Sigh!
Okay, it's been almost a full six months since I put my house on the market. It has been quite a learning experience. I don't remember exactly, but a think a grand total of six Realtors showed up with clients to look at the house.
Now, here's my take on Realtors in general...true not all are like the ones I have had experience with...but here is how I see them.
They show up in a well kept, mid-size, fairly expensive looking vehicle, their client in a much less expensive looking one. They come to the door hand extended, with a fancy, shmancy, business card in it, the card has a lot of A.B.C.'s and X.Y.Z.'s behind their name. There is an artificial smile plastered on their face, (a well practiced facade to make me think they really care about me and my house). Yet I know they already don't like my place because they immediately look over the tops of their glasses and down their noses at my feeble attempt to have my house look nice.
They and their client at the most, spent six to ten minutes going through the house. In whispered tones they are discussing the things they don't like about it; I know this, because my Realtor has asked me to ask them to fill out a form stating what they and their client liked or disliked about the place.
Mostly I was 'average', with subtle remarks about what was not liked. Surprisingly, they seemed to like me, but the house had flaws that were seemingly insurmountable. The color of the trim of the house..my Realtor told me he could have a painter come out and 'tone it down' a bit . The sun room seems to be in the wrong place, my Realtor said 'unfortunately' 'there is nothing we can do about that'. I should take down the fence I have to keep my dog from straying around the neighborhood, although I made it quite clear it would disappear if the house sold. My garage is used for storage only, I don't drive, but I've assured my Realtor the garage would be turned back into a usable garage if and when I moved out.
How many people actually use a garage for a vehicle anyway...most garages I see are used for storage, cluttered with boxes, bicycles, and unused furniture. So why does mine seem to be an issue? Me thinks, the fact it accommodates only one vehicle is the problem, the new owner will have only half the storage area of a two car garage?
But, the final blow was a couple of weeks ago, I got a call from a Realtor who wanted to come by in a couple of hours. I said that would be okay, but wanted him to know my house is not well staged, because I am still living here, and that I was working on a company project and had not dusted for a week or so and hoped that would not be a problem. He stated it would not. Then I inquired if his clients had actually taken the visual tour of the house that is on the net. He said he didn't know. I said maybe it would be a good idea to do so before making the trip to actually look at the house. He agreed that might be a good idea...I doubt he had ever taken the trouble to view the pictures either.
Anyway, we settled on two in the afternoon as a good time to have a look-see, and I said 'see you then'. My conscience would not let me go back to work, so I immediately began my 30 minute, making sure the house looks presentable chores, like clearing dirty dishes from the sink and flinging a dust rag around, putting Zorro's toys away, straightening pillows, dragging out the carpet sweeper, etc, etc; whew.
Two o'clock came and went...two-thirty came and went...three o'clock came and went. It finally occurred to me nobody was going to show up. Did I get a phone call, nope??? What did I expect? I've come to the conclusion most Realtor's believe they are omnipotent, and not accountable to anyone. They are boorish, arrogant, inconsiderate and rude. I'm done...so done.
It would have been lovely if I could have sold my place but at this particular time it is apparently not in the cards. So, I'm taking it off the market. My Realtor is coming by today for the lock-box, and he informs me there will be paperwork to follow.
So folks, I guess this is the final chapter of my little saga on Selling the House.
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