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I started to search for a mountain property in Shasta county (this is toward Oregon border) half a year ago, and got to know a few brokers there just through enquiring about the properties they listed. None of those deals worked out, but one broker has kept very diligent touch; every two-3 weeks or so we exchange emails about how things are and stuff. I told the guy I have broadened my search to other counties, because the feature I am looking for is not too common; I have to search the whole northern part of the state. He said if I find something in the neighboring counties, he can still help me with my purchase.
I recently came across a property in El Dorado county that I potentially can make an offer for. This place is about 200 miles south, near Lake Tahoe. I know no broker in El Dorado county; my brokers in the metro area all say they cannot help me. It seems like I have to:
1. Work with this broker from Shasta county (both counties are mountainous and rural, so there are some similarities), or
2. Work with the listing agent of the El Dorado property, or
3. I don't know if this is even viable -- just randomly pluck another broker in El Dorado county.
Each option seems to have some drawback. Any thought about how I should approach this?
Ask the broker you like if he is willing to serve that area. Great if he is... If he's not, he may be able to refer you to an agent that will. That's way better than random.
ask him if he can really handle that other county, or does he have a similarly-qualified professional in that county he can refer you to. Or even a few professionals so that you can choose from among them.
My brother is an investor and owns properties in Placerville, Shingle Springs and Georgetown and others in that general area. He has a couple of favorite brokers. If you dm me I can give you some names.
I know people always advise buyer should have his/her own agent. But in this case I have concern about bringing in my own agent because 1) I don't have one locally to start with, and 2) the deal is kind of small (under 250K and in cases where there is only land, could be under 100K) so the pie is small to start with, if split further, would I risk undermining the enthusiasm of both brokers?
Rules about disclosure and dual agency vary by state, but in my state, there is not necessarily any inherent problem. I will, though, defer to CA agents and what they say is true for CA.
In WA... It depends on the agents involved, and whether they have any formal or informal relationship that would involve sharing confidential information with each other. Definitely ask your agent! At our office, we are friendly but do not share client information with any other agents, and we have done multiple transactions with other agents in our office. The Designated Broker would be a dual agent in his limited role of double-checking the contract and transaction records, but he does not share information with US, and would be capable of resolving issues between us as needed. I am glad that is so, or it would be very limiting, given that we have some of the highest producing agents in the area working out of our office!
One of the things I expect my broker to do for me, is to help me spot opportunities to get the best price. In a second-home area I'm looking at, many homeowners over-price their properties and have to come down by 20, 30, or even 40%. I fear that my broker in the same firm might not be willing to squeeze too hard.
I ended up using a broker from the same company ("Intero").
I was enquiring about an alternative property nearby, and sent a message via Zillow thinking I was contacting listing agent, but my message somehow ended up going to this realtor which is from the same company as the listing agent of my target property. The alternative property was already in late stage of sale and got an offer right away so that's gone. I ended up just using this broker to pursue my target property.
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