Don’t Believe the Feedback-Why Agents Showing Your Home Won’t Tell You the Truth
April 3, 2008
The linchpin of the Multiple Listing Service is real estate brokers cooperating with each other to facilitate the sale and purchase of real estate. One way in which agents cooperate is feedback.
When a home is placed on the market, listing agents request that all agents showing the property give them feedback on the price, condition, and interest of the buyers.
Earlier this week, I was filling out one of a dozen feedback forms for showings I did over the weekend and it occurred to me that I was being less than truthful. Why? Don’t I want to help other agents help sell their listings? Don’t I want to cooperate?
Rewind to a four years ago. As a new agent, I made negative feedback comments to a listing agent about a home. My clients later decided to put in an offer on the home. Later on, I discovered the listing agent had shared my comments with the seller and the seller was offended (she printed them out, which seems much worse than just repeating). I knew he was offended because he called me.
The deal eventually fell apart and I suspect there was a lot of lingering resentment about my comments.
The comments were dead on – and I thought I was helping the listing agent. Here is where I learn one of the great universal truths – some people don’t want my help.
From then on, I stopped giving really honest feedback. From the home seller’s ”adult” collection in the office or a bong on the living room coffee table to the really amateur faux paint finish on every surface, specific matters of taste that can impact the sale of the home are left out of my comments.
I doubt I am the only agent to refuse to give meaningful feedback comments. If you are getting really specific and meanigful feedback, it’s probably because the buyer agents knows the listing agent (and knows hurtful comments won’t be shared) or the buyer agent hasn’t had a bad experience like mine.
Because of this, I caution every home seller to not count on agent feedback to guide in making decisions.
Entry Filed under: Connecticut, Selling a House. Tags: Connecticut, feedback, home+selling, real+estate.
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1. Amy Bergquist | April 3, 2008 at 7:29 pm
I don’t give feedback anymore either. I’m hurting my client’s negotiating position. I indicate that my client has no interest, if they don’t, and leave it at that.
2. berealct | April 3, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Thanks for the confirmation.
3. Rob at Real Estate Chocolate - Ridgefield, CT Real Estate | April 12, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Employers used to give honest appraisals of past employees but as they learned there was no upside for them and the downside risk was a lawsuit, they now routinely verify employment dates and nothing else.
Sounds like the same situation here and it’s a shame because honest, constructive feedback can only help a seller sell their home and the more homes that sell, the better off we all are.
The listing agent needs to apply skill in presenting all feedback as constructive and NOT PERSONAL.
4. berealct | April 13, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Good comparison.
5. Wayne | April 14, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I’ve heard this story( or one very similar) more than once. We used to routinely give and ask for feedback on all of our showings, but not any more. The horror stories we’ve heard about it coming back to bite an agent in the butt just makes it too sticky a subject to elaborate on. Now, just a “not for my clients” is usually our reply, and that’s what we usually get on our listings, too, unless the comment is something totally out of the seller’s control, like “the bedrooms are too small”, or “it’s too close to the highway”. And it’s a pity because good, honest feedback, taken in the spirit it’s given and acted upon, can often be the difference between a quick sale and a home languishing on the market for weeks or months.