A Guy Walks Into A Party…
We were at a fun New Year’s Eve party* last night where we started chatting with another guest and as soon as she found out we were realtors, proceeded to tell us her tale of real estate woe.
Several years ago she decided to find a bigger home for her family and was working with an agent; Agent Nice. Her agent handled the transaction smoothly and professionally. Agent Nice had not asked if her client was interested in selling her current home since she was looking for another home.
Our home owner thought the market was hot, so she decided to try selling her home on her own. Her plan was to run an ad for a public open house, and if the house didn’t sell within two weeks, she would then engage an agent.
We all know that one agent who sticks his or her nose in everyone’s business, and in this case this agent (agent Nosey) noticed that there was an ad for an open house from agent Nice’s client, and called agent Nice about it.
Agent Nice was surprised, humiliated, and horrified so she called our home owner and berated her for not telling her about her plans, embarrassing her, how could you do this to me, and on and on.
At first she was apologetic, “but she wouldn’t let me off the hook”, she said. After a minute or two of getting a telephone knuckle sandwich our home owner gave agent NotSoNice what she had coming to her.
We were completely stunned that this agent would speak to our home owner the way she described it, and couldn’t for the life of us think of a circumstance when we:
- Wouldn’t have asked about the sale of her current home, and
- Speak to a client that way.
We assured her that as the professional, it was her agent’s responsibly to have asked, and while sure, she could have called her agent about it, she really hadn’t done anything wrong.
I won’t tell you how this story turned out (did she sell her house?), but I can tell you that this home owner hasn’t spoken to NotSoNice or Nosey, and in her eyes, this is how the profession operates.
Resolution for new year: If you wished things were different, you be different yourself.
* It was a surprise birthday party hidden inside a New Year's Eve party. We thought it was a bit cooky, especially when the birthday girl called to invite us to her New Year’s Eve party, which we had to decline because he had already made other plans (with her husband!). Our host pulled it off and everyone had a great time.
