Buyers, read the following and take heed. I can tell you from direct experience I have worked with Buyer's Agents who have never seen the inside of the house their clients have under contract. Who have not known the neighborhood or the various homes in it well enough to competently negotiate on their clients' behalf. Who, because he or she did not show up at the home inspection, really did not know how to negotiate the home inspection items, either, and was at the mercy of a written inspection report - because, that's right, he/she had never been in the house. Oh, yes, when working as a listing agent, there is nothing I like to hear more than "we already have an agent but we would like you to show us your listing."
I'm sooooo there....
Is Your Buyer's Agent Throwing You Under The Bus??
We're primarily listing agents, meaning the bulk of our work is done with Warren County home sellers. Sure we'll work with home buyers, but our focus is on attracting buyers for our sellers' homes. We'll market everywhere we can reasonably expect to find buyers for our homes. Cincinnati and Dayton MLS both of course, our blog, websites, Trulia, Zillow, Craigslist, flyers and mailings, all for the purpose of that one right buyer that matches that home.
Now if you're an area buyer, hopefully you've realized the importance of having your own, dedicated solely to you REALTOR®! An agent whose sole allegiance is to you and your best interests.
A great buyer's agent will work with you to find a mortgage expert to get you approved, help you search for candidate homes, and then take you through those homes until you find THE ONE that you write a contract on! They'll advise you on market trends, the negotiating process, the inspection process, and what it takes to get those keys in your hand.
Wait a sec you say? Your buyer's agent is telling you it's okay to go to the listing agents direct to ask to see all the homes you want to see, and then give them a call when YOU find the right home for THEM to write that offer on? Maybe they're even offering to rebate you some of their commission since they're not showing you homes? Or they're too busy to make it today but they say it's "okay" for the listing agent to show you the home?
Hear that loud BEEP BEEP BEEP sound?? That's the big ol' bus that is about to back up and flatten you! Because when you call to ask us to show you our listings, we're going to ask if you're working with an agent. Now if you aren't truthful and say "No", then of course we're going to show you our listing....and the fact of the matter is if YOUR AGENT calls us to make direct arrangements with us, most likely we'll honor your agent and show you our listing because our primary job is TO SELL THE LISTING!
Now ask yourself "Who do WE (Liz and Bill) work for?". What's the answer? "The SELLERS!". Period. That initial contact forward, our responsibility is to get YOU to pay the most possible, and for our sellers to make the least possible concessions to keep the deal together.
Don't mistake our friendliness for thinking we're working for you. We are not.
If we're friendly, [because we are] you're going to relax a bit. Hopefully, it puts you in a more receptive mindset for that seller's home. And oh yeah, it might also mean you let your guard down. We'll ask a few subtle questions that help us gauge whether you're a legitimate buyer, how much interest you have, maybe find out where you live, how many kids you have, why you're moving, etc. All seem innocent enough on the surface? Maybe, but those elements together may give us all the clues we need to know how hard our sellers can negotiate with you and your buyer's agent (you know that agent you said you DIDN'T have?). It's called LEVERAGE. A "buyer's" agent who advises or approves of THEIR buyer previewing homes with the LISTING agents is giving your leverage away!
For example, we find out you've only got four weeks left to get out of your home and you don't want to do temporary housing? THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! Woo hoo, jackpot for our sellers! They don't have to move too much off price....just enough to get you to sign the papers. Now it's a week later and you ask for inspection items. Take it or leave it....or maybewe'll advise our sellers to stand more firmly and only agree to fix minimal, simple, less expensive things just enough to keep you under contract just because we can!
So let's take the example out a bit further. Assume the list price of the home was $200,000 and your agent offered to give you 1/3 of their commission for not having them show you homes. So your agent is going to rebate you a couple of grand give or take a bit. Now with that information you provided us, how much extra do you think you paid for our listing? We're betting more than a couple of grand more than you "saved". Now add what you lost during the inspection phase. The hole just got deeper didn't it?
And the bad thing? You don't even realize that you and your buyer's agent cost YOU money. You may cuss us and our sellers out for negotiating so hard, but you know what? We're okay with that. WE WORK FOR THE SELLERS. Our seller's opinion is the one that counts to us.
This is another case of being cheap, being expensive. Hire a good buyer's agent. Have your agent take you to ALL homes if you want to make sure your confidential information stays confidential and your interests are the ones being served and PRESERVED.
The FIRST time you meet us as listing agents should be at the closing table!
Serving Warren County's residential real estate needs,
Liz and Bill aka BLizThe Liz Spear Team
Elizabeth & William Spear
RE/MAX Elite: Ask for us by name if you visit the office!
Two locations: Lebanon & Mason, OH
Office direct: 513-248-3660 Liz direct: 513-265-3004
Bill direct: 513-520-5305 Fax: 866-302-8418MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Our Website: Warren County Ohio Homes
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In Florida if you sell your own listing you turn into a transaction broker. If a buyers broker wants a commission they had better show up. You are right in terms of your job. Do the best for whoever you represent.
Susan, Thanks for the reblog! We just completed the transaction recently and I can point to several things we had a decided edge on during negotiations because WE had shown the listing and the buyer's agent NEVER was in the house unless she showed for the inspection (and we don't believe she did). Those innocent questions gave us enough information to connect the dots and to know how far our sellers could go during negotiations. So sure....go ahead and send your buyers to us direct....IF you don't care about protecting their interests.
Methinks there are a whole lot of double-ending agents who would just as soon buyers didn't read this!
Bill: Exactly! And make sure the client knows exactly who you reprsent, too.
Liz and Bill: Thanks for the great post and topic. i am constantly amazed at the lack of representation out there.
Marte: Oh, you know that is the truth!
Thanks for the reblog, Susan. It sure is interesting. Representing our clients well is really important and would also help a lot in closing a sale. I'm sure everybody knows that. Thanks for sharing.