Getting very tired of resale brokers who feel like ghosting is OK. Marking them off my list one by one.

[Sandisw]

Who is the authority on insulting offers? Look at the ROFR board to see some great deals which some might consider insulting but others don’t. It’s not up to anyone to personally determine an offer insulting. It’s a pretty simple process imo.

I make an offer, the broker presents it (unbiased) and the seller accepts or rejects. That’s literally the definition of a brokers job.

Unless, it’s a situation where it’s been decided not to send those to a seller. And, as a buyer, you don’t know if that is the case.

I’ll even go as far to say you may even have brokers now discussing this proactively with sellers and getting their permission to set a threshold…meaning any low offers are ignored until the seller directs otherwise.

 

[thelionqueen]

They get paid to close deals. If they don't think a deal will happen due to a lowball offer, they don't need to pursue it

If I were a business owner reliant on selling a product with a variable value, I guarantee I would not be OK with a salesperson individually tarnishing my company’s reputation instead of using common courtesy and professionalism. Not to mention risking sales vs taking 30 seconds to do exactly what I’m paying them to do.

 

[hammer1995]

Ok so I’m just going to say it.. regardless of the reason, not responding (ghosting) is NEVER OK.

I’m fully aware my offers are very low, but they’re serious offers nonetheless. Even brokers I’ve used before to buy or sell, just don’t respond. I’ve given the benefit of the doubt a few times, but no more. Regardless of the rationale, if you don’t respond to me, you’re never getting a look from me again. I Have a large social media presence which I will actively discuss. We get at least 2-3 requests each day asking for broker recommendations.. just sayen.

Interestingly enough, a few brokers I rarely engaged, are now the only sites I will visit and the 2 biggest ones, I will never endorse or patronize again.

Note to these brokers…be careful how you treat consumers. The 30 second email you don’t send, can and will cost you more than you could fathom. For example..I referred a buyer to the 2 larger brokers on the market. Neither one followed through professionally, one not at all. She currently has 4 (yes FOUR) in ROFR with one just passing. So that’s 5 contracts totaling approx $137,000 in revenue and that’s just 1 person in my very large network.

She didn’t get any response whatsoever from 1 company then a terse response from the other. Those 2 missteps cost each company quite a bit now, and even more in the future.

Simply put… be professional, respectful and do your job. Takes less than a minute to respond Pretty simple. Rant over

I honestly don’t see how some of them stay in business. The supply/demand equation is now in the buyer’s favor-brokers need to understand and act accordingly. A lot of them also fail to comprehend that today’s buyer will likely be tomorrow’s seller.

 

[thelionqueen]

It is their job to sell things for the seller. Just because you sent an email doesn't mean they are beholden to send one back. They could be getting hundreds of lowball offers a day. My bet is they don't even bother to open emails from certain sellers. They already know it is a waste of their time

Actually, they’re dual brokers, representing both parties. What you’re suggesting could be viewed as biased/discriminatory business practice.

It’s not up to an employee to judge a situation based on an assumed outcome. If this person were to act like you describe, and was interviewing for the job they hold and advertising this method of doing business, I’d bet they would not get hired. I cannot imagine any business owner would be OK with treating potential buyers poorly. But perhaps this is ok for some companies, and is their right to conduct business as they choose. I’m just saying, it does come back to them eventually. And they may be ok with that too. Cest La vie

 

[thelionqueen]

Unless, it’s a situation where it’s been decided not to send those to a seller. And, as a buyer, you don’t know if that is the case.

I’ll even go as far to say you may even have brokers now discussing this proactively with sellers and getting their permission to set a threshold…meaning any low offers are ignored until the seller directs otherwise.

Was just going to say this!

How bout brokers get the bottom dollar figure from sellers so they can courteously tell a person giving an offer, thank you but that is below what they’re willing to accept. Problem solved!

 

[jodifla]

Who is the authority on insulting offers? Look at the ROFR board to see some great deals which some might consider insulting but others don’t. It’s not up to anyone to personally determine an offer insulting. It’s a pretty simple process imo.

I make an offer, the broker presents it (unbiased) and the seller accepts or rejects. That’s literally the definition of a brokers job.

The broker gets to make the choice. Just like you are crossing off certain brokers off your list, brokers are crossing certain sellers off their list.

 

[jodifla]

Actually, they’re dual brokers, representing both parties. What you’re suggesting could be viewed as biased/discriminatory business practice.

It’s not up to an employee to judge a situation based on an assumed outcome. If this person were to act like you describe, and was interviewing for the job they hold and advertising this method of doing business, I’d bet they would not get hired. I cannot imagine any business owner would be OK with treating potential buyers poorly. But perhaps this is ok for some companies, and is their right to conduct business as they choose. I’m just saying, it does come back to them eventually. And they may be ok with that too. Cest La vie

In today's world, anything but yes is no. Their nonresponse is no, especially when deluged by emails.

This is very true if you are applying for jobs. You may get an automated response that they received your materials, but you will almost never hear that you were not selected.

 

[kmorlock]

By exhausting you mean doing their job? Not meant to be snarky, but that is literally what they’re paid to do.

Exactly! This is what they signed up for and why they get a commission. It’s a real estate market so, even if an offer isn’t what they wanted to see, at least present it to the seller unless they have you a specific bottom line they would accept. It takes no extra effort to be kind vs. being unkind. Plus, they never know if one small kindness might net them a customer in the future.

 

[kmorlock]

By exhausting you mean doing their job? Not meant to be snarky, but that is literally what they’re paid to do.

Exactly! This is what they signed up for and why they get a commission. It’s a real estate market so, even if an offer isn’t what they wanted to see, at least present it to the seller unless they have you a specific bottom line they would accept. It takes no extra effort to be kind vs. being unkind. Plus, if they are just so entirely burdened by countless offers, automate your system. The programming exists. Get your website updated to include an automated offer tool to “sort” through offers in your sellers acceptable range. The a nice “thanks but no thanks” robo-email can be sent in reply automatically.

 

[Cfabar1]

It’s also nice when sellers have their product listed as a firm sale price. That saves everyone’s time.

 

[Sandisw]

Was just going to say this!

How bout brokers get the bottom dollar figure from sellers so they can courteously tell a person giving an offer, thank you but that is below what they’re willing to accept. Problem solved!

It would…but also be aware that brokers may simply decide to not respond to a buyer who only puts in these lowball offers.

The reality is that outside of forum communities, like the DIS, my guess is that the majority of buyers are not putting in these types of offers so loss of business from the few that do is probably not a big deal.

The brokers are also transaction brokers only. Meaning they put the two parties together only and don’t have to look out for each in the same or anyway.

The only thing, as a seller, thst I would be upset about is if the broker made the decision on their own and I am going to guess that most do not.

 

[2old4mickey2]

Unless, it’s a situation where it’s been decided not to send those to a seller. And, as a buyer, you don’t know if that is the case.

I’ll even go as far to say you may even have brokers now discussing this proactively with sellers and getting their permission to set a threshold…meaning any low offers are ignored until the seller directs otherwise.

I took real estate classes to become an agent and was instructed that my fiduciary responsibility was to present any and all offers to the seller. This was in North Carolina and I know Florida brokers are transactional brokers which is different but where there is no minimum price listed I don’t think these agents are doing their job if they are not passing your offer to the seller and responding back to you with either an outright rejection or counteroffer. First offers are often an invitation to negotiate, if the real estate agent is not engaging both potential buyer and seller they should leave the business they are not doing their job.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Let your conscience be your guide…
I just visited your avatar
You are legit !

 

[DL1WDW2]

I vote @Jimmy Geppetto, that poster gets amazing deals!

Meant to respond with a like for Jimmy Gepetto avatar

 

[Sandisw]

I took real estate classes to become an agent and was instructed that my fiduciary responsibility was to present any and all offers to the seller. This was in North Carolina and I know Florida brokers are transactional brokers which is different but where there is no minimum price listed I don’t think these agents are doing their job if they are not passing your offer to the seller and responding back to you with either an outright rejection or counteroffer. First offers are often an invitation to negotiate, if the real estate agent is not engaging both potential buyer and seller they should leave the business they are not doing their job.

Not if the seller has advised them or agreed to not being bothered with offers below a certain level. FL statute for transaction brokers allows the seller the right to waive being presented all offers.

There is no fiduciary responsibility to either party when one is a transaction broker

As I said, every contract I sold I did this because it was a waste of time to tell me someone wanted to pay less than I knew I would accept.

If a broker sets it up with the seller this way, and the seller is in agreement, they are in no way required to send an offer to the seller.

As a buyer, we have no way of knowing what agreement the seller made with the broker regarding offers.

In my case, a few times they did indeed have lowball offers that I never heard about until I asked once I had a contract go to ROFR.

Again, there is no reason that a broker can’t set it up to at least say “We received your offer” via email to the potential buyer, but beyond that? No, don’t agree it has to be there…

If I was in the market for resale and spent a lot of time lowballing offers, it would not bother me if I didn’t get a response…I’d give it 24 hours and move on to a new listing, even with the same broker, or submit a new offer on the original one.

 

[aceshigh73]

Willing to bet if we acted like it was 2000 instead of 2023 and dialed a phone and spoke with a human, the amount of lowball offers would drop drastically. Its way too easy to offer a low # while you are bored or just browsing around and dont have to actually present your offer to a person.
Just think of FB Marketplace... I tried to sell a car this spring, I wanted to choke ppl.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

I'd like to know if one of the two "big" ones is the one I have used a lot and have made many "lowball" offers over the last 5-6 months. Honestly I have no idea what we're allowed to post or not post so Ill link it and if it needs to be deleted then so be it. I'm talking about www.fidelity.com. Is that one of the two by any chance?

The reason I ask is because they consistently surprise me by responding even to some offers even I realize are just a bit too low. And I've dealt with at least 4 or 5 of the brokers there. Sometimes it's taken them a few days to respond but they always say they were on vacation or away for the weekend or something. But I did start a thread a month or so ago about getting a very rude response from another broker at another company. To me I'd much rather be ignored than chastised! But yes not getting a response isn't any fun. Sometimes you just want to be told you're too low instead of being left hanging.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I’ve received a few responses that are just “we’ve received your offer” or “the seller declines to counter”— seems like questionable business decision in a market where most DVC properties keep declining, but as someone else pointed out, I’m going to keep bidding on contracts that work for me, even if a broker is not my favorite—for all I know, it was the seller and not the broker trying to hold out for 2022 peak prices. Having said that, when looking to sell, I will remember which brokers were friendly and helpful and which ones were emotional or lazy. There are a lot of polite no responses that make me think “would be happy to use this broker.”

I am genuinely curious/surprised at the number of people on these threads speculating about overburdened brokers being flooded with offers, or perceived lowball offers, etc. It seems obvious that most contracts are not getting flooded with offers because they aren’t selling, and overall prices are declining steadily —which you wouldn’t seen in an environment with lots of motivated buyers. And if you say “well, yes, they are getting flooded with offers but only lowball offers,” then you really need question whether your idea of lowball is accurate or based on emotions.

 

[BeachClub2014]

I’ve received a few responses that are just “we’ve received your offer” or “the seller declines to counter”— seems like questionable business decision in a market where most DVC properties keep declining, but as someone else pointed out, I’m going to keep bidding on contracts that work for me, even if a broker is not my favorite—for all I know, it was the seller and not the broker trying to hold out for 2022 peak prices. Having said that, when looking to sell, I will remember which brokers were friendly and helpful and which ones were emotional or lazy. There are a lot of polite no responses that make me think “would be happy to use this broker.”

I am genuinely curious/surprised at the number of people on these threads speculating about overburdened brokers being flooded with offers, or perceived lowball offers, etc. It seems obvious that most contracts are not getting flooded with offers because they aren’t selling, and overall prices are declining steadily —which you wouldn’t seen in an environment with lots of motivated buyers. And if you say “well, yes, they are getting flooded with offers but only lowball offers,” then you really need question whether your idea of lowball is accurate or based on emotions.

Totally agree. I also question what folks define as flooded, or as I saw earlier upstream, a "deluge" of emails. I mean seriously, how many could there possibly be? Certainly not so many that a broker can't even acknowledge the offer in a simple email.

 

[Sandisw]

I’ve received a few responses that are just “we’ve received your offer” or “the seller declines to counter”— seems like questionable business decision in a market where most DVC properties keep declining, but as someone else pointed out, I’m going to keep bidding on contracts that work for me, even if a broker is not my favorite—for all I know, it was the seller and not the broker trying to hold out for 2022 peak prices. Having said that, when looking to sell, I will remember which brokers were friendly and helpful and which ones were emotional or lazy. There are a lot of polite no responses that make me think “would be happy to use this broker.”

I am genuinely curious/surprised at the number of people on these threads speculating about overburdened brokers being flooded with offers, or perceived lowball offers, etc. It seems obvious that most contracts are not getting flooded with offers because they aren’t selling, and overall prices are declining steadily —which you wouldn’t seen in an environment with lots of motivated buyers. And if you say “well, yes, they are getting flooded with offers but only lowball offers,” then you really need question whether your idea of lowball is accurate or based on emotions.

I do agree that one persons idea of a lowball offer might not be the same as someone else’s.

Contracts will sell when the seller finds a buyer who have the same idea of its value and vice versa.

We see it here all the time on both a buyer and seller side.