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When we were looking, we contracted several agents in different parts of the state. We had two lists, things that were "must haves", and things we didn't care about. One agent asked us a bunch of questions about our lists, then, she showed us only two properties. We bought the second one.
1. That may have been all she had time for that day -- she may have other clients she is juggling.
2. You may have picked 15, but some of them may be under contract and other may have been unavailable for showing
3. She may have shown you your top two to get a feel for what you really responded to so she could structure other showings.
Not all real estate agents are the same. They have different personalities and skill sets, and if we are lucky we hook up with one that has the qualities and skills we need.
It sounds like your real estate agent is not a good match for what you are looking for. Maybe you can find one that is easier for you to communicate with and who understands what you want (in this case, more houses to view).
Last time I was house hunting, I desperately wanted to view one house in particular. I only had a week to find a house since I was being relocated from out of state. My realtor called and called that realtor. He never got a call back. He kept calling even after I found a house....kept calling up until I closed on my house a month later just in case the deal fell apart and I needed a different house. I was in love with the house from the photos....many of my dream features in a house....my realtor NEVER heard back. So what was he supposed to do? Ring the door bell? Break in? They finally sold that home about 8 months later according to Zillow and they sold it it for a good $50K less than I would have offered! May not sound like much, but when you're talking about something less than $200K, $50K is a HUGE chunk of change.
Other houses were already pending sale....one was going into foreclosure......one didn't have internet and that was a requirement for our jobs......a few couldn't be shown when I was able to see them. There's a ton of reasons why she only showed you 2 houses. And no realtors don't typically spend the day with you driving you all over just randomly looking for a house. Usually, you discuss what you want must have and what you would like. Then they do a search. You can do one with the internet today. Bring in print outs of what you'd like to see or email her/him links.
Our real estate agent showed us 9 properties before we made a decision, all of them were OUR choice from online listings of the MLS. He MET us at each property and never drove us around.
We looked about 4 years ago and our then real estate agent showed us about 6 properties, only two were HER suggestion, and the rest were our choice again, and she ALSO MET us at each property. We also went on our own to 5 open houses, and had we liked, we would have involved him.
That is pretty much the way it is around here. I don't know about your area.
As someone said, maybe your choice of property restrictions limit you. FOr example I cannot negotiate stairs well, so we wanted only a ranch or possibly a two story with a BR and BA on the first floor. That limited us, and almost anyone knows most ranches are smaller in space than a 2 story with the same type of a footprint.
We found just what we wanted, a listing I picked out from the online MLS. The picture there did NOT do it justice, being distorted and probably taken on a cell phone. MOH didn't think we should look, but I strongly suggested it, and MOH fell in love with it right away. "It feels like home" MOH said. We are still waiting for all the hangups and awaiting a closing date before financing commitment runs out. We cannot wait.
Perhaps if you suggested what you want, and told the agent your price range, and said "show us 3 homes that fit this criteria", perhaps she will show you what you desire.
If your restrictions are too tight, try loosening them up a bit. We wanted a 3 BR, but got a nice 2 BR with a nice bonus room {sun room? 3rd BR?, Dining room? "family room'? conservatory?}. Two properties we looked at were NOT worth anywhere near what they were asking, and we passed. They needed a LOT of work we aren't prepared to do. They are still on the market at drastically reduced prices. Still not worth it.
When we found our "perfect home" prior to what we are buying, the sellers wanted a sellers market price in our strong buyers market. Instead of selling to us at our price, they took it off the market. We believe they will try again next spring and HOPE again to get their price.TO bad, as we weren't that far apart. Oh well, we are happy with what we got and it has far more upgrades than that first "perfect home" we were so apart on....
so hold your head up high ask for the direct online link to your MLS and search on your own. THEN ask your agent only those homes you think fit your requirements.
If all else fails, hire another agent/realtor and work with that one.
Our buyers' agent only showed us 4.
We left our names on the sign-in pad at house #3. http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/45...13294255_zpid/
That agent invited us to a cheap wine and cheap shrimp open house.
Walked in the front door and said: We LOVE it.
wondering if this is normal? I thought they usually drive you around and show you multiple properties, but she only showed me 2. Is this something I should stray away from, or perhaps she is busy?
What information did you give the Realtor?
I sent multiple listings of homes to our buyers agent and she would do the research and look at the homes first and send me photos then be on the phone with me as she was going through the homes.
We were out of state looking to move back home and she looked at 5 homes one day for me. Then when I came for the weekend we spent the entire weekend looking at the homes I had chosen.
Last time I was house hunting, I desperately wanted to view one house in particular. I only had a week to find a house since I was being relocated from out of state. My realtor called and called that realtor. He never got a call back. He kept calling even after I found a house....kept calling up until I closed on my house a month later just in case the deal fell apart and I needed a different house. I was in love with the house from the photos....many of my dream features in a house....my realtor NEVER heard back. So what was he supposed to do? Ring the door bell? Break in? They finally sold that home about 8 months later according to Zillow and they sold it it for a good $50K less than I would have offered! May not sound like much, but when you're talking about something less than $200K, $50K is a HUGE chunk of change.
Other houses were already pending sale....one was going into foreclosure......one didn't have internet and that was a requirement for our jobs......a few couldn't be shown when I was able to see them. There's a ton of reasons why she only showed you 2 houses. And no realtors don't typically spend the day with you driving you all over just randomly looking for a house. Usually, you discuss what you want must have and what you would like. Then they do a search. You can do one with the internet today. Bring in print outs of what you'd like to see or email her/him links.
As an agent, there are two things that could be done: 1) Call the agent's broker and ask if there's someone else that can make arrangements for me to show the house. If that didn't work (and it almost always does, because the broker calls the agent and basically says, "why aren't you dealing with this?"), then 2) I think I would have walked up to the house, knocked on the door and said, "I beg your pardon, but I have been trying to get in touch with your agent for two weeks. I have a buyer who is interested in your home, but I've been unable to reach your agent to arrange a showing. Here is my card -- can you please have your agent call me as soon as possible?" And then let the SELLER deal with the unresponsive agent.
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