Buying a House Selling a House Choosing a Real Estate Agent

by Corrine from Dallas, IA, USA

Regarding buying a house, selling a house and choosing the right real estate agent: Hi Kate, When we sold our home in Tennessee two years ago, we had no doubt who we would use as our real estate agent. We called the same man who had sold us the house 4 years earlier.

He already knew us and knew the house, plus he had a reputation for selling more houses in the area than any other agent.

He told us to expect heavy traffic of people coming to look at the house. He also told me that it would be my advantage to keep the place spotless in case he needed to bring someone at a moment's notice.

These supposed visits never materialized, but I still faithfully cleaned the entire house every morning just in case. Since I was also in the process of packing to move, all of this extra cleaning made a lot more work for me.

By the time we moved out of state, our home was still unsold. Where were all of the people buying a house? We couldn't see that our real estate agent was doing much to help us.

The house we were selling was beautiful with mountain views on all sides. We had built an awesome garage with steps to an upper storage area. We'd tiled the bathroom floors and put in hardwood in the front entry. Yet no one seemed to be interested.

Finally he called us, about 5 months after we'd started trying to sell the house, and told us about an offer someone had made. It was definitely not in our best interests as he had originally promised, but it was doable, and we wanted to get rid of the house, so we accepted the offer.

In retrospect, I don't think we would have used this same agent if we had it to do over again. Everything he did was in favor of the buyer. We suspect that's why he sells so many properties: he plays up to the individual buying a house and talks the seller into taking less than they should have to just to sell the house.

However, we were just glad that it sold.

Kate Answers: Buying a House Selling a House Choosing a Real Estate Agent

Dear Corrine,

I'm glad your home sold. It certainly makes buying a house easier the next time.

Best Wishes,




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