stay safe when selling your home

As with any business transaction, there is an expected protocol to how sellers, buyers and their respective agents interact. Should you find yourself in a sticky situation, alert me immediately so I can address and remedy the problem.

The aggressive agent
Typically my promotional materials state clearly that we are the primary contact for buyers and buyers’ agents. However, sometimes a buyer’s agent will contact a seller directly to try to either win over their business or cut the seller’s agent out of the deal. This is not reputable behavior and you should report it to me immediately if it happens to you.

The unscrupulous vendor
Have you ever started a business or moved into a new house and suddenly found your mailbox full of junk mail? Unfortunately, this also can happen when you put your house on the market. When you sell your home, it necessitates all kinds of new purchasing decisions and less-than-ethical vendors are keenly aware of this. Though MLS organizations enforce rules on how posted information is used, some companies have found ways to cull information from various sources to produce mass mailing lists. If you find yourself regularly emptying your mailbox of junk, let us. I’ll tap the appropriate sources to prompt an investigation into the matter.

The naive buyer
Yard signs, Internet listings and other advertisements can generate a lot of buzz for your home – that’s our goal!  Some prospective buyers – particularly first-timers – may be so excited to see your home that they’ll simply drop by.  If this happens, no matter how nice these unexpected visitors are, it’s best not to discuss your home or give an impromptu tour. Instead, politely let them know that I’ll schedule home tours, and give them my contact information. If you attempt to handle these surprise visits on your own, you may very well find a ‘naive’ buyer has caused you to inadvertently disclose information that could hurt you during negotiations down the road.