I was reading an article this morning about how one mega real estate web site had entered into some sort of deal with a big realty company to help promote their agents. After all, that is their business - agent promotion.
Then I thought about the consumer who sees all this fluff on these big real estate sites. Can consumers separate the fluff from the real stuff? 
Buying a home is an important decision. The real estate agent buyers choose to work for them when searching for their home is critical to the process.
Most prospective home buyers start at one of the big mega real estate sites. Most of these prominently display the listing agent above other buyer agents on the same page.
So who will a buyer be most tempted to call? The listing agent, of course. After all, the listing agent knows more about the property and can probably get the buyer a better price!
Spoiler alert...
That is not really the case.
Yeah, I now it sure seems logical. After all, the car salesman got you the best price because they had a good relationship with the seller and liked you!
In reality listing agents know only what the seller disclosed to them. A different buyer's agent will disclose the same information received from the listing agent who received it from the seller.
Still, there are some very impressive agents who show up on these mega websites with some pretty impressive stars and sales figures as well. Wow!
Consider the previous twelve month sales totals, if provided. If the number is, in the words of Donald Trump HUGE, consider whether this is the individual agent's personal production. Find out if the massive sales results are the results of the office production or an agent team..
While I am not discouraging prospective buyers from contacting any particular agent I am recommending buyers ascertain early on "who" closed the sales. If it is a team, ask the agent for their individual production (not only how many, but where as local knowledge is key).
Now, back to the decision to call the listing agent... In the third paragraph above are six underlined words. Read them again.
Now consider this, who does the listing real estate agent work for?
In the state of Florida the listing agent works for the seller. In Florida there in such thing as dual agency. The listing agent can not represent both buyer and seller in the same transaction (although an agent can work for the transaction thereby not having a fiduciary responsibility to either side.)
So while these mega websites are great starting points, be an informed consumer and ask questions beyond that which is presented on the web site.
After all, the Z, T and R dot coms work for those that pay them. They sell advertising - not endorsements. The quality of any agent, regardless of source, must be evaluated through questions. Its local knowledge and experience that matter - not who has the largest advertising budget.
Finally, prospective buyers, if you do call the listing agent ask "Why should I work with you?"
Regardless of who you call, ask the same question!
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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