Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
low 200's? Alot of money? Considering the realtor splits say 2.5% with their office... it's pocket change! How much time does a realtor have to spend on this client and not to mention the cost to drive their sorry arses around before she/he should call it quits? People sometimes forget that this is how a realtor feeds their family! This client is just wasting this poor realtor's time and time is money! Shop on-line and then when wife and hubby agree on something..then ask the realtor to take you to see it! I ask my realtor for the address so i can do a drive-by before I waste her time... don't hate!
Try this: Get $500,000 and put up a building for a store of some kind. Lets say an appliance store. Also get another $300,000 to stock and equip the store.
Now when a customer comes in and looks like all they are going to do is browse, walk him out the front door and tell him to go to your website to decide on what he wants because all you make is a 10 percent profit and don't have time for browsers. Also don't forget to ask him to bring back a bank letter to verify he has the money to buy anything.
What's my point comparing this to Realtors?
1) The same reason this store will have a bad reputation is why Realtors have bad reputations.
2) Don't complain about making 2.5% or less as a realtor when you have nothing but time and gas invested in a customer. Get together a few hundred thousand dollars and open up some other kind of sales store and risk everything you own so you can move yourself up to 10% commission. Then you can really worry about feeding your family.
3) You never know who is going to buy. You are lucky to have any customers (especially ones with pre approval letters). The strangest people sometimes become your best customers.
4) If you keep telling clients to look online for houses you are forgetting what online discount stock brokerages did to full commission brokers. Keep pushing people to learn how to use the Internet to look for houses and to read forums like this to become more educated. It won't be long before an online discount broker with full time closing attorneys/brokers pops up on every corner. Then your 2.5% will become 0.5%.
Actually, I don't tell my clients (or customers) to look online for houses. I do send them listings online, because they seem to prefer it to driving around looking at lots of houses when they can eliminate a lot of them by looking at them online first. Most folks, by the time they get to an agent, have already been spending time online looking at possibilities, and that's the way they prefer it. In some cases, I'd prefer that they NOT look online, because they ask me why I didn't send them this or that listing that I know has features that they've said are dealkillers for them, but this doesn't show up on the publicly available MLS information (could be because I've showed that particular house before and just happen to know about it).
However, none of this has to do with the real issue that the OP has, which is that the two buyers are not on the same page. After two months, they should be significantly closer together; if they're not, driving them around for another six months without addressing that issue won't change anything and they won't be any closer to buying the house that, presumably, they want to purchase. Since it's the agent's job to help them accomplish that purported goal, showing them a thousand houses would not be in the clients' best interests, don't you agree?
I think the realtor should take the clients to as many homes as they want to see. Our realtor showed us over 40 homes before we chose one. The amount of commision the realtor makes, I expect some time put in to earn that money.
My question for the OP is, are you running comps before you write up an offer?
It doesn't sound like it since they were all rejected.
Did you get any counters? Are they at least in the ball park with the offers?
There is no problem with lowballing but even with lowballing there has to be some basis for the offer.
I will keep showing houses to someone if the offers they make have some basis in reality. If they are just making offers of 20 cents on the dollar because they think they are shrewd business people then I would reaccess the situation.
Status:
"Made the Retirement Run in under 12 parsecs!!!"
(set 9 days ago)
Location: Cary, NC
43,090 posts, read 76,670,112 times
Reputation: 45407
Quote:
Originally Posted by missnew2nc
I've been working with them for 2 months. I've shown at least 20 houses, but the married couple can't decided on which house to choose. The wife wants nice new subdivisions, but the husband wants lands and foreclosures. They are in the low 200's. Every time we go out they say "We'll take the night to think it over". Then they call backs in 72 hours and want to put a "lowball" bid on a property.
YOUR THOUGHTS!
You are raising multiple issues in your post.
1. 20+ houses is not relevant. Sometimes that is what it takes. Sometimes it is 40 houses. Sometimes it is 1 or 2 or 4 houses. It depends on their ability to absorb what the market is offering, and to be satisfied they have sampled enough inventory to be assured they have seen the range of offerings.
It helps if the Buyers are aligned to some degree as to what they want.
2. Two months is not relevant, as long as you are using your time well. That is for YOU to determine. Sometimes it takes a while.
3. Repetitive unrealistic offers needs assessment. Are they trying to buy a property, or just fooling around?
4. They have expressed different goals. You need to learn to discern whether you have Buyers or not. Sometimes you just do not have Buyers. Listen very carefully to them.
A lack of urgency or confusion between them doesn't make them "bad people." You just have to determine whether you can help them sort through this, and whether this is a good or bad use of your most valuable commodity: time.
I say you you tell the couple that you will keep your eye out for a foreclosure in a new subdivision and will call them when you find one. Then again, I would follow through and look for that foreclosure too. And if you find 50 of them, show them all to them until they make an offer.
That is a combination of what they are both looking for right?
I don't think that realtors can afford to be picky from here on out. 2.5% on 200k is 5k!!! If you feel that is insufficient compensation for showing 20+ houses then you are in the wrong field. There are a lot of people with little education beyond highschool who would be very grateful for that.
Try this: Get $500,000 and put up a building for a store of some kind. Lets say an appliance store. Also get another $300,000 to stock and equip the store.
Now when a customer comes in and looks like all they are going to do is browse, walk him out the front door and tell him to go to your website to decide on what he wants because all you make is a 10 percent profit and don't have time for browsers. Also don't forget to ask him to bring back a bank letter to verify he has the money to buy anything.
.
Except that this store can allow many more than ONE at a time. So you can have 20 browsers in there and it doesn't take you away from the one who actually wants to buy a washer/dryer. The browsers can continue to browse, and run from store to store checking the prices.... and I am making a sale.
In real estate, if I am spending hours and hours with you, and you are not really committed to purchasing, I am out that time spent with you. I have to make that time up somehow. I can only be showing houses to ONE client at a time. And Maybe you will buy IF you can get one for 20 cents on the dollar, in the most sought after neighborhood in town, with all your closing costs paid, and raid them on the inspection and I determine that doesn't exist.... I am a FOOL to continue to work with you.
In order to be a GOOD BUSINESS person, I need to sit down with you, determine what is going on and make some good choices. If we are just narrowing down, great lets do that and get back out there. If we being Looky Lou's... I'm outta here....
Rural Southwest Missouri. We purchased 26 acres which was listed at $34,000 for $24,000. Actually, we offered $20,000 originally but they countered at $25,000 and then we re-countered at $24,000 and they took it. This was in 2005, by the way.
20yrsinBranson
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
