Recently, I’d learned a very valuable lesson when it comes to working with buyers. Have a buyer agency agreement. For the first time in my career as a real estate agent, I lost a buyer and I have no recourse because I did not have a buyer’s agency agreement. The truth is, I like to run my business on the premise of buyer loyalty.
The buyers I lost I liked a lot. They were very nice people and I did really want to help them find a home. In fact, we were close to writing on a few homes as well. Then, I’d received an email from them saying that a house that they were interested in before was back on the market. The agent they had worked with previously had contacted them and they elected to write with that agent. As a result, I lost my clients.
The truth is, the blame falls on me. While I’m unhappy that I lost them as my clients, I can’t really blame them. I didn’t ask for the buyer agreement, I didn’t get the buyer agreement and I never had their loyalty. It’s funny to think that such a small thing like a buyer agency agreement binds a group of people together.
For all buyers out there know that there is no reason to use multiple agents when looking for your new home. Having multiple agents actually hurts you. It could be a chance that the agent that you’re working with doesn’t normally work with buyers or that agent isn’t as skilled at negotiating deals. Maybe that agent does this job part time. The point is, by working with more than one agent, one of the agents might not be up to snuff and you’re choosing to work with them.
For all the agents out there, don’t show homes without buyer’s agency agreement. While it might be one very simple and small document that binds clients to agents, it’s by far one of the most important documents us agents should have. If you wish to have your buyers’ loyalty, then you’ll need a buyer’s agency in order to secure that loyalty.
Marc Bayes is a Broker Associate with the Colorado Dream House Team, Keller Williams Realty DTC. Contact Marc at 303-619-3052, marc@coloradodreamhouse.com,codreamhouse.com or coloradodreamhouse.com
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