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Is this requested often from agents? I toured a number of homes and the two agents I used in different states didn't ask me to sign anything. Obviously there's an advantage to the agent if you sign one, but is there any advantage is your the buyer to sign an exclusive agreement? I wouldn't sign anything unless they're going to give me something in return no?
Depends on the area but i ask because that person mentioned they found the real estate, did all of the work and agent still got her commission.
Yes, a lot of people use Zillow to search for Homes for Sale. It is more user friendly (IMO and a lot of others) than the MLS. Last house we bought, we had the option to use the MLS (link supplied by our agent) but after trying it for a while we went right back to Zillow. I know of several people looking right now and it's all Zillow.....you can also easily share a search with friends or family to get advice/input. Somehow Zillow captured that part of the market.
What instead would you recommend a prospective buyer use? And please don't say 'let your Realtor find them for you'...that's just not how it works any more...
So... For a glitzy site, you prefer to not see all the listings?
Yes, I agree, there is a lot of that philosophy among people who aren't up to speed.
People with no real estate experience focus on "finding the home" before the agent does.
Here's how that very often actually works:
They give the agent a list of mandatory parameters which may include:
Price
SF
Location
Features
Amenities
For example:
Price: No more than $500,000
SF: Minimum 3,000
Location: only Beautifulville and Mildew Estates.
Features: Master bedroom on main level and minimum 4 car garage. 1 acre
Amenities: Salt water pool. Walk to the park. No HOA
So, the agent honors all those, and particularly honors the price cap. We see complaints on CD routinely about agents showing properties that don't match criteria, particularly price. Most agents want to avoid that criticism.
Homes come through on the auto-email from MLS.
Buyers either nix them all, or they don't respond.
And, the buyers submit a list of four homes to the agent that they found.
#1. Came up in the search on Tuesday. Fits all the parameters, but buyer did not reply or maybe did not notice.
#2. It's in Mudflat Arbors. 12 miles away from the target. With an HOA.
#3. $535,000 and 2200 SF with a half acre and 1 car garage.
#4. etc...
So they buy one of the four and tell their mechanic, hair stylist, and internet buds, "We had to find the house."
This is not an unreal example of home searching at all.
I don't fault buyers at all for this. Agents act so goofy, it is not unwise to have some defense mechanisms.
But, anyone with any true experience in real estate sales knows that Zillow is corrupt and worse, and that the agent role is to serve the buyer in ACQUIRING property, not just do a fungible Easter Egg hunt. "Finding" ain't "Acquiring."
"Closing" is "Acquiring." And, the buyers' agent's job is to help the buyer Acquire at best possible price and terms.
So... For a glitzy site, you prefer to not see all the listings?
Yes, I agree, there is a lot of that philosophy among people who aren't up to speed.
People with no real estate experience focus on "finding the home" before the agent does.
Here's how that very often actually works:
They give the agent a list of mandatory parameters which may include:
Price
SF
Location
Features
Amenities
For example:
Price: No more than $500,000
SF: Minimum 3,000
Location: only Beautifulville and Mildew Estates.
Features: Master bedroom on main level and minimum 4 car garage. 1 acre
Amenities: Salt water pool. Walk to the park. No HOA
So, the agent honors all those, and particularly honors the price cap. We see complaints on CD routinely about agents showing properties that don't match criteria, particularly price. Most agents want to avoid that criticism.
Homes come through on the auto-email from MLS.
Buyers either nix them all, or they don't respond.
And, the buyers submit a list of four homes to the agent that they found.
#1. Came up in the search on Tuesday. Fits all the parameters, but buyer did not reply or maybe did not notice.
#2. It's in Mudflat Arbors. 12 miles away from the target. With an HOA.
#3. $535,000 and 2200 SF with a half acre and 1 car garage.
#4. etc...
So they buy one of the four and tell their mechanic, hair stylist, and internet buds, "We had to find the house."
This is not an unreal example of home searching at all.
I don't fault buyers at all for this. Agents act so goofy, it is not unwise to have some defense mechanisms.
But, anyone with any true experience in real estate sales knows that Zillow is corrupt and worse, and that the agent role is to serve the buyer in ACQUIRING property, not just do a fungible Easter Egg hunt. "Finding" ain't "Acquiring."
"Closing" is "Acquiring." And, the buyers' agent's job is to help the buyer Acquire at best possible price and terms.
Haha, good one, yeah, I bet that happens a lot, knowing people. That's why i would hate to be a realtor....don't have the patience for it.
Re: "For a glitzy site, you prefer to not see all the listings?"
When we were looking a few months ago, we had access to her MLS listings. She wanted us to use it because she could track our searches....I tried but preferred the interface of Zillow. But I did check both sites. Every day.
Don't think I ever saw something on the MLS that wasn't also on Zillow....I figured Zillow was auto -populated or something.....
Haha, good one, yeah, I bet that happens a lot, knowing people. That's why i would hate to be a realtor....don't have the patience for it.
Re: "For a glitzy site, you prefer to not see all the listings?"
When we were looking a few months ago, we had access to her MLS listings. She wanted us to use it because she could track our searches....I tried but preferred the interface of Zillow. But I did check both sites. Every day.
Don't think I ever saw something on the MLS that wasn't also on Zillow....I figured Zillow was auto -populated or something.....
In my market, and many more, the Coming Soon listing status will be introduced on April 1.
Currently, they are listed as "No Showings," with a planned showing date.
Zillow cannot show you either, and they are available on IDX or VOW MLS solutions.
My MLS right now shows:
19535 listings that are Active, Pending, or Contingent.
11233 listings that are Active.
798 listings that are "No Showings," which you will not see on Zillow. My clients will have a crack at them before people who rely on Zillow do. They will be able to drive by, pull data, pull covenants, see many disclosures, look at old listing photos, etc, and be ready to write as soon as the house goes Active and they can see it. Some people know what they want and write before seeing.
That approximate 7% of the market is the huge gap that Z, etc, cannot fill.
Last edited by MikeJaquish; 03-29-2020 at 05:33 PM..
In my market, and many more, the Coming Soon listing status will be introduced on April 1.
Currently, they are listed as "No Showings," with a planned showing date.
Zillow cannot show you either, and they are available on IDX or VOW MLS solutions.
My MLS right now shows:
19535 listings that are Active, Pending, or Contingent.
11233 listings that are Active.
798 listings that are "No Showings," which you will not see on Zillow. My clients will have a crack at them before people who rely on Zillow do. They will be able to drive by, pull data, pull covenants, see many disclosures, look at old listing photos, etc, and be ready to write as soon as the house goes Active and they can see it. Some people know what they want and write before seeing.
That approximate 7% of the market is the huge gap that Z, etc, cannot fill.
Ahhhh, ok. That is a big advantage. Didn't know, our realtor never explained it to us......
I would still use both myself......
Zillow is funny with their 'Zestimate' though......when I listed our house recently, they initially had their 'estimate' $100,000 low. A day later. they had 'corrected' their 'estimate' to about $1000 over our asking price....damn they're good ...
Ahhhh, ok. That is a big advantage. Didn't know, our realtor never explained it to us......
I would still use both myself......
Zillow is funny with their 'Zestimate' though......when I listed our house recently, they initially had their 'estimate' $100,000 low. A day later. they had 'corrected' their 'estimate' to about $1000 over our asking price....damn they're good ...
Online appraisals cry out for regulation.
They're a travesty.
Zillow rakes in over a billion dollars in revenue annually so yeah, I'd say people use it. lol
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