The tables are turned.  Buyers who could hardly get any attention a few years ago are now in the driver's seat.

While many buyers are working hard to find the home they need.  There are other buyers who seem determined to take advantage of the tough market

As Realtors® we certainly don't want to chase any buyers away, but it is becoming clear to me that not every buyer who walks through the doors is someone whose word I can take at face value.

I had some potential buyers show up when I was doing duty the other day.  They had two houses they wanted to see.  There was one in particular that they were interested in so I made the call to see if it was possible to view the home.

Since showings are few and far between these days, I didn't push a buyer's agency agreement before making the call.  When I got the seller's agent, she told me that she had just signed a contract on the property and the buyers were paying cash.

When I told them the house was under contract, they immediately told me that they weren't interested in seeing the second house. 

It turned out that I knew there was another house for sale which looked very much like the one which had just sold.  I printed out the MLS sheets for the house, and they appeared very interested.  At that point I should have gotten a buyer agency agreement signed, but in my ethusiasm to show them a property, I didn't.

I took them out and we viewed the property, and they seemed very interested. They wanted to think about the property over the next couple of days and potentially make an offer, but the husband was also interested in seeing some more of the area so I agreed to drive him to a couple of other neighborhoods.

I got to hear about his home in NY and his plans to buy down here. He liked the neighborhoods I showed him and the potential homes. He said that I seemed to understand the kind of property that he wanted.  He promised to call back in two days with his intentions on the house I showed him, but he also gave me his cell phone number and his email address.

When I didn't hear from him in two days, I called and left a message.  I also sent some information by email and even tried another phone call.I didn't get any return messages.

This week I got an email that started out "Dear Joe, thanks for the all the information and helping us search for property, we have bought a property in the Cape Carteret area."

Well my name isn't Joe.  Of course in a couple of minutes, I got another email addressed "Dear David" which is my correct name.

My guess is that this buyer was using at least three real estate agents in the area to look for property.

I am glad he found a property that he likes.  I didn't spend but two or three hours with him so I am not out a lot of time or money.,

However, I would have been happier if he had simply stated that he had looked at property with two or three agents in the area, and he was not sure which one he planned to work with yet.

I try not to pressure people to sign anything exclusive with me until we have had time to figure out whether or not we can work together.

The buyer didn't buy the home that I showed him so it is no big deal.  It was interesting that the emails came from his wife and not him.

I would have liked to have heard why they didn't buy the home I showed them so I could give the seller's agent some feedback.

I would also have liked to understand why he chose to work with someone else.  Was it just a particular piece of property that led him to another agent?

Since we had a very positive couple of hours together, I would have found it useful to get some feedback on myself.

However, at this point buyers are in the driver's seat and some strange behaviors are likely going to be standard.

This one was a good learning experience for me.  Coastal North Carolina seems to be filled with learning experiences.