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Appreciate the input. I don't want to get into the listing side of the biz since I'm a one man outfit, thought the BB would be one way to go.
It can be; there are entire brokerages that only work with buyers. Guess the points being made - some more straight forward, some tongue in cheek - is that when working with homebuyers, an agent has to be prepared, willing and NOT consider it an inconvenience if the clients 'need' to see however many homes before they decide which one is 'right' for them.
Also, you seemed to indicate you were considering reducing your clientele base even further by primarily targeting single male buyers - because your wife did, in fact, need to look at many homes before the final decision was made on which home met your family's needs the best. Just like all men are not alike, not all women are either - and a lot of women have their own money and don't even need a man in order to buy a house.
If being a buyer agent is ALL you are going to do, then from a business standpoint and IMHO it would be professional suicide to further reduce the demographics of your client base. IF you don't want or won't be happy showing clients however many houses it takes, then the investor route SF suggested may be the best way to go.
Last edited by JustJoy; 11-28-2009 at 04:05 PM..
Reason: typo
Honestly, I am not sure being a buyer agent is the right thing for you. There is no quick and easy money in real estate. Some buyers are super easy and some are super hard. It's typically not until you start working together that you realize what you have as a client. Unless you start dumping clients looking for "easy" clients, I see you hating real estate.
Maybe working with investors might be a good fit for you. If going to 35 homes was that painful to you, then I see potential problems with clients as you get irritated over them wanting to see 20 homes. They are spending a huge chunk of change. They deserve the right to take their time in their decision and do what is right for them.
Just quoting this to second it. Sorry SF, can't rep you.
I would consider strongly recommending not hiring a broker who is not adept at both sides of a transaction.
There are nuances and psychologies exhibited on both sides of the table that are learned only through experience.
And skilled buyers agents help a listing agent learn new approaches and thinking.
These experiences help a broker bring value to subsequent clients, regardless of whether the subsequent client is a buyer or seller.
There is an Exclusive Buyer Agent organization - lots of Realtors are Buyer's only reps.
Personally, I have hooked up with one, it's been very good for my business. I sell their property, she sells them one. I do feed her the leads from the property, she pays me a referral fee at closing.
Just a suggestion but I would be more concerned with if they are a qualified buyer than what gender they are. Most of the buyers I've worked with narrowed down the search via email before we even go out to look and I feel it's my job to help them do that. Most people don't want to look at 35+ houses and I think they appreciate it when we do our job and help them narrow it down. On the other hand, when people want to look at that many houses then it's our job to show them so they can feel comfortable with their final decision.
If I could figure out a sure-fire way to make a decent total income as an exclusive full time buyers agent I would commit to it in second. The reality is that the income stream that is available to ANY real estate agent is spotty and you have to weather dry spells and work like a fool when there is a flood of activity to make up for the droughts.
Representing buyers worked better for me because I felt a lot better about earning my fee from the seller's income as paid by my client as I helped put together the pieces to make everything work than I did when I got a fee for a random listing I was stuck with that eventually closed while listings I busted my butt on never closed / expired. Very hard to explain to those that have not been in a such situation, but it came down to making me feel that I was effort / knowledge as a listing agent and at least had a bigger hand in things as a buyer's agent.
Still the difficulty of lining up enough business in slow times drove me to use my real estate knowledge primarily as an investor, and eventually to use this as merely a secondary means of income.
I love looking at homes with buyers, extolling the benefits of great neighbors and helping folks to see the potential in most every property. Unfortunately you can't really get paid for enthusiasm and when potential buyers decide to "stay put" there is no way to really get compensated for the time you've invested with them. For sanity's sake, as well as financial health one has to eventually make one's self a little less than eager to show every place a buyer may have an inkling about and if one wants to play nice with other agents it is very difficult not to accompany your potential buyers....
The standards of the Certified Buyers Representative are a good place to get an idea about how to market one's services as a buyers agent, though it is a challenge to expect to limit what sort of buyers you will accept... CBRsource.com
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