Not the brightest realtor out there

Ever so often a realtor I worked with or met back when I was house hunting will reach out to me and ask if I found a house or if there is anything they can do to help.  Usually it’s an agent I met at an open house who then added me to their mailing list even though I didn’t ask them to or they offered to be my agent if the one I’m working with didn’t work out.

Today I got an email from one such agent.  He sent the following:

Greetings

Interest rates are expected to rise in 2015. If you haven’t bought a property yet, now is the time ! Please call/text me at 773-4xx-4xxx

Sincerely,
Rusty Reagan

I could ignore these but I try to be nice so I sent him the following note:

we bought a home in Nov 2012..If you happen to have a buyer for my condo, please send him our way.

And I included a hyperlink to the listing of my condo.  The very next email I get from him was:

Is your condo listed?

Not a very observant fellow but I did feel much better not letting him help me find a house.  I gave him the benefit of the doubt and replied:

yes, perhaps you didn’t notice the link  I sent, here it is again.

I already suspected how this would play out but I always love to get anecdotal proof.  He sent a reply that simply said thank you.  Which I hope means I’ll take you off my mailing list.

You’d think he would write back something like congrats on finding your home, good luck with selling your condo and if a buyer approaches me, I’ll be sure to contact your agent for a showing, both of us knowing no such thing would ever occur.   If someone were to call this guy 5 minutes after our last email and said “I’m looking for a two bedroom condo in Albany Park” I guarantee you the neurons would not fly across his brain making the connection.

The reality is realtors don’t work that way.  They rely on database searches to match clients with properties. And it’s not only too bad but extremely short sighted. Not only is there a chance that we might buy another house someday but we would definitely recommend a good realtor to our friends and relatives when they do their House-Hunting Adventures, because Good Realtors are hard to find these days. Rusty is certainly proof of that.

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Humboldt Park split by realtors like Post WWII Germany

The other day I got one of the millions of emails from realtors telling me about their latest listing that “just came on the market”. This one intrigued me:

West Bucktown single family home on corner lot w/ loads on sunlight! Open floor plan-large chef kitchen w/ top of the line finishes-large master bed w/organized walk in closet & spacious bath w/double sinks and separate shower. Plenty of closet space. Beautiful deck off the family room is great for entertaining or enjoying a quiet night time breeze. Fireplace in large open family room. 4th bed is in finished basement

Sounds good right? then I looked at the address. http://www.1656NArtesian.info

This is where I grew up and I can tell you the 1600 block of Artesian is not in Bucktown, west or otherwise.

Humboldt Park divided like post-WWII Germany

I get that you’re trying to sell a home and Bucktown has more cache than Humboldt Park or even trendy Logan Square. And I realize that we are talking about less than a quarter mile of distance, essentially a city block. But No way is this Bucktown, it’s Humboldt Park. You’d have a better chance convincing me that it’s Logan Square.

It seems that HP is getting divided up like Post-World War II Germany. You have West Bucktown and West Wicker Park. What’s next? North Logan Square and South Ukranian Village?

Germany post WWII

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Annoying Things Realtor Estate Agents Could Do Right

As a byproduct of following the real estate market since 2008, I know a lot of realtors. Some I know through friends and other social outlets. Some i met at open houses and they latch on to me. Often, I get an email from one like this one:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Icarus:

I saw your note in Crib Chatter that you’re thinking of finding something in the near-northwest suburbs. Like one of these?

Let me know if you have any questions, comments or updates to your requirements.

Sincerely,

ChiTownGal

She sent me a link to her ConnectMLS report which had about 40 listings of various types of houses. All realtors these days have this package, some software developer made off well packaging and selling this to brokerage firms once the industry finally conceded that typical buyer/sellers are using the internet more than agents to buy houses.

For the purposes of full disclosure, ChiTownGal is the realtor who found me my current abode. Unlike many realtors who disppear once the commision check clears, ChiTownGal has stayed in touch over the years.

Okay, you asked. So in letter form, I sent the following back.

Comments:

1) I get these Powered by ConnectMLS reports from every realtor I’ve ever met since the dawn of time. [At any given time I’m also “stalked” by any realtor I’ve met at an open house, party or even on the running path, but that’s another discussion.] I’m also signed up on ZipRealty, Redfin and use a few other sites to do my searching. Since the MLS became available to ordinary buyers it is rare that a realtor trumps me on a home that is out there.

2) Some of my criteria just isn’t codeable and no agent is going to weed through listing descriptions to find me the perfect house — that’s my job.

3) No Agent is gonna review my notes on 40 plus properties. I’ve made comments like “wow, love this house let’s go see it” and “I’ll buy it today” and yet no response.

4) take MLS #07912198 this is a fugly looking house. There is no way i would buy it. I wouldn’t even live there for free or if you paid me (only a slight exaggeration). But if I check not interested, it will still come up in the next email when they delist and relist or drop the price $1. There needs to be a Never Show Me This House Again option.

Perhaps this Post-Boom Market is a good time for all the realtors to come together and fix some of the things broken in the system.

regards,

Icarus

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