Out Of Area Realtors

Dear Phyllis,
Over the past two days,
I watched a steady stream
of visitors arrive at my
neighbor’s house. Judging by
their clipboards, briefcases,
and personalized license
plates, I’m sure they were all
Realtors.
Sure enough, a “For
Sale” sign appeared shortly
afterward. Interestingly, the
sign did not belong to a local
agent – it came from someone
outside the area. When I
asked my neighbor about
it, she explained that she
had interviewed numerous
Realtors. Ultimately, she
chose a San Diego agent who
was representing her in the
purchase of her new home. She
admitted that her agent offered
to reduce the commission but
that she was not sure about
pricing or what needed to be
done to prepare the home for
sale. So she gathered a number
of ideas from the local agents
that she never really had any
intention of hiring. Is this a
common practice?
— Curious on the Block

Dear Curious,
The real red flag here is
the decision to hire an out-of-
area agent who lacks intimate
knowledge of the neighborhood
and the Realtors working in
the neighborhood — all to save
a fraction on commission. In
doing so, the seller risks losing
significantly more if the home
is priced incorrectly, poorly
marketed or fails to attract
the right buyers.

To answer your question,
what you have described
is, unfortunately, a tactic
that some use. Yes, sellers
often interview multiple
agents, which is both smart
and expected. During these
meetings, agents often share
their marketing strategies,
pricing recommendations, fix-
its, and insight into the local
market — all with the hope of
being hired.

In your neighbor’s instance
she was leveraging the time,
experience and intellectual
property of professionals
without any intention of fairly
compensating them. That’s
not just opportunistic — it’s
disrespectful to the people
who take their work seriously
and who provide real value up
front.

Bottom line: choosing a
Realtor should be based
on trust, expertise and
alignment. It’s not just
bad form; it can have real
consequences for the seller.
Phyllis

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