I got a phone call yesterday from a real estate agent in New Haven, Connecticut. She told me she had a buyer who was interested in a house in North Branch NY (which is about 15 minutes away from my home office.) I expected her to ask me if I would take a referral for this buyer, (which has been pretty much the norm since I can remember.) However she did not ask me that. She asked me if I would show her buyer the house for a $50 fee!
I politely declined. I want no part of a greedy agent who wants to manipulate the system so she can make the bulk of a commission. It annoys me that there are agents out there who put their own financial gain above their clients well being. She has no idea of prices or trends in Sullivan County. How can she in good faith negotiate a sale from an office 130 miles away?
And last week I got a call from an agent in NYC who wanted me to take pictures of a listing she was getting in Bethel. Again for a fee. She did not want to make the drive! I declined that offer also. (I saw the listing go live so it looks as though she found someone to do it.) How can you list a house for a 3% commission and not even bother visiting the property?
And now an hour ago, I got a call from a buyer looking for another KW agent who was supposed to show him a house in Cochecton. But he wasn’t returning his phone calls. I looked him up. He is located in Syracuse. (And he is paying for leads from Realtor.com for Sullivan County.)
Agents like this are the reason the NAR lawsuit happened, and why the real estate industry is shifting.
Back when I started selling real estate here in Sullivan County in 2007, We had our own MLS just for Sullivan County. There was some cross over since Hudson Gateway was also an active MLS, so most Sullivan County agents were members of both. However most down state (and out of state) agents were not members of the Sullivan County MLS. I knew pretty much every broker or agent who sold real estate in Sullivan County well. (The number shrank further during the financial crises.) A downstate agent did not have access to our MLS, so we would get a referral, and a buyer or seller would get a local agent who knew the area and the inventory.
Sometime around 2015 or so, Sullivan County MLS merged with Hudson Gateway, and a few other downstate and Long Island MLS’s to make one large MLS where all agents had access to all the listings. Slowly I have seen the trend emerge. As the market has gotten better, more people have gotten their license and because the MLS is now so vast, agents are able to take listings all over the state! More and more I am seeing agents from New York City or Long Island list homes here in Sullivan County.
I may be sounding like an old man here wishing for the glory days, but I feel like this is not a positive outcome for buyers and sellers. I would not ever take a listing on Long Island or Westchester County. (And I am licensed there and could legally do so.) I am not an expert in that marketplace. I suppose I could pull comps and come up with an educated guess on value, but I could not in good conscience broker a deal from that far away.
And now many agents are terrified of the pending changes. And what it means for our industry as a whole. As buyer’s agents become less prevalent, and getting listings becomes that much more valuable, I think we will see more of these unscrupulous agents who will take any listing at any cost.
So if you are thinking of buying a home or selling your home in the near future here in Sullivan County. I would recommend you do your research and find a local agent who specializes in that area. I cover Sullivan County. That is my area. I know the market and I can get you top dollar for your home. But if you also have a house in West Babylon, then I am not the right agent for you.