Attention Buyers! Is your agent working for you? Is your agent a full-time professional? Is your Realtor advocating on your behalf? Choosing a buyer's agent is an important decision!
My team and I serve North County San Diego and Southwest Riverside. We love working with our seller and buyer clients and provide a high level of customer service to every transaction. I have a great listing right now (Active status) and have just had an unfortunate experience occur.
We received an offer over the weekend (yay!) and the sellers were very excited to respond to the buyer’s agent with respect to a few transaction details.
I immediately called the buyer’s agent to discuss a couple points of concern for the sellers and see if these were items the buyer would be open to compromising on. The conversation went very well, we prepared the counter offer and delivered it promptly to the buyer’s agent along with a nice cover letter explaining the terms, the sellers’ reasons for the counter, and the highlights from our conversation earlier in the day.
There was no response that day. I followed up the next day to be sure the offer was received; there was no response the next day. I called on the 3rd day and left a voicemail; there was finally a reply on the evening of the third day. The message said “Yes received thank you Buyers are thinking over the counter terms. Let you know ASAP.”
The Sellers are questioning the buyer’s agent’s professionalism, the buyer’s commitment and the counter offer has now expired (per the contract terms of the counter offer). Even if the buyer signed the counter offer now, there is no guarantee or obligation on the part of the Sellers to accept it! I am trying to be diplomatic and justify what could be happening over there to cause them to not be responsive. Of course we want to give people the benefit of the doubt. My point is that the seller is already turned off by the unknown reasons and lack of communication from the buyer's camp. They are fearful that proceeding with a transaction would be more of the same since the transaction would not have started on solid footing and cooperation.
Please be sure you are working with a real estate professional. Bridges can be burned, Sellers have important decisions to make about their lives and offers are not received or considered lightly!
The one good thing that came of this situation is that my sellers, while disappointed and frustrated, are impressed with the way I represented them and the diligence I showed in following up through the offer process.
If you are a buyer, please make sure your agent is acting in your best interest and that she (or he) is staying in touch with the other agent and keeping the lines of communication open! It is also a good idea to ask if there have been any responses on your offer. Can you imagine if the buyer was waiting for the seller response and their own agent did not tell them about it until the third day to find out that it expired due to their lack of communication?
If agents are reading this, PLEASE advocate on behalf of your clients and remember that the listing agent has a client hanging in the balance of your client’s decision as well! Even if something came up, or the buyer is having second thoughts, or has multiple offers out, just keep the listing agent informed!
Contact me today for a complimentary consultation. I am a full-time real estate agent who takes my responsibilities to my clients seriously and I do everything possible to set realistic expectations and keep my clients informed at every turn. I will work hard for you to write offers that meet your criteria and present them to the agents in a way that can be a win-win for everyone! I can get you to closing, while remaining professional and keeping everyone in the loop!
Tiffany Ayres
BRE# 01840433
Direct: 951.226.5447
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