Realtor Rant

[Randall Jacobs]

First thing I will say is that I know that there are good dedicated realtors out there and this is about those who aren't. 

I have numerous SF rental properties in the Houston area.  I frequently am approached by realtors who want to list my rentals.  The results were seldom good. Usually their "screened" candidates couldn't or wouldn't pass a background /credit check. So I now refuse to use them 

I have a property I am getting ready to rent.  I noticed a similar property down the street with a for lease sign in the yard from a nationally known RE company.  I decided to do a little research.  I  called the number.  I immediately got a message saying that she was out of the office and to text her for faster service.  OK so far, so I texted her for number of bedrooms, square feet and monthly rent.  I got an immediate text saying she was in a meeting and she would be back shortly. Four hours later no response, so I texted her again.  Three hours later no response.  I had my wife give her a call.  The realtor answered.  My wife asked her about the property for rent at (address).  The realtor said she had 3 properties for rent.  She didn't know the specifics of any of the properties and that we should go to HAR website  for the specifics.  Now this realtor didn't know that we weren't a prospect.  She didn't even bother offer to show the property.  As of this writing, she has never returned my calls/texts.  I feel sorry for the fool that hired her  and expects to rent his property.  People like this realtor deserve to have their license jerked.

My advice is before hiring a realtor. Do a little research.  Call them on one of their properties and see if that is the person you want to represent you. 

Rant over. 

Randy 

[Fred Heller]

Not excusing the behavior. But I do know there's a different mindset with Realtors that concentrate on residential sales. To them it's a nuisance more than anything else. I've actually had some Realtors refer to it as "gas money." And the reason for that is simple. They'll make thousands of dollars on a sale and maybe $600 to $1200 on a rental.

I'm a Realtor who concentrates on property management, investment sales, and rentals. So I'm really zoned in on the whole rental thing. Yeah, I don't make as much money on an individual transaction. But that transaction only takes a few hours work while a typical residential sales transaction is a lot more complex and can take weeks to close.