Have you been asked this question before? I have a new listing and I got a very excited call from a buyer. She wanted to see the home as soon as possible almost out of breath! I said “okay we can get you in, do you have an agent?” She said “yes, I am waiting for him to call me back” I said very nicely “okay, have him call me.” She sounded a bit defeated I think she wanted to see the property right away but that was not going to happen. We have to make appointments with tenants and put the logistics together. But mainly I want her agent to show her, go over it with her to help her consider if it is a good fit.
I happen to work with buyers and sellers and as a listing agent these calls are a common occurrence.
In past years only agents called other agents for showings or property information it is standard now for a buyer to call me ask me all about the property, they want to see it, they want to tell me their life story and then tell me they have an agent. Why is this a problem?
First we have a fiduciary duty that is standard in our practice, this is basically representation responsibilities. As a buyer you have chosen an agent to represent you and technically another agent giving you information is stepping on that fiduciary duty. It is a bit tricky but it would be questions like is this a good deal, do you have offers, questions about house’s condition. These are questions that need to be discussed by the person you have chosen to represent you. And understand, your agent is the person to get you those answers and bring you the information.
Second you are pre-negotiating with the agent on the other side should you choose to write an offer. I have had mostly nice people call me but I have had some cuckoos, know it alls, bothersome folks that if they wrote an offer I may tell the seller they will be trouble and to avoid them. These buyers are playing their hand. Remember I have a fiduciary duty to the seller to tell them all I know about their sale and potential buyers.
Third your agent needs to know what you are looking at, part of showing you properties and talking with you about them is how they understand what you like. Good agents see properties come up and let their buyers know, especially properties that are not on the market or in-house listings the more they realize what you like the more they can help you. Granted as agents we show more homes, a lot more than we used to because there are no open houses, but if your agent cannot be bothered to show you homes get a new one this is where we are at in this busy market.
And lastly I could be accused of trying to steal you as a client when you call me. Most agents in my town know that I do not do that. But you could call an agent that talks you out of working with your agent and that is not fair. We only get paid when the house sells, we are straight commission. We are independent contractors, and all costs are ours. We can get big paychecks but we have humongous bills too. And we rely on honest people to work with to pay our bills. Just as you rely on us to be honest and have your best interests at heart.
So go call YOUR AGENT!