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I've had a number of buyers tell me they are wanting to buy, but not yet, and sometimes not even in that city (choice of jobs in 2 locations). I show them around for a time or two to get an idea of where they might want to live. As their time to buy got closer, they called and wanted to see more. In all cases, they have bought, just not always right away. And the total time I spent wasn't any more than a motivated buyer.
But that up front honesty goes a long way because in the beginning, we schedule trips based on an agreed time that's convenient for both of us, then I arrange showings based on figuring out what neighborhoods and type of home they want (it's rarely what they originally say). At this stage, I always try to show vacant properties so not to disturb the seller since I know there probably isn't an offer coming. As their target time gets closer, I pay more attention to what's coming up that is appropriate for them and encourage quick showings so they can have a chance at a property they like.
Congrats! It's something that needs to be done. I fired two clients recently who's listings totaled over $3,000,000. Too difficult to work with and always knew how to do my job better than I. Flash forward and their houses are still for sale because they won't listen to their new realtor, and their new realtor is ready to fire them too. Some people just aren't worth it.
Bringing up a slightly old topic but was perusing the MLS for a friend and saw a bunch of houses that I had put offers on (or wanted to) that sold in the last few months and it got me thinking about my related story as a buyer being dropped by my buyer's agent.
My agent was recommended to me because she lived and worked in the area I most wanted to buy in, and I figured she would have insight on and be familiar with the current market there. She was very nice; I think she was on leave from her job but agreed to help my husband and I with our search anyways. We signed her documents so she would feel secure that we were her clients and were serious about purchasing a house. We had an awesome loan officer and prequal/preapproval all completed and were ready to go.
I've been looking at houses in my county for about 3 years now (I don't know that she knew this, she just knew we wanted to buy now). We went looking for properties around spring season each year and came up empty handed even after making 10+ offers. There was a lack of properties in our range and we bid on what we could and still got beaten by cash offers. This year, inventory was still low but there were more standard sales than ever, so we thought we'd give it another good try.
It started off fine. In the area we wanted to be, there were only a few properties available so we saw those. Made an offer on one; seller rejected it (was a standard sale but seller needed a certain amount to keep it a standard sale and not a short sale...we didn't feel that their needed price was worth the size and condition of the home). Waited some more...not many new houses in that area came up for sale. The real estate agent wasn't very proactive, so I would browse the MLS on my own and look for new neighborhoods that might also be a fit for us. I'd pick a few houses in the neighborhood for sale, and go drive by ahead of time at several times of day to see if it was something we'd be interested in. If not, I wouldn't bother the agent about it. I nixxed a few of these neighborhoods for things like neighborhood has trash everywhere, cars are parked on every inch of the street, the house I came to look at is nice but the neighboring houses are run down, etc.
I found a few neighborhoods that worked, and using appropriate comps in the neighborhoods, I was able to find a few that had been on the MLS for a while, but were listed a bit above their current market value as per the comps. (Yes, I realize that previewing a home/neighborhood and doing the comps is a realtor's job, but I was enthusiastic). I would email her about what we were looking for and homes when they came up. I admit I was probably the annoying client who emails about 5 times a day with listings I'd like to see. The thing is, I put my time and effort into making sure those were the ones I wanted to see (by driving over ahead of time, a couple times a day to preview the house exterior and neighborhood) and things move fast in our market if it's priced appropriately. So, in her defense, I was probably overeager and annoying.
Today I view the MLS and see a few homes that recently sold that we viewed and that I wanted to make an offer on. One in particular, the house was listed at $366k when we viewed it (it had also been listed at $345k, 340k, 330k, and 320k...all over the place). I did the comps and it was more like $305k. We viewed the house; it was in bad condition and needed a ton of work/overhaul. I told my realtor that I wanted to offer $300k and showed her the comps, one of which was fully renovated and right next door for $315k. She then went and pulled all of the most expensive comps she could find, ignoring any others, to justify the $366k price. Now seeing this house on the MLS, it sold for $299,500.
Almost every house we offered on or looked at is like this. I said $330k for one, she said $350k. Sold for $330k. I said $315k for one, she said $360k, sold for $320k. The house I ended up buying, she said $359k, I ended up buying for less than $330k.
She "fired" us on the same day we wanted to make an offer on the house I eventually bought. I'm pretty sure her reasons were that I was annoying with emails (this post is long, I'm sure I had some long emails, too) and that in her opinion I was lowballing every offer. I asked her for clearance to purchase the home with the listing agent, since she was firing us, and it was fine with her. Bought the house for much less than the value she assessed through comps.
Listing agent got a win/win, my former realtor thought I'd never buy a house because I lowball everything.
My comps were realistic. A lot of them were last 30 days, within reasonable square footage (+/- 300 or so), adjusted for condition and location (she knew about as much about this or less than I did, since I spent more time going out to houses alone). She got a comp from a listing agent once that was an active listing and showed that to me as a comp. Really?
It's just semi-infuriating that for a lot of houses we saw before we liked and wanted to offer on, she didn't write offers for us (or ignored my emails) because even when I gave her the comps she thought we were lowballing. And then, those houses went for close to what I wanted to offer. Kinda makes me wonder "what if."
She was a nice lady, and I don't fault her if she doesn't like reading long emails. But honestly I was doing 90% of the work, all I needed her for was to open the door and write offers for me.
I really don't consider that you were lowballing, if the comps bore you out. To me, a lowball offer is coming in way under value, not list price. List price may just be a fantasy.
She got a comp from a listing agent once that was an active listing and showed that to me as a comp.
Oooooh my current agent did that. That raised my eyebrows. Why are you showing me a place that hasn't sold yet? That proves absolutely nothing. (That's really the only comp I've been shown. No real estate agent in my area seems to show comps lol. I get on the county's property site and find my own comps.) Still other than that, things are going well.
I've had 3 before the current one. I think I was fired by the first one. I found every listing that she showed me. She kept doing searches for places that I told her was outside of what I wanted to spend. I had a lot of questions and she didn't have the answer for any of them. I can't remember most of them but the final straw was when I asked about the right of redemption law for a bank owned home. I was really worried about that and she didn't have the answer which was fine but didn't offer to find out more info either. I also asked her about the contract and she kept saying it's a basic contract and didn't offer to explain it. I'm pretty analytical--even a pain-in-the-butt when I get focused on something--so I don't like when people can't give answers or make the best attempt to find them. She was supposed to send me a contract so I could look at it myself (still not offering to talk me through it). I talked with family and decided to cut her loose. I explained to her that it was bothering me that she didn't have any answers, wasn't trying to walk me through this (my first home), and I needed more (I got more info from the listing agent than her). She didn't offer any objections when I asked to work with someone else, so in a way I was fired.
The second person was really great. I met with him in person, which I should have done with the first agent. He got a look and feel for what I was interested. After looking through several listings with him on MLS, he was able to write off any that he thought I wouldn't be interested in. He wrote down notes about what I was looking for in size, price range, etc and sent me home with some listings that he suggested I drive by. He was great. I would have kept working with him, but I couldn't reach him when I found a listing I really wanted to see. I'm pretty impatient when I'm ready to make a move.
So I called up a third real estate agent. She was okay. I told her right off the bat that I was hoping for someone who could take the time to walk me through how homebuying works (bidding, contracts, etc). So she made an effort to do that. She just always seemed busy. She didn't have time to view places with me. And when I asked her about a listing that I wanted to see, I found out that there was a contract for the place before she did. She contacted me a day before going to see it and that's when I pointed out that there was already a contract for that place. I was just surprised that she didn't verify it was really available.
The current one is working out okay. Nothing really changed. I just accepted finding places, coming up with times to see them, finding comps, knowing what the contract is saying are all my responsibility. No real estate agent is going to do that for me. :-/ So really, I changed. I find out everything I want to know and don't ask questions anymore. I'm on contract for my first place. Hopefully, it will be another 5 or 6 years before I have to find another real estate agent.
You my friend are the "Nightmare client" that most Realtors try to avoid like the "Plague". You seem to have little to no regard for a the value that can be added by a GOOD real estate agent and believe that your life and business experiences and of course your vast knowledge gained through hours (and I mean hours, not days, months and even years watching a real estate market through ups and downs) makes you a defacto expert.
You are likely the kind that would have an agent drop everything because you found that "Right property" and need to see it "Right NOW" and based on your comments this was exactly your behavior when you ditched your "Finally competent" agent for another when he didn't immediately answer your call.
You my friend need to take a look in the mirror cuz that contempt and disrespect you have for real estate agents starts with your own actions....the worst real estate agent in the room is likely the one who stares right back at you when you look in the mirror
Quote:
Originally Posted by only1beebs
Oooooh my current agent did that. That raised my eyebrows. Why are you showing me a place that hasn't sold yet? That proves absolutely nothing. (That's really the only comp I've been shown. No real estate agent in my area seems to show comps lol. I get on the county's property site and find my own comps.) Still other than that, things are going well.
I've had 3 before the current one. I think I was fired by the first one. I found every listing that she showed me. She kept doing searches for places that I told her was outside of what I wanted to spend. I had a lot of questions and she didn't have the answer for any of them. I can't remember most of them but the final straw was when I asked about the right of redemption law for a bank owned home. I was really worried about that and she didn't have the answer which was fine but didn't offer to find out more info either. I also asked her about the contract and she kept saying it's a basic contract and didn't offer to explain it. I'm pretty analytical--even a pain-in-the-butt when I get focused on something--so I don't like when people can't give answers or make the best attempt to find them. She was supposed to send me a contract so I could look at it myself (still not offering to talk me through it). I talked with family and decided to cut her loose. I explained to her that it was bothering me that she didn't have any answers, wasn't trying to walk me through this (my first home), and I needed more (I got more info from the listing agent than her). She didn't offer any objections when I asked to work with someone else, so in a way I was fired.
The second person was really great. I met with him in person, which I should have done with the first agent. He got a look and feel for what I was interested. After looking through several listings with him on MLS, he was able to write off any that he thought I wouldn't be interested in. He wrote down notes about what I was looking for in size, price range, etc and sent me home with some listings that he suggested I drive by. He was great. I would have kept working with him, but I couldn't reach him when I found a listing I really wanted to see. I'm pretty impatient when I'm ready to make a move.
So I called up a third real estate agent. She was okay. I told her right off the bat that I was hoping for someone who could take the time to walk me through how homebuying works (bidding, contracts, etc). So she made an effort to do that. She just always seemed busy. She didn't have time to view places with me. And when I asked her about a listing that I wanted to see, I found out that there was a contract for the place before she did. She contacted me a day before going to see it and that's when I pointed out that there was already a contract for that place. I was just surprised that she didn't verify it was really available.
The current one is working out okay. Nothing really changed. I just accepted finding places, coming up with times to see them, finding comps, knowing what the contract is saying are all my responsibility. No real estate agent is going to do that for me. :-/ So really, I changed. I find out everything I want to know and don't ask questions anymore. I'm on contract for my first place. Hopefully, it will be another 5 or 6 years before I have to find another real estate agent.
Oooooh my current agent did that. That raised my eyebrows. Why are you showing me a place that hasn't sold yet? That proves absolutely nothing. (That's really the only comp I've been shown. No real estate agent in my area seems to show comps lol. I get on the county's property site and find my own comps.) Still other than that, things are going well.
...I just accepted finding places, coming up with times to see them, finding comps, knowing what the contract is saying are all my responsibility. No real estate agent is going to do that for me. :-/ So really, I changed. I find out everything I want to know and don't ask questions anymore. I'm on contract for my first place. Hopefully, it will be another 5 or 6 years before I have to find another real estate agent.
This is why I don't bother with buyers' agents. I had one little twit show me 8 "comps": 6 had been withdrawn without selling; one was active; one had sold. I said, "These 6 were withdrawn!" and got a bright-eyed grin and a "Yeah!". Fired her instantly.
I too have gone over and above by driving past listings I like, even if they're 3 counties away. The little princess agent then expected it of me.
We do all our own searching now, we can google-map it, we can find our own comps. But these realwh*res still want "their" 6% commission. If they're not liars, they're fools. Some of them are both.
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