Asking listing agent what’s wrong with a property?

[Kyle Curtin]

Hi everyone!

I just had a quick question. So I am have a full time job and am a newer agent that is not experienced and am looking for my first property and wanted to hear the communities opinion on this.

I see online expireds as well as active properties with few gallery pictures of just the outside of the property with high DOM in a fast paced market assuming there is something going on inside. Can I call the listing agent and ask what is a large concern with the property that would turn away most people to find out what is wrong with it and dig further? Or would I have to more or less walk the property and then try to find something off? Or potentially put in an offer and find out from the inspection? I know it’s in the listing agents best interest to sell the property, but would he/she disclose the information if I called and asked?

Thank you,

Kyle Curtin

[Irene Nash]

Hi Kyle, 

I think how open agents are about things depends on the tradition of the regional market you're in, plus the individual agent. Here (NW WA) agents are usually pretty open, as long as they can do that and still act in the best interests of their client. Sometimes it serves the client best for the agent to be quite open about an offer situation, but it has to be OK with the client to do that.

If I were looking at a house like that my first question would be, "Is this house obviously overpriced", and would check the MLS for comps in the neighborhood (including homes that just went under contract, seeing as those reflect the most recent market conditions, and if DOM is low you know they went off probably near or at list price).

Also look at the aerial view and Google Street View if you haven't actually driven by to make sure there's not a commercial gravel pit in the back, it's not right next to a noisy mechanic's shop, etc - something that would be a no-brainer answer.

That way you've done your homework before calling the listing agent.

Then, here at least, it would be normal for me to call the agent and ask some questions about the home, including 'is there anything to know about the home that's not obvious from the listing remarks', and whether or not they've gotten any offers, and what kind of flexibility the agent thinks the seller may have on price (if price appears to be the issue). To the extent that it sounds normal, ask open-ended questions (what, how, why, when, etc.), not 'yes' or 'no' answer questions.

If there are only outside photos there may be tenants who make it difficult to access, or there could be other reasons affecting how the home is marketed. Or there may be some underlying problem with the house you'd notice once inside, i.e. cat pee smell, dank basement, etc. Or it could just be overpriced and scaring away buyers because of that.

The more you can find out ahead of time the better, and usually there's no harm in asking as long as you don't offend the agent or make yourself sound like a high maintenance buyer.