By Mike Bodeen · 17 June 2024
As mentioned several times before, agents can do all the right things, jump through all the right hoops, but if our buyer clients in fact can’t find that right place for them, we’ve failed and we’ve earned – zero! This is the risk of being a real estate agent. A payday is not guaranteed. Lots of time, money and energy can be expended during this process for naught.
Or we can find that right home, but something else may kick our efforts to the curb, such as a client who’s not qualified for their loan, or a low appraisal, or a home inspection which repair issues are not agreeable between the parties.
Sometimes our client does find and buy that right place – but apart from us. This scenario is PAINFUL! For example, our buyer clients who enter a new home community without us accompanying them on that first visit, which is required for agents to receive a fee, precludes us from earning a commission if our client ends up buying a new home from that Builder.
Note: For the record, some new home buyers mistakenly believe that they can buy that new home cheaper if their agent doesn’t represent them. This is a myth. Builders don’t cut their fee if there’s no fee to pay out to a buyer’s broker. Unfortunately, what ends up happening is they have only the representation of the Builder’s agent who represents the Builder only.
Very rarely, our client might find that right place by going to an open house, falling in love with the home, but leaving us out of the picture – no matter how long we’ve worked with them. THIS IS REALLY PAINFUL!
Post August 17th 2024, buyers must sign a Buyer Broker Agreement with a buyer’s agent spelling out remuneration, term of the agreement, plus other terms and conditions. One thing we’re learning is that an MLS will probably be able to publish to agents how much of a credit (if any) the seller will be willing to pay to a buyer. For simplicity, let’s say a seller is willing to pay a 2.5% credit to a buyer. The buyer can use that credit to pay for the services of his agent.
What steps do we take to get that right home?
A “true” salesperson’s highest thrill in a deal is not the payday (that’s our highest satisfaction) but it’s when the buyer says, “Write it up!”
Our first step is to qualify them. Are they paying cash, or obtaining new financing, such as a conventional loan, or government assisted financing? With the aid of a professional and trustworthy lender, we can know their price range. Incidentally, most buyers under estimate the amount of a loan they’re qualified for, but to their credit, they may not want to view / buy a home higher than their comfort level.
Once financially qualified, we’re then in a solid position to begin looking.
How we actually find that right house for our client happens in myriad ways. Agent networking is one way. Agents can get together to “tout” new listings, price changes, homes coming back on the market, etc. Agents can often know ahead of time listings that are coming on the market.
Online house shopping is of course the main way buyers first see homes. We set up an automated online search for homes within their home search parameters. Through our local MLS, our clients have “real time” access to listings, including new listings or homes coming back on the market. All new and changed listings arrive to the client’s e-mail box daily, including listings that get cancelled or homes that go under contract, or price changes, open houses, etc.
Clients themselves also view real estate portals such as Zillow or Realtor.com, but nothing beats the MLS. It’s most important, however, to set your search criteria loose enough so you don’t miss listings. For example, suppose you’re looking to buy a home with a minimum of 2000 SqFt and a maximum of 3000 SqFt. A home listing that is 1999 square feet or 3001 SqFt would not show up in that search.
To assist our clients with this most important factor, we first of all discuss with them what they’re hoping to find including location, size, price, pool or not, HOA or not, lot and garage size and more.
We likewise review the listings to see if there’s any new listing that popped up that perhaps our client hasn’t seen. We also pass along agent to agent knowledge of new listings that may have relevant information.
Now, when the buyers want to see a home from whatever source, the real fun begins for buyer and (most) agents as we’re ready to go look. Looking at homes is the coolest part of our job. It’s a time where buyers begin to imagine themselves enjoying the home, placing their furniture, solving floor-pan issues, and where serious conversations between spouses and agent begin. Negotiation strategies are discussed, as the excitement builds for our buyer.
A “true” salesperson’s highest thrill in a deal is not the payday (that’s our highest satisfaction) but it’s when the buyer says, “Write it up!”
And the fun quickly shifts to serious as buyer and agent discuss the offer to present.
We’ll look at that often agonizing process next time.
Mike Bodeen