Special offer

Please BOTHER Me!!

By
Real Estate Agent with Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com SAL.2002007747

go ahead, make a face at me!"We didn't want to bother our agent" is the start of what may often turn into a significant bother for an agent.

If we're working with buyers we NEED to be bothered.  Our job is to show you EVERY home you want to see.  Period.  No other agents need to be involved.  Not the listing agent, not another agent from the office, just ME.

If for some reason I can't work out a mutually agreeable time for the two of us, it's MY job to get a replacement so your ability to buy the PERFECT home for you isn't hindered.

That means when I'm on vacation, I've arranged with another agent to cover any on scene requirements I have, including showing you a home.

If I'm triple booked for the day and there's just no way I can fit in ONE more showing that day, again, I'll hire someone from my office to take care of showing you the home.  I'll still be the one that writes the contract and guides you through the process if that home turns out to be THE ONE.

Here's the thing, if you choose to NOT bother me, there are a couple of things that can go sideways if I'm working with you as a buyer.

1).  The listing agent may try to claim what is called procuring cause and block me from helping you (particularly at risk if you go to new construction without me), or may try to claim a piece of the agent's check.  I'm faced with that last one right now because a pair of my clients didn't want to bother me until they KNEW they loved the house.  There was never any doubt on who they wanted to represent them (me), but a bit of greed from a listing agent despite the fact that I did show the home prior to an offer being written is going to cost me a lot of time and effort defending myself. 

2)  I lose professional credibility with other agents if they think I'm sending my buyers to the listing agent to show them homes and then just waiting to write the offer and collect my check.  That's NOT how I roll, but if you go direct to the listing agent and tell them "I'm working with Bill, but he's busy, can you show me the home?", I'm lower than whale poop in their opinion.

And for sellers, need you to let me know if something bothers you.  I'm NOT psychic or I'd have hit the Powerball winning ticket and be sipping cool drinks on a hot beach somewhere rather than running from appointment to appointment all day long.

If you communicate with me what bothers you, I might be able to fix it.  Sometimes it's just a simple misunderstanding.  I got fired many moons ago because a seller didn't remember my request to let me know if the sign flyer box was empty (like I said, MANY moons ago, we don't use flyer boxes any longer thanks to smartphones!).   We'd quickly print more flyers and be right out IF WE KNEW THE BOX WAS EMPTY.  She didn't remember my request and once the flyer box was empty she started to stew, and get more and more irate, until Mt. Seller blew!!  She called and fired us over an empty flyer box.  Something we could have EASILY fixed if we just knew there was a problem.

So whatever it is, we WANT you to bother us.  Maybe we didn't communicate something clearly that will make you feel better about the situation.  If we can fix it, we will.  If we can't, we'll say that too and explain why we can't.

So please, BOTHER us!  We WANT to show you that home and we WANT to fix those problems!  Our goal is happy clients, not upset clients!

Any other questions about buying or selling a Warren County are home?  Just give us a call/text at 513-520-5305 or email Liz@LizSpear.com

Liz and Bill aka BLiz 

 

Posted by

Serving Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas

The Liz Spear Team of Transaction Alliance
Elizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747

William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109  Kentucky 77938
Ask for us by name if you visit the office!

EHO
Bill Direct:  513-520-5305
Liz Direct: 513-265-3004     
Fax: 866-302-8418

MailTo:  Liz@LizSpear.com

Search Homes:  Https://WarrenCountyOhioRealEstate.com

 FacebookWordpressYouTube Pinterest

 

 

 

 

OUR PRIMARY SERVICE AREA:


Comments(49)

Sham Reddy CRS
Howard Hanna RE Services, Dayton, OH - Dayton, OH
CRS

Absolutely right!!!

If we're working with buyers we NEED to be bothered.  Our job is to show you EVERY home you want to see.  Period.  No other agents need to be involved.  Not the listing agent, not another agent from the office, just ME.

May 29, 2016 01:17 AM
Thomas J. Nelson, REALTOR ® e-Pro CRS RCS-D Vets
Big Block Realty 858.232.8722 - La Jolla, CA
CEO of Vision Drive Realty - Coastal San Diego

Great post, I too hire backup agents to cover me when busy & on vacation. I don't agree with all your points, but over all it's a great post and business practice you discuss. 

I also want to be "bothered" by my clients after the sale!

May 29, 2016 01:39 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

I have told buyers that say they have an agent they don't want to bother when they want to see my listing to please call and bother their agent.  If I was their agent, I would be mortified at what other agents thought of me if they got a call that their agent was busy, but they wanted to see a house.  

May 29, 2016 02:44 AM
Dick Greenberg
New Paradigm Partners LLC - Fort Collins, CO
Northern Colorado Residential Real Estate

Hi Bill - It always drives me nuts when clients do that, so we always take time to encourage their bother, and we always respond promptly when they do.

May 29, 2016 03:31 AM
Tammie White, Broker
Franklin Homes Realty LLC - Franklin, TN
Franklin TN Homes for Sale

I was contacted by a woman recently who asked that I show her a home. She had an agent but her agent was in the hospital. I told her I would be happy to work on her behalf as a buyer's agent. She kept repeating that she only needed to see this one house, her agent could do the rest. I, of course, declined and told her the agent should have made arrangements for her while she was in the hosptital. This actually happens to me quite often. I've gotten very good at telling buyers to contact their agent. After all, that's one of the things they get paid to do.

May 29, 2016 04:32 AM
Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED
RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

Mt. Seller erupted.  Oh man, that's a good one!  Sorry it happened.  GREAT post btw.  I've had calls from people who wanted to know about a property they found on my website via the IDX feed, and when I asked "Are you currently working with an agent," they reply "Yes, but I don't want to bother her."  So it's okay to bother me?!?!?  I'm not the lisitng agent, and don't have any duties to try to sell the listing.  I can't be fielding questions from buyers who already have a buyers agent.   This is where the general public have a total disconnect on the way things work.

May 29, 2016 04:43 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Pat, Thanks for including us!  That's always good for more traffic our way :)

Rob, And more problems I don't need :)

Richie, It's such a fundamental part of our job.

Sham, I'm kind of selfish that way :)

Thomas, True, only in rare cases do I never want to hear from a client again after the sale.

Chris Ann, That's my feeling too when one of my buyers says they called the listing agent or had someone else show because they didn't want to bother me.  I don't want other agents thinking that is how I take care of my business.

Dick, In general I'm very easy to reach if my clients want or need anything.

Tammie, We get a lot of those type calls thanks to our WP IDX pages.  It's tough getting buyers to realize that if it's not our listing and they have an agent there is nothing for us to gain by showing them the house.

Carla, IDX is wonderful, but I think the general public just thinks we have all 1200 homes for sale in our county all to ourselves :)

May 29, 2016 05:18 AM
Teri Pacitto
Compass - Westlake Village, CA
Real Estate, Your Style...Your Home...My Specialty

How about the calls we get...I don't want to bother my agent, but just want to see the house.  Duh!  Yes, I'll hop right over, but first I would like to send you information to make sure if this home works for you that me showing it to you works for me.  Is that okay?  If they say yes and I get their email address I send over a lovely flyer and tons of information about the home that I already have in a nice package.  Attached is a Buyer Broker Agreement for this property in case they love it.  Until I have Taxi or Uber on my car it's the way I roll. They either get it or they don't. 

May 30, 2016 12:31 AM
Sam Shueh
(408) 425-1601 - San Jose, CA
mba, cdpe, reopro, pe

I have the room measured and it is on line. Every one thanks me for the trouble.

It clarifies some of the confusion older home had.

May 30, 2016 04:12 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Teri, If we could ONLY get the typical consumers to understand how agents work and how we get compensated.  With that understanding a lot of those requests would come to a halt.

Sam, For the most part, room size inclusion is standard here.  It's solid information that buyers want.

May 30, 2016 07:46 AM
Claude Labbe
RLAH / @properties - Washington, DC
Realty for Your Busy Life

It often makes me smile; there are some that won't bother me for rather important things (eg, there's a coming soon home that we think would be perfect for us...);

while there are others that call daily for the entire life of the purchase to double check and triple check that everything is fine.

It'd be perfect if some were a little less ocd and some a touch more, though I guess that's the realtor nirvana we are all working towards.

Kudos for not using flyer boxes anymore.

May 30, 2016 01:48 PM
Mary Yonkers
Alan Kells School of Real Estate/Howard Hanna Real Estate - Erie, PA
Erie/PA Real Estate Instructor

Excellent post and well-deserved feature.  I cam over via reblog by Patricia Kennedy as I missed this one. 

May 30, 2016 10:46 PM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Claude, We do get the full spectrum of human behavior in this business!

Mary, Thanks!

May 31, 2016 12:11 AM
Sussie Sutton
David Tracy Real Estate - Houston, TX
David Tracy Real Estate for Buyers & Sellers

Some people just go crazy. I am mostly a buyers agent and when I do list I always call every four days to see if they need any flyers. I do this especially if I can't drive by to see if any are empty.

May 31, 2016 01:01 AM
Doug Rogers
RE/MAX Coastal Properties - Destin, FL
Your Real Estate Resource!

Great post. I too encourage my buyers to "bother me" anytime they want to see a home. Sadly, I know agents who do the opposite...

May 31, 2016 04:16 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Sussie, For us personally, we just saw less and less positive about flyers and eliminated them from our marketing.  Our turf is fairly broad, and spending a lot of time driving around restocking something just stopped making sense.

Doug, I want to be the one walking through the door with our buyers.  Some take a lot more "push" to get the message that they should only be dealing with me and not the listing agent.

May 31, 2016 05:56 AM
Sheri Sperry - MCNE®
Coldwell Banker Realty - Sedona, AZ
(928) 274-7355 ~ YOUR Solutions REALTOR®

Hi Liz and Bill Spear - There are buyers who don't get and there are sellers who don't get it!  It gets frustrating for us because these circumstances continue to happen no matter how much we try to educate the buyer and the seller.  There is always someone new.  

Jun 02, 2016 04:59 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Sheri, We do the best we can and then try to fix what we have to.

Jun 02, 2016 06:04 AM
Shanna Day Team Leader (UT & AZ)
Keller Williams SLC (UT) and Keller Williams Realty EV (AZ) - Park City, UT
Keller Williams Realty

I too "LIKE TO BE BOTHERED!"   Bother away!

Jun 02, 2016 08:13 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Shanna, For sure!  That "bother" may save us lots of grief later.

Jun 04, 2016 10:15 PM