Brokers: Delete your old deals.

July 15, 2022

by a searcher from Brigham Young University in Kahului, HI, USA

I get the temptation. Marketing a deal that is already under contract or closed continues to drive traffic and you can try to market one of your other deals.

It is incredibly annoying for searchers. However, the bigger issue for you is that you lose credibility with potential clients. I get listings from a few brokers that look great but I don't respond because they have lost my trust in their professionalism and this is a tactic that is an indicator for me.

Leave this tactic to used car salesmen.

Any other searchers run into issues like this?

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Reply by an intermediary
from Boise State University in 800 W Main St, Boise, ID 83702, USA

While I do agree that when a listing is closed/sold, it should be removed from marketing, deals that are under contract are a different matter. Regarding deals that are under contract, here's a different perspective that you may not have considered. A deal that is under contract is not yet closed/sold. A lot can happen from the time a buyer submits an LOI and performs due diligence to the day that all parties sit down to the closing table and sign the final agreement and funds are transferred. Often the brokerage firm will put "Under Contract" as a notice on the listing but not always because some websites don't allow for that notice. The reason to maintain the marketing is because if the sale doesn't close and fund, the brokerage firm has to do all the labor again to reinput to all the websites and valuable marketing time will have been lost. It's not an evil plot to gain an advantage. Selling a business is very challenging even when there are few issues with the business. Experienced business brokers know that we don't celebrate when a deal goes under contract. We celebrate when closing/funding happens. In other words, it ain't over till it's over and the funds are in hand.

Reply by a searcher
from Northwestern University in Melbourne, FL, USA

Yes, all the time… I asked a broker why does this happen and he said to me “many of them do it because if they get you to sign the NDA and request more information, they will essentially get both sides of the commission.” I do NOT know how true that it, but it was told to me by a broker. Feel free to verify that for yourself…

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