Is this unprofessional or is it just me?

[Arimeh]

Misty, I get what you are saying, however I thought if he had called and explained that he had to talk to her, I would have called her myself instead of having to receive an unexpected phone call and be on the back foot so to speak.

Our contract with her was for 120 days so I'm pretty sure it's expired by now.

[toomanyshoes]

however I thought if he had called and explained that he had to talk to her, I would have called her myself instead of having to receive an unexpected phone call and be on the back foot so to speak.

Thats the part that I find unprofessional the fact he didn't call, he could have easily explained that you would need to speak to her first so you didn't get her call out of the blue.

[Maruschke]

Actually the way he behaved was the professional way. There are rules (particularly within agencies) about how the REA's must proceed when faced with these kinds of situations. He possibly should have contacted you as well to explain the situation, however, his agency may have rules restricting that too.

If I were you, I would sit down and read through the terms of agreement you have with your current REA, particularly in regards to termination of their services - you may not be able to give them the flick and hire someone else as easily as you think: most agreements will have terms of 'exclusivity'.

This is true. Actually the person who was unprofessional was your old agent, not the new one. New agents contacting old agents is very common (we just changed agents) and I see no reason why she didn't back off and allow the new guy to make the phone calls and contact you. She probably did it to make you uncomfortable in a way of pressuring you to keep the contract. Sorry you had to take such an uncomfy phone call, I hate them with a passion.

[Phteven]

If your contract has expired giver her the flick. If places are selling but she hasn't sold yours she's hopeless.
What we did when selling was talk to a bunch of agents then we asked the one who seemed to provide the best advertising options and had the most sales staff to match the lowest commission we got offered.

[misty]

I know from your perspective that makes sense - However, some agencies literally have rules stating that if a client from another sales agent within the same firm approaches someone to take over a sale, then they must approach the original sales agant first, and some agencies will go so far as to state that the secondary agent will not make contact with the sellers again without the orginal agents express consent. Even without those rules, it is professional courtesy and loyalty for a collegue (and helps to avoid all sorts of legal mindfields in relation to commissions, etc).

Given how useless she has been for you, I would look at giving her the flick too. However, your first port of call should have been to inform her of your dissatisfaction and that you were intending to look elsewhere for someone elses services.
You may find that even after you give her the flick no-one else in the same agency will take you on as a client, because there are still legal issues that may very likely arise regarding commission.

[misty]

Just to add: You could always go talk to the Principal agent and let them know you don't like your current agent, but would like this other guy - or you will be taking your business to another agency all together, they 'may' choice to get involved and help sort out an arrangment for you. Or they might just put it in the too hard basket and say good bye. It depends on how much property they have on the market at the moment and how the sales are going on a more general level.

[fionas]

... and don't feel bad about telling someone they're not good at their job. This is a big life-affecting deal. After I listed with one agent, the other one called to find out why and I told him, warts and all. No point beating about the bush, the losing agent just didn't do their job as well as the other guy and it was only fair of me to point that out if he wants to improve.

[Arimeh]

Thanks guys (especially misty).

Sometimes it's hard to see beyond my hothead temper to work out if it's me that's wrong or other people! Lol

I'll chat with DH about it, as far as I know the male agent is chasing up the buyers this arvo, so if nothing comes of it we will give them all the flick, just to make it easier lol

[Maruschke]

Good luck with it Mel.

[Astrid]

We had the issue when we sold our house in Melbourne that we were not in the zone for the office we wanted to use. As a result we had 2 offices and therefore 2 agents. At first we disliked the idea, but is worked well in our favour. There ended up being a bit of a competition between both of them so see who could sell it. So of course the price went up and we were the ones who benefited

Good luck with it all!