Comments on: Showing Agent Feedback: Faux Pas or KumBaYa?

By: » One-Brain-Dead-Simple Way To Paint Yourself A Remarkable Shade Of Purple Cow. Cost = $1.99 Real Estate Opinion MAG – AgentGenius

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:29:08 +0000

[...] I’m not in favor of showing feedback, but if you must, do it fast, short and in sweet style. Record > Send > Boom. [...]

By: Matthew Rathbun

Matthew Rathbun — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:43:11 +0000

Giving Showing Feedback may be a violation of your fiduciary duties as well: http://agentgenius.com/real-estate-coaching-tutorials/showing-feedback-is-dumb/

There’s little to no advantage to the Buyer, who you’ve agreed to represent.

By: You Say Kumbaya Like It’s A Bad Thing | Real Estate Opinion MAG - AgentGenius

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:12:25 +0000

[...] Top 5 real estate posts of the day 6/22/2009: Showing agent feedback: Faux Paus or… [...]

By: Matt Stigliano

Matt Stigliano — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:28 +0000

Ken – I love when you take your pointy stick out and start jabbing at the belly of real estate. I’ve heard this conversation before (perhaps via Teresa here on AG?) and I think about it a lot. Every time I sit there filling out more mind numbing feedback that I doubt gets read half the time I wonder if I’m wasting my time. I try to be very cautious as to what I say and never preface anything with “my clients think…”

With CSS we automatically get feedback requests via email, I’d say I get about a 50% return rate. If an agent doesn’t answer, I leave it at that. If you’re chasing down an agent about feedback and reach them three days later, I really doubt they’re going to care to say much more than “it wasn’t a match for my client.” What good does that do?

I find that it seems a bit fruitless as most of the feedback looks and reads like it has been cut and paste from “The Book Of Dull Answers.” Nothing helpful, just generic “not the one” comments. “My clients are still looking” and “my clients have only started looking” are the two most common.

I think I’m going to send this to some friends (consumers) and see what they think.

Keep it coming Ken, never preachy…always teachy.

By: teresa boardman

teresa boardman — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:31:29 +0000

I would have to find the post. Wrote it on this very blog. the other downside of giving feedback is that if I am representing the buyer comments on price and other comments may weaken their negotiating power. In general I don’t give feedback on the listings I see.

By: Erion Shehaj

Erion Shehaj — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:35:14 +0000

I always found it amusing that a home seller will throw a fit if their agent mentions anything close to “your price is too high” but will drop the price on a dime if another (buyer’s) agent says so. A bit unclear about who works for who, right?

But, the truth is Seller’s do look for the feedback and in that respect Russell is right.

One aspect of the post I disagree with is the reasoning behind why one shouldn’t provide feedback. If avoiding to help the competition is to be our main aim, what are we doing blogging about strategies on AG and elsewhere?

By: David Michael Martin

David Michael Martin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:30:40 +0000

Showing Agent Feedback: Faux Pas or KumBaYa? | Real Estate Opinion ...: I'm paying you to sell my house and .. http://bit.ly/fIEPw

By: Calie Waterhouse

Calie Waterhouse — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:36:16 +0000

RT @agentgenius Showing Agent Feedback: Faux Pas or KumBaYa? | Real Estate Opinion MAG - AgentGenius http://bit.ly/ZlD6f (via @tweetmeme)

By: Louise Scoggins

Louise Scoggins — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:33:36 +0000

Ken, this is a thought provoking post. I have not thought about providing feedback from that angle. I currently have 6 listings that are all in different parts of metro Atlanta, all at different price points, and I have several active buyer clients. My buyers that are looking in the same areas as my listings are not looking in the same price point. So how would me providing feedback from those showings be a detrement to my seller? Many of the houses I show and provide feedback on are not in direct competition with my own listings.

As far as gathering feedback goes, as several mention here, I do it b/c it makes my sellers happy. They want to know what the buyer thought — though the reality is that if the buyer liked the home a lot, I would have been in communication with the buyer’s agent already about an offer coming in. I also believe that feedback can be very useful to address an issue with a seller that they may be hesitant to change (i.e. change this paint color or clean up yard etc etc).

All in all, I believe in karma — what goes around, comes around, so I will continue to provide and continue to gather feedback.

By: Ken Brand

Ken Brand — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:31:10 +0000

Jeff – Courageous or stupid – depends on who you ask. Cheers and thanks.

Russell – Thanks for you comment. I find it an interesting paradox. As you’ve shared, as a listing agent, we know sellers want feedback. Providing it improves the perceived value of our service. As a listing agent I would request it. Intellectually, I believe providing constructive feedback in most cases would not benefit my seller(s).

Ours is a fascinating business.