South Florida Rentals And Home Sales

    Over the last few months, I have noticed a disturbing trend in South Florida Real Estate. One that seems to be getting worse. I work seven days a week for my clients. I am always available to them or to other Realtors to provide showing instructions or answer questions about properties. As the market has slowed here, with short sales being in the majority and with the closing of firms, it seems like the quality of Realtors are deteriorating.
   Let me give a case in point. Last weekend I called for showing instructions on seven homes. I received showing instructions for four of them and of the other three, two I never received calls back on after leaving numerous mesages and the last was disconected.
   This  weekend I tried to contact the three we could not see last weekend. Two never called back. I contacted the agencies and still could not reach them or get showing instructions. The third, I spent 45 minutes tracking down. I went to the DBPR and found out the agent had changed firms. I finally tracked her down. When I did get in touch with her, she told me that the house wasn’t really for sale. She said the sellers had changed their mind and had no answer when I asked why it was still listed.
   These agents are doing their clients a great disservice. It is their duty to be available to provide showing instructions or at least provide them to their offices. When looking for an agent, I would advise a homeowner or landlord to find out how the agent provides this information and also check on their availability. Houses can not sell or rent themselves. We are paid for a service and it is an agents responsibility to provide that service. If they can’t, they are of no benefit to a seller or landlord and another agent should be found who is accessible.