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Some Realtors Do Not Follow Up With Other Sacramento Realtors
It is always a surprise to me when some Realtors do not follow up with other Sacramento Realtors. One example of this was a recent sale of a condo to a lovely young couple. The lockbox on this condo, which we had used for entry, was located on the front door. Nothing was ever said by the listing agent that the lockbox belonged to someone else before we closed.
I called the listing Realtor after closing as she had not removed the lock box. It was still on the front door! Here is the challenge: the listing agent said it is not her lockbox! Well, it was on the front door of her listing. Why didn’t she get it removed? Why did it become our problem? She said the agent who owns the lockbox is ignoring her calls and texts. Of course now it falls on us to get it removed one way or the other. When some Realtors do not follow up with other Sacramento Realtors, it results in a sure-fire way to cause frustration for everyone in a transaction.
When you close escrow as a listing agent, everything should be completed. Something such as ignoring a lockbox on the property, simply because it doesn’t belong to you, is not a good business practice. Whatever is left undone will only surface later and cause frustration for a new owner. I asked the listing agent for the contact information of the lockbox owner. She sent it to me. I called and left a voice mail that it was in everyone’s best interest to remove her lockbox. Additionally, that the property owner is calling Metrolist (our local MLS service provider), to report her. I added I was willing to remove it if she gave me the shackle code. So far, no call back.
When some Realtors do not follow up with other Sacramento Realtors, something easy to solve becomes a weight on other shoulders. We now need to fix a problem that wasn’t ours in the first place. Our clients write 5 star reviews on our listings because these loose ends simply do not happen.
We close the loop each and every time we close an escrow. Further, we also use our own lockboxes as we have some 70+ lockboxes registered in MLS. No need to “borrow” anyone else’s. If you want to ensure your real estate transactions are never left half-baked, call the Weintraub & Wallace team — we finish what we start. 916-233-6759.
Do Not Touch the Sacramento Lockbox Without Permission
I’m thinking about slapping a preprinted notice over my 70-some lockboxes that warn: don’t touch the lockbox without permission. It is never OK for a Sacramento real estate agent to use a lockbox and enter a home without checking the showing instructions in MLS — yet it happens. Unauthorized access happens not because agents think but because some of them don’t think. An agent today explained why he entered a home that is not even on the market, after I emailed him twice to ask for an explanation. He said it was because he lived across the street and the seller told him she was listing with me.
I imagine that news went over well.
So, he decided it was OK to bring over a buyer to walk around the home and trample on private property. Because he knew the seller. It did not occur to him that he had no written agreement with this seller nor permission to be there. Not only did he not understand that he was trespassing, but imagine his surprise when he noticed the lockbox and thought to himself, hey, here I am, a Sacramento real estate agent with a buyer and whoa, I have a display key that will open this lockbox. I will do it.
I know when the agent was there because I check my lockbox showings via the Supra website 2 to 3 times a day.
This agent did not bother to see if the home was listed. Which it is not published in MLS yet. Or maybe he did and he realized it was not on the market and that was simply his flimsy first excuse. Because his second excuse was he figured the seller would receive multiple offers, and he thought for some odd reason that we would give him priority with his offer if he submitted it quickly. And the way to submit a fast offer first was to break into the home without permission. Yeah!
This is winning on so many levels, not.
MLS guidelines allow showing of a home when that home is in active status in MLS and the showing instructions are followed. In some parts of town, and I’m not saying where, I don’t even put a for sale sign in the yard because agents out showing homes will use a lockbox if they can spot that lockbox without looking up the home in MLS to even determine if it’s available to be shown. I’ve had buyer’s agents enter occupied pending sales unauthorized with a naked seller in the shower. Geez, Louise!
MetroList should improve its training for agents and not just hand out lockboxes like they are candy.
All I can say is it’s a good thing that seller didn’t hire this agent and instead chose me. We’ll see what tomorrow brings when this home hits the market.
