Seller’s agent goes on vacation but advises homeowners to review their ‘pretty straightforward’ offers — how do they work with this ‘big shot’?

Last night, the assistant to our seller’s agent emailed six offer proposals compiled in a Dropbox link. This assistant also completed a spreadsheet comparing each offer’s strengths and weaknesses. The assistant cc’d our seller’s agent. The instruction was to text our seller’s agent after reviewing all the proposals and spreadsheet comparisons. Based on our last home sale, this seemed odd. In the past, we would review an offer on its merits with our seller’s agent, paragraph by paragraph and page by page. We gently nudged the assistant and seller’s agent, indicating we would like guidance going over the proposals; the assistant replied that the seller’s agent “is out of town visiting family and would be available by text after we reviewed the offers and spreadsheet.” Later, our seller’s agent responded, maintaining “it’s all pretty straightforward, boilerplate stuff,” adding, “there are a few offers that are acceptable as written.” We emailed everything to our adult kids, all of whom agree that the spreadsheet alone demonstrably proves each proposal would need a counteroffer. Almost all of the offer proposals are noncontingent and have 20- to 30-day escrow periods. A short escrow is out of the question. We agree with your past columns about homebuyers being allowed to conduct contingency inspections with a rescission structure. We have no interest in doing business with a homebuyer feeling rushed or pressured. If a homebuyer doesn’t want our house after inspections, we won’t have a problem selling it again. Regardless, after a sleepless night, one offer proposal expired this morning, and two more will expire at midnight. How does one deal with a “big shot” vacationing seller’s agent by text while our offer proposals are expiring?

Vacationing seller’s agents who are prudent will have like-minded agents cover any business that requires a real estate license. These in-town, on-call agents are acting as understudies in home sale productions. The safe residential real estate transaction is no different from the three acts of a theatrical play. When the homebuying audience takes a seat in your home sale theater, they expect the curtains to go up, the cast of players taking the stage while the dialogue begins. If the cast is not onstage on time, that’s the buyers’ cue to lose interest, become a critic and break for the door. As a result, you and your spouse need a director on location. Call your licensee’s broker/ manager or supervising sales manager and demand direction, not in an hour, not tomorrow — right now. Your seller’s agent is playing the role of a bad actor in more ways than one. Don’t let him upstage you.

Questions? Full-service Realtor Pat Kapowich is a career-long consumer protection advocate and Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager. (408) 245-7700 Pat@silicon Valleybroker.com DRE# 00979413 www.silicon Valleybroker.com