Thanks everyone for your advice.

In the last two days, an additional 7 agents have come through my place. None have turned to offers yet, which makes me very suspicious.

But, I'm going to give my agent the benefit of the doubt until this coming Monday. If no offers come in by then, it's time to give him the heave-ho.

New development:

This agent is also representing me in the purchase of a new home. I just found out the new home had an underground oil tank. The seller offered to transfer his "tank insurance policy" to me, but the policy requires me to stay with the seller's oil provider and not allow anyone else to service the oil heat system. Plus, the "proof of insurance" they provided had someone else's name on it and had expired in 2004.

I said no. My lawyer said "Heck, let's ask them to remove the tank and see what they say."

That was two days ago, and the seller's attorney has yet to respond. So I asked my agent if he had heard anything from the seller's agent. His response:

He's advising me to skip a tank test because this insurance policy is in effect?

For my own information, I called around to several testing/removal services, who said a simple tank test costs about $500 - while removal of the tank can cost upwards of $10,000 if there is leakage.

I e-mailed him back about the entire situation, to which I received an auto-reply telling me he'd be out of town for the next 4 days, and to call his cell phone "if you need to get a hold of me immediately".

Meantime, the home I'm selling is still on the market. This is the second time he's disappeared since we started listing.

Am I crazy, or does it seem like this guy only cares about making his commission and nothing else?

I'm tempted to call the broker and have a fit, but I just want to make sure my intuition is right here.

is he available if you have questions? yes, via cell phone. i don't see where he's disappeared on you.

just wait and see what they have to come up with regarding the insurance and such. if you're not happy with it, you have the right to have it tested or removed, at your cost unless otherwise stated in your contract.

We all need to take some time off somehow- but we know we'll never get to take a vacation like "regular people". We always have our cell phones on- even during our 10th anniversary dinners. If anyone ever wants to know why we charge as much as we do- that's my answer- we're on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It would have been nice if your agent would have let you know that he would be out of town, but he's got his phone with him- we always do.

NJ, many agents say they're in this business for some higher purpose, but in reality they are all in it for the commission. That's not necessarily bad, usually your goals are more or less in line with theirs. But sometimes your best interests do not work with the agent's best interests, and you better believe they're looking out for themselves, as you should be.

As an example, it is in your agent's best interest for you NOT to get a tank test because it's one less contingency which might stand in the way of getting his commission.

Another example is pricing on the sale of your home. When you do as little marketing as most agents do the only way to get a fast sale (sometimes ANY sale) is to slash the price. What they don't bother to point out is that for every $10,000 "price adjustment" they recommend, they're giving up only about $150 commission after all the splits are said and done.

None of this is inherently "bad", I mean most agents aren't out to intentionally harm their clients, they simply don't know any better. They're just trying to generate commissions to put food on the table. Unfortunately the extreme lack of education in the industry means that the expert you thought you hired doesn't know any more about selling your house than you do.

You also have to consider that the vast majority of agents struggle to get whatever business they get. Just look at what Carla said, on call 24 hours a day for a deal which may never happen! Who needs that?

RealDealer, I agree with you on ONE thing - agents need to not be desperate.

Other than that, what a lovely post you have there. It does appear that this seller has hired a dud of an agent, but please don't say "many".

Some of us are higher evolved and I wonder what you would do if you met one of us?

I don't get to price reductions because my homes sell in 38 days on average, when our area average is 75+.

I don't list a home that the owner won't stage and declutter. Period.

My professional fee is 7%, always. Non-negotiable. List with me and sell in 38 days for 98% of asking price, no price reductions needed.

Cranky, irritable and downright rude? I will walk out the door. Not desperate enough to add those phone calls to my life. Rather be a FSBO? Have at it. Not gonna beg to list with me. When you "cross over", let me know and I will see if we have mutual goals.

What do you think about an agent that doesn't answer her phone after 7PM in the winter and 8PM in the summer? Let's clients know - I'm a better wife, mother and Realtor when I do not. It isn't an emergency, so leave me a message and I will deal with it in the morning. If my client would like to email me, I might check email and respond because I am a night owl, but no guarantee.

All you have to do is simply explain this in mandatory buyer/seller counseling sessions and then the expectations are clear. Nobody gets upset, nobody calls me up expecting me to be a "pop tart" agent. They call and I jump? Nope.

I can't even imagine a situation in which I would be a party to a client purchasing a home with an underground oil tank. When I was an agent in Arkansas, we had such a case and it wasn't pretty. I would be running at high speed.

Does this agent not care about liability? Future lawsuits? Exactly how is this agent protecting himself? Not anywhere do I see a very important fiduciary responsibility - Care, Skill and Due Diligence. Is this agent performing care, skill and due diligence? I think not.

NJBuyer/Seller - you need to find some educated representation regarding this potential home purchase. Don't let ANYONE talk you out of ANY test - test to your heart's content. It may save the future health of your family!

As for your current home, do you have it staged and decluttered? Find a staging professional in your area, pay the $400 or similar, and have them redesign your home. You will sell very soon, if you haven't become too "stale".

My best advice is to can your agent, take the home off the market for a few weeks, get a new look, a new price, a new agent, stage and declutter, neutralize if you haven't already, and hit the market with a splash.

Cheri, why does it take you so long to sell a perfect house at a low price?

Cheri -

Thank you for the honest advice. I'm giving my agent until Monday to shape up, or he's on the road out.

I agree - the agent should be allowed to have a life. He should have been honest with me up-front, though. I have no problem with an agent that doesn't answer calls at night or wants to spend a weekend with his or her family. Just tell me that from the get-go. Don't promise me the world and deliver nothing.

Thank goodness I have a very experienced real estate attorney handling this transaction for me. She had the same reaction you did, Cheri - either get them to remove the tank or run like the wind. I trust her a heck of a lot more than I do my agent.

As to staging and decluttering: the funny thing is, every agent and prospective buyer who's come in when I've been home has said how much they love the paint color and the way we've decorated. Yet those statements haven't turned into offers yet.

But, as I said, if no offers come in by Monday, it's time for a major change.

Hello,

I wouldn't say just because you don't turn off your phone you're a desperate agent. I refer out more business than I take, and I never reduce commissions. My clients hardly ever call me during the evening because I take care of them. They don't panic because they trust me. But if they need something right away I want them to know I'm always available. I don't jump just because someone says "jump". If someone calls me in the evening or when I'm on vacation they usually just need a little reassurace, and I'm happy to oblidge to help them sleep a little better that night. Sometimes I really do need to jump, and I don't want to let them down. People understand I have 4 young children and a husband, and they respect my time to a great degree.