I do agree it it does feel very presumptious. What did the voice mail say? "Hey, I was just sending you flowers for a specific reason?" "You missed my delivery where I was trying to influence you?"

It sounds like a "nice" gesture. After listing my last house with my property manager, she offered a FREE staging appointment. She said it was worth $150, paid for by her agency. I took her up on it...that house sold in 3 weeks. Adding this information to let you know...they do offer perks.

Do your flowers sound like a bride...yeah...pretty much. :0) If someone is trying to be "nice"...I let them...but it's not like I can't choose a better fit.

Depending on what you think if her, I might see it as someone who really wants your business and will hustle to sell your home.

I just spoke to my college roommate who is a highly successful realtor in Boston. She liked the idea and basically equated it to bringing a hostess gift for inviting her into my home. That sorta, kinda makes sense but I’m not sold.

Sounds like a bit of psychological manipulation. Just like the letters potential buyers write the sellers.

Ha! AI agrees:

Receiving flowers from a realtor can be seen as a manipulative tactic. While it may be a friendly gesture, it can also be a way to create a sense of obligation or emotional connection, potentially influencing your decision-making process. Real estate agents should maintain professionalism and transparency in their interactions, avoiding any actions that could be perceived as pressure or manipulation.

Signs of Manipulative Behavior

• Pressure Tactics: If the realtor is pushing you to make quick decisions.
• Emotional Appeals: Using gifts or gestures to create a sense of indebtedness.
• Lack of Transparency: Not providing clear information about properties or fees.

Professional Standards
Most real estate agents adhere to ethical guidelines, focusing on their clients' best interests. However, it's essential to be aware of behaviors that may cross the line into manipulation

Sounds like a realtor that makes a ton of money. I would look for a hungry one.

She is one of the top realtors in a affluent county

It is a good way to differentiate yourself. She presumably has no idea how many people you are interviewing.

I don't think it is customary at all, but I would just take it as she's trying to set herself apart and it is a nice gesture. The thing is, I can't imagine it would influence your decision.We've had realtors send gifts after the house sold, and after we bought.

When we were listing our home, we had 3 or 4 of the top producers ( and one "friend" we felt obligated to meet with) come and give a sales pitch. We explained what we were doing and that along with hearing their views, we were looking for chemisty.

It is weird but would not impact me one way or the other.

I would not look for a hungry realtor. I would only use the most successful ones.

Weird - if it biased me at all it would be toward the realtor who didn't do that - assuming one didn't. In my experience top producers are good if the market they're successful in is the same as the market you expect to sell to. I interviewed one who probably sold more multi-million dollar homes vs. my single million dollar home. He didn't spend enough time on mine to get the facts straight - in spite of the fact he'd listed it ten years prior. He seemed to default to the ten year old, obsolete info. Needless to say he didn't get the listing.

Sending flowers may be nothing more than her standard marketing strategy; a way to differentiate herself from the pack. I don’t see anything unethical or manipulative about it as it’s unlikely to influence your decision.

Never heard of that. It does seem strange and would make me a little uncomfortable.. Lavinia Smerconish did a great job selling my mom’s house.

I've received a gift after closing on a house, but not before listing. However, the real estate market is different than it was when we last bought or sold. Realtors are having to distinguish themselves from reduced rate alternatives. Flowers are certainly more personal and more enjoyabel than the standard marketing gifts emblazened with their logo so you can advertize for them. And when you consider the scale of the potential transaction, I don't think it is out of scale with those other items and I don't think anyone would expect it to be a basis for your business choice - just a reminder of the person you were dealing with and their personal attention to their business. It would surprise me, but it would be a nice surprise and only bother me if I wasn't liking the agent before I learned of the attempted delivery.

We had someone out to give us an estimate on a screened porch, and he sent me flowers after. It seemed a little odd. DH thought it was hilarious and referred to him as my boyfriend every time we discussed our options!

I think it's probably just a market strategy. Some of the younger agents here do dances on TikTok. I think that's weirder but maybe it gets them GenZ buyers, who knows.

I would not look for a hungry realtor. I would only use the most successful ones

Meh. I think this depends on where your property is positioned.

There are several very successful realtors who have literally nothing to do with some of their listings. They half-heartedly do some open houses hosted by a Jr in the office, or a hungry realtor who signs up for it voluntarily, and that's about it. Up and coming agents will usually work very hard on your listing. So if you have a listing that's typical for your market rather than toward the top, I think you might be better off with someone who still has to work for it.

If you are in a multi-million dollar market, sure, name recognition is extremely important. I am not sure that the local big names work harder than anyone else, maybe less , once they are at the top. But the name will be what sells the house in a luxury market, and to some extent I think that's like buying a Gucci bag. There are other bags out there that are probably made better, they just don't have the cache.

For example. I know an agent who painted and cleaned an entire listing, (owner paid for paint but nothing else) and bought all new lightbulbs for the recessed cans because they were a mix of burnt out, several colors of appropriate bulbs, and regular lamp bulbs.

His attitude was "This is the listing, you can take it or leave it, there's nothing wrong with it".

To the sellers credit, he bought and moved into a dumpy house without even doing anything to it, so that was his bar.

The realtor who sold me this house offered to come over and paint the bathroom.

The most financially successful agents would laugh in your face if they had to do something like that for nothing.

When we bought our first house, the listing agent was one of those top agents in the town/area. She was hated by all the other agents because she was a ruthless/mean person. The sellers usually ended up hating her too.

With your "top" agent find out how big her team is and if she actually does the work, or it is done by her browbeaten team!

I have worked with "top" agents that were lovely people too, but many don't get to be at the top by playing nice.

Interview carefully and look for honest reviews from previous sellers/buyers.

Flowers sent with a bid on a smaller construction job -- that seems weird. Maybe it's the new trend in marketing when everyone either loves and has their water bottles, tumblers, travel mugs, tote bags, etc. and also wind up tossing or donating marketing items. It's often not the best return. Flowers are generally liked and enjoyed - won't wind up in the donation bag. We are all talking about flowers and they will be remembered. That's the first element of effective marketing.

I don't think I would give this any weight, negative or positive. Before making a decision look at their recent listings. Do they list at or near the sales price or do their listings get price adjustments before selling. Many of the top agents get a lot of listings because they understand that people are often greedy and will pick the agent that tells them to list at a higher price. Listings generate calls from more listers and calls from buyers.

Look at the homes they select as comps - are they the most recent sales similar to your home in your neighborhood? Have you already looked at similar homes that are for sale or recently sold? Do you have a good idea what your home will actually sell for? Are they close or are they over that estimate?

Talk to them. How pushy are they? Are you comfortable with their approach?

How much care was taken in writing the descriptions of the homes they listed?

How nice are the photos? Most buyers are screening listings on the internet before picking which house to go look at. The way they present homes is the first impression every buyer will use to judge your home.

Jennifer, I am a former realtor and your advice is spot on. thanks.

We live in a small, friendy enclave of homes a bit hiden away within a large metropolitan area. A few realtors leave very small goodies on our( and others) porch. a few times a year. The nicest are the amaryllis bulbs, and I appreciate their beauty when they bloom, though in no way would I be influenced if we ever( never!) decide to sell. Its an advertising expense for them. I hope it’s worthwhile one. The more frequent little note pads are

often too many, but useful.

I’ve bought and sold a total of 5 houses through the same realtor. The reason I always choose her is her meticulous attention to details and the time and effort she puts into her listings. She makes a list of things to address before putting the house on the market, lines up the repair person to do it, and she actually would meet them at the house, stay till the work is done and locks up.

I’ve never had to miss work to meet the painter or plumber or be at the property while they work. She does all that.

She does all the open houses herself, does a live video on social media of the upcoming open house. She goes the extra mile in every respect. She routinely is listed as one of the top realtors in the cityits, and it’s easy to see why.

Yes, she’s given me gifts after the sale/purchase (like a cutco knife with her name and number etched), but such gifts aren’t the deciding factor for most people.

I’d choose someone that is not just a ”top” realtor but someone who really works each of their listings. personal recommendations from people who’ve used them would be a good indicator.

@jojoco I am a former real estate agent as well.

Jojoco, seeing the flowers now, I think they are small and casual enough to be a personal and thoughtful touch and not inappropriate at all.

We met with her and she was lovely. We asked a ton of questions and she was very forthcoming. My only issue is that she isn't as focused on our specific town as we'd like. We're meeting with someone next week who does probably triple her volume (he did over 100 sales last year, average $690K and the vast majority in our town). She did 38 which isn't bad at all. Just want to make sure we don't get lost in the shuffle with the larger producer.

You know what you are looking for and I'm sure you will do well with the sale.

I live in a small town. The highest producing agent is the one who is contracted to sell new homes through the largest builder in our area. Over 1/2 of her listings are the new builds, then she often gets the listing for the buyers house who is looking to buy one of her new build houses.

Brokers are often counted as part of the transaction for each of the realtors working under them. So the broker with 10 agents gets credited with all of their listings, while the individual agents get credited only with the sales they personally worked.

Other top producing agents are often working as part of a team. They may have an assistant or multiple assistants doing the research and showing properties to buyers or doing the paperwork. Not a bad thing, but I don't know that it increases the likelihood that your home will sell faster or slower or get a better price than the person who sells fewer homes.

When I sold my last home I did not use a traditional broker. I used an MLS listing service. For $600 they sent me a package of the listing documents that needed to be completed, a form that I filled out with the property list price and description that buyers will read when viewing my listing and provided an address to upload pictures. They offered cafeteria style help. Need help with a form - pay a fee. Need help pricing the house based on market comparisons - pay a fee. . .

I honestly think this will replace listing realtors in the future. My sister is currently looking to buy another home. The realtor she is working with has an automated search that sends listings that meet my sister's criteria from the MLS to my sister. My sister looks through the listings and picks the ones she wants to see in person. The realtor then makes the appointments to show the listings to my sister.

Where in this process does paying a listing agent for more than having the listing show up on the MLS impact what properties my sister would or would not choose to view in person?