Agents: Learn some manners!

As a listing agent in a down market, I consider buyer's agents to be godsends. I know there's a lot of competition out there and I truly appreciate offers and showings. As such, I try to do the following:

1. Educate my sellers on the importance of accessibility with regard to showings.
2. Make sure the keyboxes are not restricted after 6 pm (Yup, this happens).
3. Answer my phone, even after hours.
4. Put pertinent docs online so they will have them when writing offers.
5. Pay at least 3% SOC, even if I'm making 1% on the listing side.
6. Respond to agent inquiries immediately.
7. Ensure the buyer's agent has all the docs he/she needs and that the transaction is on track.

These things might be no-brainers, but they're becoming rarities. Here's two experiences I had recently:

1. I brought an offer to a listing agent and 5 days after mutual acceptance, the MLS still showed the property as "active." It took 2 weeks of gentle reminders for the listing agent to even get us the legal and form 17. It took 3 weeks for the listing agent to even send back the complete P&S. It took 4 weeks for the LA to get us title and escrow information.

2. Last Saturday I faxed over an OVER ASKING PRICE offer. I immediately called the listing agent and left her a voicemail letting her know. On Sunday I called again. Another voicemail. On Monday I called again. She said "Let me see if we got an offer on this...Oh yeah, here it is. Thanks." CLICK. My buyer's offer is now expired and the listing still appears "active" on the MLS. So what happened? Did they get another offer? Did the seller die? Did the agent move to Peru? I tried calling the listing agent, but her voicemail greeting didn't seem to give much information about the status of our offer...

As supposedly "professional" agents, we need to do a better job of representing our clients. Common courtesy is a great start.