Respect my Relationships
When doing a real estate transaction, my top priority is my borrower. Nearly as important is their agent. Also important to me is my relationship with the listing agent on a purchase transaction. When everyone is on the same team, communicating, and working toward the same goal, things just go better, and business is much more pleasant than when one party is trying to steal the show or is hostile toward other sides.
While I try to accommodate listing agents because I know they've got anxious sellers and sometimes not knowing what's going on with the other side can drive a person cuckoo, sometimes we approach what I call "the line". You don't cross the line. Or I will call you out, albeit kindly. One way a listing agent can cross the line is calling while in negotiation with my borrowers and their agents to ask "can they afford more?".
I don't say yes. I don't say no. I simply ask, "if I were working with a buyer that you represented, how would you want me to answer this question?". 100% of the time they've understood and not pressed further. I understand the different scenarios where a buyers purchasing power is important to understand - perhaps you're trying to put a deal together and the numbers are close based on the preapproval letter but not quite where they need to be. Perhaps you're prying, trying to squeeze some info to strengthen your seller's position? It's not my position to decide which it is, so please respect my relationship and speak with the buyer's agent to negotiate.
Recently, I've had the seller's side reach out to ask me about an application in process, to - not generic "how are things going" type questions. Instead, loan specific questions like "what are the conditions on the approval?". My response was a simple "please contact the buyer's agent with any questions related to the buyer or their loan application as I'm providing updates to them along the way". Seriously folks, respect my relationship with the borrower & their agent.
If an agent is being unresponsive or hostile, sure, pick up the phone and give me a call. But bypassing the buyer's agent and coming straight to me on buyer details and updates? Give me a break. Respect my relationships, and let's go to settlement.
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