With the increasing number of bank owned properties in Big Bear Lake, Ca, we have seen more and more out of area agents trying to sell homes in our market. This is a bad idea all the way around. Let me tell you why.

First, many out of area agents try to sell property in our area and are too cheap to join our board. This means that the property in question doesn't appear on our MLS and many local Realtors won't even know it is on the market. Without local agents being aware of the home, it might as well be a FSBO. The listing agent is doing his client a grave disservice by charging a commission on a property they are not doing a proper job at selling. Since most buyers in our area use the services of a local Realtor, not listing it on the local MLS is doing a poor job, at best.

Secondly, it is the duty of the listing agent to make the home as easy as possible to show. This means it has to be readily accessible to the local agents who are going to be showing it. A lockbox that is easily located and operational is integral to this process. Here in Big Bear, we are on the Suprakey System and all listings by local Realtors have boxes that work with our keys. Out of the area agents who are not on our board do not have access to these boxes. This means that the houses are on lockboxes that cannot be opened by the Supra Key. In many cases, the listing agent will join our board, but won't buy any of our lockboxes because he doesn't do enough business to justify the expense. They will usually just put a combo box on the door and the code on the MLS. The problem with this is, most of the time when you are showing property it becomes evident that the client is looking for something a little different then they first told you. In that case, you have to improvise and use your knowledge of the inventory to bring them to houses you hadn't planned on. So, there you are in front of a home with no idea of the combo and your Suprakey is useless. This happens to me all the time. I then have to call the number on the sign and try to get the combo. Guess what? Most agents work out of big offices and are almost always ( Murphy's Law ), not available when you call. I can't tell you the number of times I have been unable to show a house due to the other agent not answering my call. Typically I get a call back a couple of hours later after my client has written up a different house. I'm sure if the sellers ware aware of this, they would scream.

Lastly, local knowledge of the market is essential in getting a home priced correctly to sell. There is no possible way an out of the area agent has the amount of knowledge needed to do this as well as someone who deals with our market every day. They jump on the internet for a couple of hours and think they have it down. Big Bear is comprised of at least 20 different areas, each one with different property values. The price values differ from street to street sometimes. Also, how in the world are they supposed to know about things like road noise, traffic, proximity to the National Forest and the lake? The simple answer is, they can't.

If you are thinking about taking a listing in an area you are not familiar with, ask your self a few questions. Do you have enough knowledge to price the property correctly? Are you going to be able to properly market the property and get it on the local MLS? Are you always going to be available to help the local agents sell the home? Are you going to be able to make it easily available to any local agent who wants to show it? Are you going to be able to dedicate the same time and energy towards getting it sold as you do to your local listings? If the answer to any of these questions is no, you seriously need to consider referring the home to a local agent. Most agents would be glad to give you a 25% referral fee and do all the work for you. You can make a nice piece of the pie, make sure your clients get great service, and not have to do any of the work. It's a win-win situation all the way around. Plus you won't have to deal with any angry seller, wondering why you haven't been able to sell their home.