Working with my buyers in this tough market, I’m constantly surprised by the number of non-responsive or incompetent listing agents I come across.  With sales already hard to come by, I really can’t understand how some listing agents can see it fit to either 1) ignore calls or requests for showings from selling agents or 2) post incomplete or erroneous information about the listing on the MLS.  Not only does the listing agent fail in his fiduciary duties to properly market the seller’s property, he also frustrates all his colleagues who are just trying to help him put together a deal.  I can’t count how many times I’ve struggled to reach a listing agent to get a response or acknowledgement on an offer that I’d submitted.

If there’s ever a need for peer feedback in the real estate industry, this is about as clear as case for it as any.  These bad listing agents are effectively reducing the amount of available inventory since many buyers just don’t understand why it may take many days just to get a response on whether a property is available.  Frankly, clients don’t have to understand, as it’s our jobs as industry professionals to make things happen for them.  This type of passive withholding of inventory just exacerbates an already lean environment with so few quality properties available.

So sellers should independently verify how good a listing agent is.  Besides checking with the DRE for infractions, check online reviews.  Otherwise, we’ll continue to get a percentage of listings which just sit on the market for endless months until the seller gets tired and pulls off the market, serving nobody any good when inventory for good properties is already so tight.

If you know of a particularly bad listing agent,

please share in a comment below.