I received an email from a buyer the other day.  He wanted information on properties of course.  I asked him if he was working with an agent and he said yes, he was waiting for a response for an offer he had made on a property.  I sent him an email and said I would be happy to help him and so on but did not want to step on the agents toes.  After that I didn't waste much time as he was already working with an agent.  He was back on my site a week later looking for properties so I touched base again.

It seems the offer he had made on the property was a verbal offer and the agent never got back with him on it.  Never called, didn't respond to voice messages or return emails.  How strange.  The agent had talked to the buyer, the buyer had found the property and was already pre-approved and all the agent had to do was submit the offer. 

It was complicated as the buyer was in Hawaii and hadn't seen the property but was familiar with the area and had a bunch of pictures of the house.  The pictures were provided by another agent who the buyer had first approached.  This agent had been working with this buyer and even went to get pictures of the house and then just disappeared.  Is this crazy or what.  I went over agency with the buyer and he said the other agents never mentioned any of this to him.  The only way I would feel comfortable with him as a buyer would be with him as client.  He said no problem and I when I made the offer I sent the paperwork for buyer agency at the same time. 

So I did my due diligence and looked at the property and the area.  It was new construction in Norfolk and the house was really well built with lots of upgrades.  I contacted the agent to make sure it was available and to see if there were any concerns.  Of course she said no.  I then made up an offer, emailed it to the buyer and had him email it back.  I submitted it to the listing agent and she gave me a rejected contract.  I already knew that because I talked with the listing agent and she said she had a verbal offer for the same price a month before and it was rejected.

The bottom line is two agents did a lot of work and ended up with nothing because they didn't do the basics.  In this market, how can you not do the basics?  I now have a buyer that trusts me to do the job and one that I know won't be snooping around the web looking for properties.   

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