Why realtors get a bad wrap

One of our team members wrote me in frustration today, not because today was unusual or what she experienced was unique in any way, but rather because she just needed to vent.

Here's just one of the examples she provided in her email:

I was about to call on this one, when I read:

Short sale price, terms, & commission subject to lender approval. Commission to be split 50/50. No agent calls please-send offers to XXX. Agents - Use your MLS tools to answer questions. Too many calls to take all of your calls.

What the (censored)? Am I in 2^nd grade or what?? What is "use your mls tools to answer questions" supposed to mean? ... Damn it, if you're too busy or too lazy, get an assistant or stop taking so many listings.

I don't know about you ... but we run into this everyday, too. I cannot tell you how many times the MLS or agents insist that their "listings are updated daily - do not call us", so we showed the property, wrote an offer ... just to find out that was already in escrow ... or "just went in". Either way, some other poor agent just pulled up your "active" listing, drove his client out at $4 a gallon to write an offer to hear the same thing in a few hours.

I agree with our partner, if you're too busy to handle a 30 second agent call, get an assistant or don't take the listing. I wonder if these agents promote their "no call, use the computer" marketing and realtor networking strategy in their listing presentations? Nah, I don't think so.

Of course now, we call on these listing first and deal with the rudeness we often get from agents who are just too busy for our inquiry. "Didn't you read the MLS", they almost shout! Oh well - get over it. You could have been polite, answered my question and been off the phone by now. Until the communication system is perfect, I'd rather waste 30 seconds of your time, then hours of my client's time.