Why you should only use a REALTOR who knows the area!

I agree with you 100%! 

Well, that's just not right! I would never even think about taking a listing in this way (or working with commercial real estate). ~Rita

And if they do get a contract thru, who is meeting the appraiser, the home inspector, the termite inspector, and so on and so forth. YOU! They are long gone home.  I have had agents 400 miles away come in like that. WRONG! REFER!

I agree.

Except, there may be circumstances where a buyer is asking a certain agent to work with them because they trust them, and it so happens the area they are interested in is not an area that they work.

This actually happened to me.  I had sellers who then turned into buyers, and as I told them I could refer them out to an agent in the area they want to be, they did not want to do that.

They insisted that I work with them directly because they didn't feel that they had the same amount of trust with another agent.

So I agreed, and ended up showing them property in another area.  Which we eventually found them the right place and closed their purchase.

But in this particular case I needed just a little help from the selling agent.

Sorry I agree with this completely I'm tired of working with out of area clients and their agent from out of town writes it up without all the proper needed addendum because they don't know the area.

Hi Damon. I noticed that you left some comments on other blogs so stopped by to read your latest posts. I agree. Working with a *local* realtor ® who knows the area is key. ~ Lana

You are right -- an agent should certainly have lock box access and the ability to do comps, etc ---- and while it might not be right-- likely in this current market agents are doing this because they simply need the business,

We get this alot. Agents from the Phoenix area who want to show here. They come from the "big city", the desert, and they haven't a clue about things in a small town in the mountains. Oh, but they think they can show the yokels how to do it.

I agree with you mostly, but as Ralph said, it comes down to an issue of trust, and if the Clients trust that Realtor, then all is well. Not all situations fit all people, including summarily stating that a Realtor should never work in an area where they are not familiar. Maybe the agent himself is considering moving to the area and has a great opportunity to not only help someone buy in that neighborhood but check it out for himself also.

Don't be too quick to make presumptions unless one is intimately familiar with 100% of the situation.

I will weigh in softly here. There are times when your "client" demands that you be their agent in the next purchase and they wont take no for an answer. Then i think you can work closely with an agent who is familiar with the "new" area and workout a referral structure and be there every step of the way. You try to make sure you cover your bases on both fronts. Be there for your "clients" because they trust you and find a competent realtor in the area to satisfy them. I'm faced with this situation right now. I know of someone who is very familiar with the Muskegon Mi market and i'm not. I'll just put a referral in place and let the expert handle the business.

Damon it's about getting to the closing table with as little stress on your client as possible.