Opinions please - Ideally who should a buyers agent call first - Owner or listing agent? (RE agent, sellers)

[timfountain]

As in the title, what is the boards opinion on the option that will yield the most traffic? We supposedly have a proactive LA but I get the feeling that answering the 'phone is not one of his strongest points, even though he has an assistant. Currently the MLS says call LA and if no answer call home owner (us).

We do get a lot of calls from BA's but I wonder how many just skip out if they don't get an answer....

Thanks

- Tim

[peachstatehomegal]

I would call the LA first - that's part of the point of having a LA is to field the calls, set appts, etc.

If you've got concerns with your LA, talk to their broker. If a LA has an assistant, personally, there would be NO excuse for someone NOT returning/answering phone calls!

After a couple of attempts at contacting the LA, I would then call the owner and explain that I've been trying to contact the LA. Since the listing says to call the owner, I think the owner should know that the LA was contacted (or tried to be contacted). Otherwise, I don't think I'd call an owner. My loyalty lies to my client, and if unreturned phone calls is a sign of how a transaction would go, I would hate to put my client in a deal with an unresponsive agent. (Just my 2 cents)

Not sure if that wording would 'yield the most traffic', but I think that if a LA responds promptly to calls, that'll certainly help!

[Rakin]

Are you talking about showings on your home ? If the listing agent has an assistant does the assistant not take the phone calls and call you with the appointments ?

In our area, we've never had to call the homeowner and personally that is the the last person I care to talk with. If your agent is not taking calls to show the house I would suspect you may be losing a few agents who feel it's not worth the effort.

[rjrcm]

Some of the answers you get here will be influenced by where the agent is located. In some locations it's customary to always call the agent to schedule appointments. In others (where I am), it depends on the MLS instructions, but typically most agents call the owner (current occupant) directly to schedule.

You should discuss this with your agent.

[keeshonder]

While practice differs with area, in my area, depending upon which MLS system the home is listed under, I would use first, our automated showing manager which is supposed to trigger the agent, or their assistant, to set up the showing appointment. If that fails, or, if the MLS system does not support it, I would 1) call listing agent, 2) call broker, 3) call home owner (if listing indicated ok to contact owner) or 3) if not, show another property.

[Lacerta]

In my area, the vast majority of occupied listings are "Call first, use lockbox". That means call the seller directly to set up a time. So agents here are used to having that conversation with the sellers. Listing agents put "CLA" (call listing agent) instead of a sellers name if they are to be called instead.

[Silverfall]

In my area it is customary to set up appointments directly with the seller. I have no problem leaving messages. I do expect a call back on a showing within a couple of hours to I can confirm my showing route.

If a buyer wants to see a house, we don't skip out on it because we don't get someone on the first try. We only skip out on it if no one calls us back.

[Bill Keegan]

Originally Posted by timfountain

As in the title, what is the boards opinion on the option that will yield the most traffic? We supposedly have a proactive LA but I get the feeling that answering the 'phone is not one of his strongest points, even though he has an assistant. Currently the MLS says call LA and if no answer call home owner (us).

We do get a lot of calls from BA's but I wonder how many just skip out if they don't get an answer....

Thanks

- Tim

I'd also wonder how many of those agents just callyou first, without bothering to make the requested call to the listing agent first. I'd bet money at least a few of those calls you got are from that type of agent.

[QuilterChick]

The centralized showing services are excellent; we don't know where the OP's area of the country is, evidently those services are not available; and it sounds llike there is no lockbox. Is the seller getting messages on an answering machine as well and is not available to let the BA in? (It would be nice if the posters would let us know what state they are from.)

Bill gives a great answer, and that was my first thought too, that the seller is getting direct calls from the buyer's agent who is bypassing the listing office for some reason. It is an issue that the seller needs to get clear with his own agent.

Maybe a change the MLS remarks to make showings more accessible is in order.

[timfountain]

Originally Posted by Bill Keegan

I'd also wonder how many of those agents just callyou first, without bothering to make the requested call to the listing agent first. I'd bet money at least a few of those calls you got are from that type of agent.

Good point and I should have said in my OP that we do ask if they tried the agent first, just to calibrate the effectiveness of the LA. Overwhelming answer is yes, I tried them & no one picked up....

Oh and this is in Austin, TX metro BTW. We had the MLS setup to call us when we first listed but after one particularly creepy incident (I don't want to go into details on an open forum but lets just say my wife, alone with kids was very unhappy with the original setup after someone gained entry without any calls or permission, and it wasn't a RE agent) we changed it to call LA first, in the hope that there would be more effective screening of people who want to come into the house, such as home inspectors, for example.

Thanks for the replies so far.

- Tim