Spend your time and energy...and I might pay you?!

By Robert H. Poe-

I have to admit that the current economic environment is producing some strange behavior by property owners. I talked to this gentleman the other day who had some substantial financial issues with his property, and his response to my thoughts was well, "bring me a buyer and I will take care of you". Uh-huh. So I am supposed to run myself and my team around like idiots, with no clear compensation package, and hope that by his grace he pays me for my time. Whoa!

Now I hope that my real estate sisters and brother agents are not desperate or dumb enough to fall for this line. Any distressed property agent who is worth their keep is too highly trained and frankly too busy is to spend one minute with a long shot like this. You would have better odds in Las Vegas to get paid. Without a formal listing contract in place, no reputable agent is going to deal with the stress and liability that comes with distressed property situations. The really sad part is this delusional seller is playing with danger, and no closer to getting his problem resolved.

I will admit that I had no idea what the hidden agenda was with this situation, if there was one at all, but I suspect that some owners in bad situations think that they can try to shave every dime off a sale of their property and what a better place to start than with the real estate agents. Bad news, distressed sellers, the market has turned and you need competent counsel. But a lot of you are still in denial and hoping the market will come back before the day or reckoning.

My team and I have no objections to working in a difficult selling situation, but we have to get paid for our efforts and that's what it is. We are not at fault because your property is in trouble, and we are willing to go to the mat for you. That said, we need that listing contract in place so we can LEGALLY market your property effectively and relieve you of your distressed property issues.

"Bring me a buyer" is dead...Time to move on and face reality!

Robert Poe is a co-founder and co-author of The Distressed Propety Insider Report. Contact him at: 503.351.5025 or rpoe@rpoe.com