This is what happens when I was selling our house in the USA to move back to England (my husband had already relocated back to the UK….just as well as he’s very untidy!).
Most realtors (estate agents) in the US are basically self-employed but usually work through a realty company such as Re-Max, Keller Williams. You use a realtor for buying and selling. Commission rates are high; generally 5% or even 6% which is then split between the buyer’s and the seller’s realtors. It’s extremely competitive, especially in expensive towns where houses can cost in the $millions. Your property goes on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) which the realtors use to find properties to recommend that their clients should visit. Tbh it’s pretty much like a cartel as they pretty much freeze out anyone whom is trying to ‘sell by owner’, although I understand that you can actually pay to go on the MLS; it’s only if the realtor will be assured of their 2.5% or 3% commission. The realtors faces are plastered all over the local media and they are always, always looking for the next lead.
The realtor who we used to sell our house wasn’t a very pleasant woman but had an aggressive selling strategy, using all kinds of social media. However, the norm in our area was that there would be a ‘Realtors Open Day’ (usually on a Tuesday) where all the local realtors would come to your house whilst you had to make yourself scarce and your own realtor would be the ‘hostess’ and some of them provide snacks/cakes etc. They usually sign a sheet or/and leave business cards which is shown to you by the realtor.
A couple of days later your property goes ‘live’ on the MLS and the realtor’s company website. By this time the visiting realtors (have hopefully) recommended your house to their clients. My experience (and that of friends who also sold property locally) was that in no way does your own realtor want you to show your property around -they want to be in total control of the ‘business transaction’ and don’t want emotions to be brought into it or for you to highlight any possible faults with the property.
The realtor will generally have an ‘Open House’ on a Sunday afternoon for any potential purchaser to view and your realtor or their rep from their office (if they have more than one house to sell) is in situ and one is encouraged to sign in with contact details. They hope that enough excitement is generated that on Monday morning the offers come in…. They will host more than one Open House if not sold quickly. The seller must make themselves scarce and are often informed by the realtor to go away for the weekend!
Now….this is something that I don’t think would really fly in the UK: Realtors expect to put a ‘lock box’ on your front door. This means that as soon as they get a request for a viewing, the prospective buyer comes with their own realtor - but you are not supposed to be there and have to go to a local coffee shop or to the mall etc. You leave a front door key in the lock box and the code to open it is given by your realtor to the buyer’s realtor. I don’t know how often the code is changed, but they have apparently been fully vetted and sign up to some kind of State operator’s licence. I often got only 20-30 minutes’ notice that a viewer was arriving. Many local owners had young children and long commutes, but they were still expected to make the house look presentable even on a working day. It’s exhausting.
If a house hadn’t sold within a month then the realtors expect the sellers to make drastic reductions.
The only upside that I could see is that (in our State) once an agreement to purchase was confirmed in writing, it would go into a ‘three day attorney review’ and then one is committed to the purchase. The property then ‘closes’ (completes) in 30 - 60 days. I was leaving the USA and was able to organise shipment of our household contents quickly so chose a 30 day closing, staying in an hotel for the last 3 nights before departure to the UK.
Now…..the Realtors work long hours (I was getting text messages, e-mails and phone calls from our realtor at all times of the day and evening, including weekends. They’re motivated to sell your property quickly to get the commission and move onto the next (potential) client. Rather like eating in restaurants in big US cities….a quick turnover means more tips/commission.
When I moved back to England and was looking for a house 3 hours away it as an absolute nightmare trying to get viewings organised….we could only go at weekends and half the time there was no-one from the estate agency to show us (on one occasion an elderly couple were selling and as the agent wasn’t available decided to show us their house themselves. They did an admirable job….but then the old lady burst into tears as she couldn’t bear to leave the house they’d spent many happy years in, but ill health meant they needed to relocate closer to their daughter). I felt guilty so didn’t buy their house!