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What I mean is.. if you're a picky buyer and you want to see multiple listings.. most of the agents kind of shirk you off/aka don't have time for you.. because they don't want to waddle through 20 properties.. they'd rather show you 4-5?
And while they won't tell you "no" they won't show them.. they basically don't want to.. it's really a hidden type of communication I think.. "you're not worth that much of my time".. but they don't say so!
(I'm not saying this is everybody! but these are so far the class of real estate agents I've ran into)
Coming into the real estate professional forum and posting a thread like this is verging on trolling, since it is just asking for a fight, but since I'm not an agent (I work a desk in a real estate office, and my parents are both agents), I'm going to pretend you are serious and answer anyway.
I don't think real estate agents are any more or less lazy (by your definition) than any other self employed type profession where your time is your inventory. Of course they would rather sell a house after only showing 5 or 6, because if they can sell a house every 5 or 6 showings, then they can sell 4 houses in the time it takes to show 20 properties, instead of 1, which means they potentially make 4 times as much money. Would you rather work 10 hours and make $100 per hour, or work 100 hours and make $10 per hour? It is exactly the same thing, and doesn't mean a person is lazy. It means you are trying to maximize the return on your time by being as efficient as possible.
That doesn't mean that they resent their buyers that take longer to find the right house. One of my mother's most time consuming clients went on to refer almost a dozen sales to her over the years. On the transaction she closed with the initial client, I would guess she probably made around $1 per hour. Maybe less. But she made a lot more than that from all the referrals that resulted.
Oh, and most agents I know work 60+ hours a week, with no guarantee of getting paid ANYTHING for their time. How that can be defined as lazy, I don't know.
First, let me say that my record for showings for one client is 37 properties in 5 counties in 3-1/2 days. But that was a special case involving a soldier who found out on the way to the area to find a home for him and his wife to move into that his unit was being shipped BACK to Iraq and they had just that long to find and put in an offer on a house so he would know she was settled and safe.
That being said, my experience has shown that with most buyers, looking at more than 6 or 7 properties in a day means that the houses begin to run together in their heads, no matter how carefully they take notes. I tell buyers this and they always say it won't happen with them and so I show them more than that in a day and then they tell me that, yes, I did know what I was talking about.
Also, I've had clients where I tried to whittle down the lists of houses that they kept sending me that they found on the internet because the internet didn't tell them that the houses they were finding that I hadn't had deal-breakers that they themselves had told me were deal-breakers and they didn't want to see any houses that did or didn't have that particular thing. Not because I'm lazy, or because I think they're a waste of my time, but because I'm trying to do my job for them and save THEIR time seeing houses that I know they're going to walk right back out of for that reason.
It's also usually the case that someone who wants to see every house out there isn't a ready, willing, and able buyer but someone who likes to shop. That IS a waste of my time, and the time of the sellers out there, and doesn't have anything to do with being lazy, either.
I have no idea which category you fall into. Yes, there are some lazy agents out there, though they are usually the ones who fall victim to the very early attrition rate in the industry, but for the most part, real estate agents are anything BUT lazy.
From your prior posts this year, it appears you may be considering relocating anywhere in the U.S. with dirt cheap multi family housing. With broad possibilities like this, is it possible that some of the agents you have come across don't want to work with clients who are shopping the U.S., especially at the price points you seem to be interested. The odds against you closing are not too good.
You might be better off, contacting the listing agents directly, knowing that many who specialize in distressed properties often will not work with buyers. Conversely, you could find an agent who is willing to work off a retainer and you pay by the hour, rounded to the closest quarter hour.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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When I show property I first sit down with the client and ask what they're really looking for, if they are vague about their wants, I try asking questions like; Would you prefer a view or do you like being surrounded by the woods? Is privacy important to you or is that not an issue? In the span of 20 minutes, I feel like I have a reasonable idea of what they are looking for.
Yesterday a woman came to see property and in the previous week she had given me 6 MLS numbers that defied any similarity to each other. When we sat down and talked, I knew a place which she hadn't called out would be ideal. I showed it to her first (I usually try to save the best for last) and then we saw 4 more homes. I suggested we go back to the first one and she commented that she was just about to ask if we could do just that. I spent 4 hours and drove 40 miles (It's a pretty rural area) while showing her the homes.
We spent an hour at the first home on the second viewing and today she made an offer on it.
Am I lazy? Yeah a little, but as mentioned above, I have a knack for figuring out what the client is really looking for. If someone just wants to see all the properties between 2 listed prices, that's fine, but when we see something, I get feedback from the client about what they liked and didn't like about the home they just saw. I try to save them the time of seeing something they wouldn't want anyway. I'll still show it to them, but I have yet to be surprised at what they end up offering on. To show a home just because it's priced within a range is a fools errand IMHO and if I don't listen to their feedback and guide them to the right place, the fool is me.
I'm not bragging BTW, it's just part of what I've learned in my real estate career.
Coming into the real estate professional forum and posting a thread like this is verging on trolling, since it is just asking for a fight, but since I'm not an agent (I work a desk in a real estate office, and my parents are both agents), I'm going to pretend you are serious and answer anyway.
I don't think real estate agents are any more or less lazy (by your definition) than any other self employed type profession where your time is your inventory. Of course they would rather sell a house after only showing 5 or 6, because if they can sell a house every 5 or 6 showings, then they can sell 4 houses in the time it takes to show 20 properties, instead of 1, which means they potentially make 4 times as much money. Would you rather work 10 hours and make $100 per hour, or work 100 hours and make $10 per hour? It is exactly the same thing, and doesn't mean a person is lazy. It means you are trying to maximize the return on your time by being as efficient as possible.
That doesn't mean that they resent their buyers that take longer to find the right house. One of my mother's most time consuming clients went on to refer almost a dozen sales to her over the years. On the transaction she closed with the initial client, I would guess she probably made around $1 per hour. Maybe less. But she made a lot more than that from all the referrals that resulted.
Oh, and most agents I know work 60+ hours a week, with no guarantee of getting paid ANYTHING for their time. How that can be defined as lazy, I don't know.
They are asking a legitimate question. Wish I had this forum while sifting through 4 lazy RA while trying to sell our first home. Would have saved us alot of time/money/frustration.
Koale
With the internet now, I don't think there is any reason for buyers to view 20+ houses. Between MLS and google and bing maps, it is easy to start deleting potential homes from your list. Corner lots, near water, too close to busy road, master on wrong floor, etc.
I agree that after awhile.........they all start running into each other. Been there done that as a buyer.
When I worked as an agent, I had a list of closed end questions I'd ask my buyers. After I finished with the list, it was very easy to cull the viewing down to 5 or 6 homes in their price range. Back then, we agents were always busy previewing properties and attending agent tours for new listings. Our MLS was a book...The internet was but a mere dream.
I'm in the market again to buy. My list started with 26 houses, in 8 different subdivisions across a pretty large unincorporated town.
It's down to 3... all in the same subdivision.. with pros and cons to each. One doesn't have a formal dining room, one doesn't have a designated office, one has a detached garage........but they all have open floor plans, first floor masters, total 4 brs/3+ ba, first floor laundry and the requisite island kitchens with granite and stainless steel appliances. Exteriors are all quite different. Same size lots. All built between 2004 and 2007. All custom homes.
Which one will it be?????????????? We shall see.
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not at all...
