Hi All,

Another day, another dollar and a half (inflation you know...).  I did an open house yesterday and have another one slated for this afternoon (640 Princeton Street, Ontario, California, 1-4) and while I was on the way to yesterdays event I stopped at a yard sale where there was a for sale sign on the property.  They had fliers and I hand my Keller Williams name tag on, so I asked them if I could preview the home since I was already there.  It was an estate/yard sale so the most of the house was open for view. 

I walked through the property and took mental note of what I refer to as "property protectors".  You know what they are, '60's era paneling on almost every surface that could be paneled.  There was some wall paper that had been liberally used on the areas where the paneling wasn't, ancient carpet, worn-out appliances.  But this is not about that.  What I noticed was that when I read the flyer on the property, I had no idea that this was the same house.  No mention of updating needed, no photo showing what the home actually looks like, nothing.

This is definitely not the first time.  I once went to preview a home that was described as a beautiful vintage home in a great part of town, with a majestic driveway and sweeping porch.  I arrived to find a broken down picket fence (not mentioned in the MLS and carefully framed out of the photos) and picture of the front of the home shot with a "fisheye" lens to distort the distance from the street.  A downstairs bathroom that smelled like a human litter box and a huge hole in the upstairs bedroom closet ceiling that looked like it had been leaking there for a long, long time.  The agent, who I spoke to after I had seen the home still never mentioned any of the condition issues and continued to described this home to me as "practically turn key". 

I know that part of my job and my responsibility to my client is to present their home to the buying public in as attractive yet TRUTHFUL a manner possible.  I understand that sometimes that Victorian Dollhouse with old-world charm is really a broken down hovel that has seen better days.  But should it be?  Should I expect that when I arrive at a home listed as vacant and remodeled with "tons of upgrades", one of the "upgrades" would be windows broken out and boarded up on every exterior surface and that the deadbolt on the back door had been pried out.  The broken sliding glass window that led from the living room to the den was at this point not much of a surprise.  What was a surprise was when we (I was previewing with another agent from my office) called the listing agent to let her know what we had found at the property (oh, and did I mention that someone was obviously living there) she was unsurprised and totally unconcerned.  I cruised by about two weeks later and noted that nothing had changed, not the condition, not the representation and not the information on the MLS. 

Don't we owe it to our clients and our Realtor community to give people a bit of a heads up on what they may find.  I am not suggesting that you trash your clients taste or run the property down but, come on folks!  If it needs updating that's not a crime.  How can someone, in good conscience describe a property as "turn key" ready to move right in when they see that this is so far from the truth its not even funny.  Carpet and paint, sure, but a hole in the roof?

Here's the one that really chapped my hide, and inspired todays rant.  I mentioned the open house I did yesterday, right?  This was the second time I had held this particular property open and I had noticed last week that there were directional signs for an open house FOR SALE BY OWNER on the same corners I was about to put signage on.  I carefully placed my signs so as not to obscure the other ones already there (fair is fair, they got there first and I think there is more than enough room for us all), however I was running late last week so I didn't have time to cruise by the house to check it out. 

This week I saw that the signs were up again, with fresh balloons attached so I knew that it was on again.  I decided to drive by to get the address and see what I could find out about the home.  Imagine my surprise when I see that the FSBO sign in front of the house has a flyer box attached that says "hire a Realtor".  There were fliers in the box so I grabbed one and guess what?  There is a photo of a REALTOR right there on the upper right hand corner!  Shocking, I know.

When I got to my open, I set up my computer and decided to see if the property was on the MLS and when it was listed.  It's on the MLS all right, been there for a couple of months now and is listed with a Realtor.  FSBO, my foot!  Oh, and it's a vacant, court sanctioned probate sale.  Now I know Easter is coming, but that's the only case I know of where the owner could "pass on" but then return to sign the docs.  

What bugs me is this, image, reputation, truth in advertising, truth, period.  The Real Estate professionals I deal with and know are all honorable people.  Friendly, loyal, brave and true, geez, even the Girl Scouts are Boy Scouts.  But we are being tarred with the selfsame brush.  By "creatively" writing listings so that what you see and what you get are light years apart, and by not being truthful when advertising an open house every negative stereotype about our industry and it's practitioners is being perpetuated. 

If a home needs carpet and paint and the seller's don't want to do it, maybe the best thing to do is to say it needs carpet and paint.  Done.  No biggee.  If it needs more, sure you can tactfully say that in your listing, but please don't make it sound like all you need is a wad of chewing gum and a little spit and it will be the Taj Mahal. 

If its your listing, and you are told that it is vacant and ready to go.  Swing by occasionally to make sure everything is still hunky dory.  If it's not, do something about it.  I shudder to think what could have happened if I had "surprised" the clearly lovely family that had taken up residence in the aforementioned vacant and upgraded property. 

If you are a Realtor, and you have been given the privilege of helping a family sell their property, be proud!  They chose you! They saw the value you brought to the table and decided it was worth the investment.  Don't pretend you are the owner if you're not.  And if you are, even if you are representing yourself as the seller, don't use FSBO signs, its just not cool. 

There, I shall now step down from my soapbox, gather my toys and prepare for another day in the wonderful (and I do mean that) world of Real Estate Sales.

Take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

Tisza