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A Quiz for Charlotte NC Home Buyers: Are You a Customer or a Client of the Real Estate Agent

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Real Estate Agent with Allen Tate Company 704-905-3935 105804

A Quiz for Charlotte NC Home Buyers:  Are You a Customer or a Client of the Real Estate Agent?

Real estate and the internet.  It’s the perfect marriage of inventory and shopping method.  You can shop for homes in your pajamas if you wish.  You can search a wide geographic area and narrow your choices from many to a few.  What could be easier?Question Mark

At some point in your Charlotte NC home shopping quest, you will want to actually visit your favorite properties.  You know.  Get inside.  Walk around the yard.  Do a little tire-kicking.

This is the time when you will have to contact a real estate agent.  I meet many of you at this step in the home shopping process because I have a good inventory of listings.  When you call me to see one of my listings that you found online, I get the impression that you see no value in having an agent represent your interests.  Perhaps, it’s because you are sophisticated enough to complete a real estate transaction without professional help.  Or maybe it’s because you don’t understand the difference between being a customer of the real estate agent and a client of the real estate agent.

Take this quiz for Charlotte NC home buyers before you call your next listing agent to see a home. 

Customer or Client?

  1. You meet a real estate agent at the property.  The agent spends much of your time at the property discussing the attributes of the property without asking you what you are looking for in your next home and whether this property meets your needs.  Are you a customer or a client?
  2. You ask the real estate agent why the owner wants to sell the property.  The agent doesn’t answer your question.  Are you a customer or a client?
  3. You tell the real estate agent that you may not be able to qualify for a mortgage because of some credit issues.  The agent relays this information to the seller in her feedback about the showing.  Are you a customer or a client?
  4. The real estate agent gives you the basic information about the property, including age, updating, lot size, and taxes.  When you ask the agent’s opinion of the property and the neighborhood, she doesn’t answer.  Are you a customer or a client?
  5. You ask whether the asking price of the property is fair.  You ask whether the seller will take less for the property.  The agent shows you comparable sales that seem to support the asking price.  She tells you that the seller’s price is the asking price.  Are you a customer or a client?
  6. You decide that you would like to make an offer on the property.  You sit down with the real estate agent and she fills out the offer form per your instructions.  She offers no opinions about the best way to negotiate the offer.  Are you a customer or a client?

Now that you’ve taken the quiz, let’s see how you did.  Here are the answers.Light Bulb

Quiz Answers

  1. Customer.   If you are a client, the real estate agent has a duty to discover and pay full attention to your needs.  A buyer’s agent may spot things about the property that do  not  meet  your needs and has a duty to disclose these characteristics to you.
  2. Customer.   When you are a customer, the real estate agent has a duty to keep all information about the seller confidential, including motivation to sell.  If you are a client and the agent knows the seller’s motivation for selling, the agent must disclose that information to you.
  3. Customer.  Unless you are a client of the agent, the agent is obligated to tell the seller everything that she knows about you.
  4. Customer.  The real estate agent must disclose all the material facts about the property that she knows.  She cannot, however, give you her opinions about the property unless you are a client.
  5. Customer.  Unless you have a client relationship with the real estate agent, she may not give you any guidance or opinions about the pricing of the property.  Her obligation is to support the seller’s listing price.
  6. Customer.  The real estate agent will be able to negotiate on your behalf and solve problems to your advantage only if you have established a client relationship with her.

Think about whether you would like to be a customer or a client the next time you call a listing agent to see a Charlotte NC home.  If you would like an agent to represent your interests, you need to find a buyer’s agent with whom you can establish that client relationship. 

Want to know more about buyer agency?  Click here for more information about my services for Charlotte NC home buyers.

Copyright 2010.  Carol Fox.  Allen Tate Realtors.  *A Quiz for Charlotte NC Home Buyers:  Are You a Customer or a Client of the Real Estate Agent?*

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