Never drew up a Buyer Broker Agreement.......until now. Here's why.................
When I came into this business, most everyone would tell me to get that buyers agency agreement signed at the get go! I think that the agents just wanted less competition or that they do not need to make the sales!
I do not write many buyer agency agreements until we write the offer on the home.
We are a tourist area, people come and go quickly. There are loads of Realtors. I have found that most potential clients run from that paper and pen and you will lose them. There are enough Realtors to choose from out there. However if you work together, like each other, gain the trust..build that relationship we will eventually find a home or property and work together to close the deal and I become a Realtor for life I hope!
But there are times like this that I too would push for a commitment!
It is so frustrating sometimes to see the STUFF that that goes on in the Real estate world. Buyers and Sellers really do need protection and they are better off having a commitment from a Realtor though they may not know it.
A buyers agency is a commitment on both sides.
I do not want to work with someone I do not like or trust either.
I like your style Ralph!
Never drew up a Buyer Broker Agreement.......until now. Here's why.................
Believe it or not, I've never felt the need to draw up a Buyer/Broker Agreement in all the years I've been an agent.
Meeting the clients, getting a feel as to the type of people they are, and gaining their trust has been my style and has worked successfully for me.
Well, I've been working with some clients. They came to me through Zillow, which is another blog in itself. For those of you who have followed my Zillow adventure from our "Putting Zillow to The Test" group, I have one final chapter to write before I close the book on Zillow.
Anyway, I've shown them dozens of properties, and each time I went out on an outing with them and showed them exactly what they wanted to see, somehow they got it in their heads that that based on the fact that I found the impossible for them, they kept putting me to the test and said they wanted to see something in a lower price range. And each time, I did exactly that. Keep in mind these are FHA buyers, so I had to make sure that the homes I put in front of them were outwardly going to pass FHA (or be within range of a 203k rehab loan that these clients can qualify for dollarwise combined - and that's another blog in itself also)
The wife is 5 months pregnant, and they initially wanted to be in something before baby comes. They have one small child also.
I told them that the only short sales that I wanted to show them were those that stated they were approved, and as a certified, hired short sale negotiator, I explained why. So most of the homes I showed them were standard sales or REO properties, with just a few approved short sales.
We've already written one offer on an approved short sale, but listing agent went with another offer. We wrote the maximum that they wanted to write.
Ever since I've been working with them, they've outwardly stated how happy they were that I'm working with them. Even their mother stated how happy she was that they were finally working with a good real estate agent.
I spoke with them last night, and they slowly confessed that another agent that they contacted online told them that the best thing to do is to write about 10 offers on short sales at a time, and just see what happens. Then they asked me if I was willing to do that. You could imagine how I felt. The Italian in me started to emerge. This was my response:
There are 13 homes available in 92336 and 92337 area codes that are newer construction, built in year 2000 and later, which are including short sales.
Also, there is BRAND NEW construction available in your price range as well. Some of them are offering up to $10,000 in credits towards upgrades or closing costs.
I will continue working with you, but I need a commitment from you so that I know we’re all on the same page to find you the best possible home.
If there is some other agent in the background providing you with bad information, I can’t really assure that you have good information and the right advice, and that’s a little unfair to me and the dedication and commitment that I have provided to you.
It is unethical and legally haphazard for someone to recommend that you sign 10 purchase agreements, which are CONTRACTS, and just “see what happens”.
I am a CERTIFIED short sale negotiator, and I know what I’m talking about. Other agents hire me to mitigate their short sales, so I have a thorough background from both the buyer and seller side of a short sale transaction.
And as I stated earlier, should you get a bank approval on one of the ten offers you send out, the sellers and listing agents on the other 9 are devastated. You can actually put them in jeopardy of being foreclosed upon because you’re allowing them to forward an offer to the bank, and then walking away from it.
The person who advised you to do that should have their license suspended.
Plus it’s just really bad energy to do something like that. How would you feel if you were in a distressed position and desperately wanting to move on with your life, someone finally writes and offer and signs a contract on your home and then they yank the rug out from under you? Nine times!?
You’d be pretty disappointed and upset, right?
There’s a right and ethical way to write an offer and provide a deadline to the seller that is legally sound, and what this agent is recommending is DEFINITELY not the way.
It’s agents like those that give the rest of us a bad name and create anxiety with buyers, and I just don’t work that way.
I’ve done my best to earn your trust and I hope by now I’ve shown you that I know my profession extremely well.
If you’d like to continue moving on and fighting the good fight to get you a great home for you and your kids, then let’s do this!
I just need the Buyer/Broker agreement signed at this point.
If you have any questions about it, you know that I’m a straight shooter, and will answer any questions you have.
Let me know, so that I can work on setting up some time for you to see some new construction.
That would be GREAT if we can get you something new, as you can actually pick your own custom upgrades, it will have NO problem meeting FHA guidelines, and there’s no worrying about waiting for an answer.
Ralph
What do you think about my situation? Would you have done the same? I'm interested to know what my ActiveRain peers think.
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