure sign that there is something wrong, and it’s not the agents who make a living by listing a home in Sacramento. I called an agent yesterday to talk about a previous listing she had a few years ago, and she was gracious enough to speak freely with me. It bothered me that she withdrew the listing at the height of the spring selling season. I had an uneasy feeling after talking with the prospective seller for a few minutes, so I checked it by calling her last agent.

The agent mentioned in passing it must be nice to have so much business that a listing agent can afford to turn business away. It’s not that. Truly, it’s not, even though it might seem that way. It’s that life is short and then you die. To work for a seller by listing a home in Sacramento for that seller, I guess there’s got to be common decency and respect, and it seemed to be a one-way street on my end. This particular seller admitted she was not motivated. She has her own ideas about how to sell –very strong but inaccurate beliefs — and she did not listen to half the things I tried to share with her. Her home is weird; it will be very hard to sell.

I don’t turn down challenges because I thrive on challenges; I live for challenges, but this one I will let go. Too many negatives. I will probably encourage her to try to sell it as a FSBO. See how she likes working with herself. I imagine she won’t get along.