What Some Real Estate Salesman Say About Buyers

[James H. Bushart]

Leeches?

What do you mean you're working with my buyer?

Buy - er [bahy-er], noun


1. a person who buys; purchaser, customer


2. a person who could buy...with anyone. See "leech"

I love buyer loyalty. You know the kind where another agent talks to your buyer and they tell the other agent right away "I'm working with someone already". I have clients like this and they're great people. I send them to an open house and they let me know they stopped by. There are even agents who are kind enough to call me or email saying my clients came by and mentioned my name. Yes, those are clients with true buyer loyalty.

Then there's another kind of buyer loyalty. This other kind of loyalty is similar to a leech. They love you and are great conversationalists. They'll take your calls, read your emails, and pick your brain all year long about the many homes available in the market but they never seem to actually make a decision. Until, you find out they're also having the same conversations with several other agents! You discover this little deception when you send an email to your colleagues asking for upcoming listings, describe your clients, and you get replies saying "Hey, I'm working with them too!" OUCH!

Here are a few signs to detect these leeches so you can burn them off with a match like any other blood sucking parasite:

1) They tell you that every house you send is "just not quite right", even if it perfectly matches their criteria
2) They don't call for long periods of time but email every so often
3) They're too busy to meet and talk about showings, but they will go to an open house without you
If they won't commit to meetings and avoid face-to-face contact then you're probably dealing with a leech. Best you call them on it, let the other agents know, and wish them the best before you waste too much time.

Wow. I just read this on Acid Rain. Looks like another used house salesman is about to change careers.

[James H. Bushart]

Here is another....if you don't come to this one with a prequalified loan and are ready to buy a house, don't "waste" her time. LOL

I Have Decided...

Today I have decided that I will no longer work with abusive buyers and especially if they are buying a cheap house. I have been working with a lead that has been hem-hawing around instead of getting pre-approved. I am very specific with buyers that I would be happy to work with them and would be happy to arrange for them to view properties in their price range, but only after they have been pre-approved(at least credit pulled and income qualified by a lender).



I refuse to show property to anyone that is not serious enough to get the financing lined up first. My time is valuable to me and that means even if I want to paint my toenails with my time, thats my time and my choice, but I will not waste it on driving around town showing homes to buyers that haven't made the effort to speak with a lender.

So back to the buyers in question. They have been emailing me about listings that they are interested in viewing and I have been responding over and over again with the same response, they must be pre-approved prior to me taking them to view properties. I have referred them to a couple of lenders and have been in contact with those lenders and am aware that they still haven't been pre-approved by any of them. Anyway, last night I receive a voicemail from the man saying that she is pre-approved for 78,000. He also emailed me and said that they wanted to view a property. I responded via email, as it was pretty late, that I would need to either speak with the loan officer, or see a pre-approval letter prior to us viewing property. No response to the email, of course.

So today I get another voicemail from him stating that I need to call him back today so that they can go view properties, as well as an email stating only "we need to talk". So at this point I am pretty much ready to just fire this buyer, but I go ahead and call him and when he answers and says "I finally got in touch with you."

I say "did you receive my email last night" and he says that he did, so I say" do you have the pre-approval letter?" and he says "I didn't realize that we needed that."
REALLY!!! You didn't realize that we needed that. I only told you every time we have communicated that I need the pre-approval prior to any viewings.

Then he finally gives me the lenders phone number so that I can call and verify the amount that she is pre-approved for and the type of program, which we all know has a bearing on the house that they look at. If they are using some type of grant or bond money then we may not be able to pursue just any old house. There may be location requirements or property requirements that we need to adhere to.

After I received the phone number for the lender he informs me that they want to look at a 160,000 house that he already knows was auctioned off this past Sunday. Wait a minute, didn't he say she is pre-approved for 78,000???

So here's the deal. Between his arrogant rude attitude, his unrealistic expectations that I am to jump the minute he wants something, and his obvious inability to understand how everything works even though I have explained it over and over to him, along with his insistance on seeing properties that are clearly out of the price range, not to mention the fact that they have no money for the down payment, I think I am just about done, and I am going to set some boundaries about who I am willing to work with and how much abuse I am willing to take in the future. I am a professional so if someone refuses to treat me that way then I will not be willing to work with them. From now on I will refer those types of people to someone else that likes the abuse and the low price range. I will work with the respectful buyers that are serious enough to at least line up the loan before they go out shopping for something that they may not be able to afford.

I have to decided to set some firm boundaries and keep on track for the niche market that I desire to work in. I will refer out any buyer that doesn't meet my requirements. Time to get choosey about who I work with.

Jeez....what do these ungrateful buyers expect for $8,000.00 plus of the sale price going to the salesman, anyway?

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

Both agents are right on. They work off commission and don't have the time to waste on people that don't wanta play the game by the rules.

I've seen some very loosy-goosy agents, go show buyers bunches of houses on a whim cause the buyer MIGHT be interested, ONLY to find out after looking at 3-5 houses they're NOT qualified.

[James H. Bushart]

And then, of course, every real estate salesman should "fire" a seller who does not cooperate. LOL

You can't fire me! You work for me!

Interesting conversation in the office the other day. One of our newer (new to the business) agents was grousing about a Seller she's working with. From the sounds of it, this Seller is running her ragged, undermining her and just plain not "getting it". The other agents were giving her tips on how to placate the Seller, make her happy. I couldn't help myself, I had to chime in.
"Fire her."
Stunned silence greeted my comment. Like deer caught in headlights they looked at me. To be fair, maybe it wasn't the comment, maybe it was the new hairstyle. I'm trying to bring wings back -- the 70's were good to me, maybe if I go back to dressing and looking like I did then, the good times will roll again.

I digress. My apologies.

Finally one of the agents sputtered, "Fire her? You can't fire a Client!"

The heck you can't! My listing agreements all have a clause in them which states, Either party may cancel this agreement with 24 hours written notice, after the first 30 days.

I tell Sellers right up front, if we're not working well together we can, and should, end this agreement. If you won't allow the home to be shown, or you aren't doing your part to help get your property sold, I can't afford to waste my time, money and energy. If you're going to constantly tell me how to do my job, and in the process, keep me from doing my job -- because I'm spending so much time dealing with your daily requests to update the pictures (Don't laugh, I had a Seller do just that. She would send new photos of her house every day, sometimes twice a day and insist we change them in MLS, Trulia, Zillow, etc.) we're going to part ways.

I don't know what the agent in my office decided to do. My comment left her flummoxed, no one had ever mentioned she was allowed to do that. We spend so much time talking about customer service, we forget why most of us entered this business in the first place. To be our own boss! And that means we CAN fire a Client.

So there you have it. Once you hire an agent...you work for them. Got it?

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Originally Posted by dbowers

Both agents are right on. They work off commission and don't have the time to waste on people that don't wanta play the game by the rules.

I've seen some very loosy-goosy agents, go show buyers bunches of houses on a whim cause the buyer MIGHT be interested, ONLY to find out after looking at 3-5 houses they're NOT qualified.

Agreed, if a client will not get prequalified for a loan, they are just wasting the Realtor's time.

I had a lady a couple days ago ask if I can get paid at closing. To me, unless the loan required it which it did not (USDA Direct Loan), she was a waste of my time. I am not going around later trying to collect monies owed if her deal goes south. I do not care what her Realtor said about inspectors can wait until closing to get paid. I got to know the Realtor as honest and trust worthy before I will let that happen, so I seldom accept payments at closing.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Originally Posted by jbushart

And then, of course, every real estate salesman should "fire" a seller who does not cooperate. LOL

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So there you have it. Once you hire an agent...you work for them. Got it?

I have fired several of my clients just these last months.

Had on an apartment management company not listen to what I said and screwed up a mold remediation job. He then had his secretary call me and said I will only get half of what was owed. He called me later and I had a few choice words for him. He agreed to pay the money owed, but vowed never to do business with me again. So I thought I solved this headache but he called me a few days later and asked what he should do. I told him the same thing I told him before. He said I do not want to do that. I than gave him the name of my competition and said you need to talk to this guy, he will give you what you want.

Had a big developer who had a mold problem in one of his office buildings. I told him what needed to be done but he wanted to make short cuts. He tried to dedicate what was going to be done. I told him you need to think long and hard about doing it your way; maybe think about for a good year or so before giving me a call and asking for anymore help. I think he got the picture when I walked out the door.

[Gary Farnsworth]

There are a lot of people out there that think they can always get something for little or nothing. I hate it when inspectors bend over and do inspections for $200; all they are doing is hurting themselves and our industry. When we act and do as professionals, we should get paid like professionals.

Those who accept low, cheap, whining clients who want inspections under $200 are not professional, IMO. Inspectors should walk away from these buyers. If they do not have enough money to pay your fee, they should not be in the market to purchase a home.

[James H. Bushart]

I don't think that a person exploring the possibility of investing in a new home is necessarily obligated to go through the "prescreening" process for financing just for the privilege of having a commissioned salesperson spare him some of their "valuable" time.

When I drive past a car lot and decide to stop and check out a vehicle of interest ... I would laugh and walk away from the commissioned salesperson who insisted that I "prequalify" for a loan before allowing me to sit in and/or test drive the vehicle.

The salesman is not selling his "valuable" time. He is selling a house and the seller is paying for that "valuable" time to the tune of 7% to 8% of the value of his home.

If I knew, as a seller, that I had hired an agent that was turning away potential buyers in the interest of saving his "valuable" time...I would provide him with even more "valuable time" by firing him. I would then find one who sold houses instead of time. That "valuable" time has already been contracted for by the seller and the salesman's decision to dole it out to only "worthy" buyers is cheating his client, IMO.

But that's just me, I guess. If I were a part of the real estate sales establishment I might feel differently...but I'm not, so I don't.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

So do you accept payment at closing?

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jbraun

So do you accept payment at closing?

Nope. I have no financial interest, at all, in the outcome of the sale.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

So you want to help insure you get paid for your time?

The same reason why Realtors want buyers to be prequalified. That and their client's offer taken seriously by the seller.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jbraun

So you want to help insure you get paid for your time?

I have never had a problem with any of my clients being able or willing to pay at the time of the inspection and prior to their report. Nor have I ever had the need to "prequalify" them.

Sellers are paying for the real estate salesman's time. The seller is entitled to whatever time that salesman must spend to sell his house, IMO. It is no longer the "salesman's time" once he has put his hooks into 8% of what the seller will get for his house. His time belongs to the seller and if he is unwilling to provide it...he should find another profession, IMO.

Putting a sign in the yard...and sitting back and waiting for a prequalified, "motivated buyer" to make his way into their office is NOT worth 8% of the sale price of a house.

[Tim Spargo]

The number 1 thing that Agents say about or to buyers that I've heard and overheard

Is that the inspection process is taking too long. I hear about this once a week.

Is 3+ hours for a 3000 sf house really that long? I don't think so.

Anyway, just recently I was at an inspection that the agent had referred me to the buyer at.

The agent made a comment *to the buyer* that the inspection was taking a bit too long, and to "Let Tim do his job". Well low and behold, there were NUMEROUS defects... I found out the buyer threw in the towel on the house and the AGENT. If a buyer is endlessly nit picking and spending 10 minutes talking to me about a hole in the wall where a towel rack was ripped out... that's too much and I applaud an agent who is willing to "Do some heavy lifting".. I really do!!

Awkwardly enough, I am doing another inspection for the buyer (who later expressed that she felt "rail-roaded") next week. She told me that she felt like they didn't even want to request for any repairs... the Furnace and AC were junk, the plumbing had a slab leak @ foundation from Hot Water and a list of Lil stuff.

Anyway, she found a new agent and a new house... I retained her as a client, my referral source lost her, needlessly so IMO. The house Killed the Deal all on it's own, which sucks for the Agent.. sure. At the same time, make some requests and go from there without wasting a whole bunch of time on a dying sale. But... to make the client feel like the inspection was an inconvenience? That is NOT a self serving approach. And... I hear that as a *common complaint* from buyers.

You get an email like "Thanks for the GREAT JOB Tim, I was so pleased with your inspection and we're still excited about the house. I'm SORRY about the way my agent STOOD OVER YOU EVERY SECOND... we didn't know him/her and won't be doing business again.

And according to the buyer... it was all because the agent felt the buyer was *taking too much time* and making the inspection last a bit longer.

I mean... if the inspector is willing to calmly and patiently go over several major components and their defects so that the buyer understands what's going on... that's bad? Naaah.... it's not. That's what I get paid for

Do I agree with some long-winded overly-informative wind bag that wants to talk AT LENGTH about "Tips and BS"... no, you didn't get hired to play a TV Host doing a home inspection, do your job and move on. But, you need to do your job as well.

I hit the Treadmill for 2 miles a few times a week and can tackle a couple 2 story homes a day without breaking a sweat .

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Originally Posted by jbushart

I have never had a problem with any of my clients being able or willing to pay at the time of the inspection and prior to their report. Nor have I ever had the need to "prequalify" them.

Sellers are paying for the real estate salesman's time. The seller is entitled to whatever time that salesman must spend to sell his house, IMO. It is no longer the "salesman's time" once he has put his hooks into 8% of what the seller will get for his house. His time belongs to the seller and if he is unwilling to provide it...he should find another profession, IMO.

Putting a sign in the yard...and sitting back and waiting for a prequalified, "motivated buyer" to make his way into their office is NOT worth 8% of the sale price of a house.

Majority of the time the house is not sold by the listing agent. Think about it before responding!

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Originally Posted by tspargo

The number 1 thing that Agents say about or to buyers that I've heard and overheard

Is that the inspection process is taking too long. I hear about this once a week.

Is 3+ hours for a 3000 sf house really that long? I don't think so.

Anyway, just recently I was at an inspection that the agent had referred me to the buyer at.

The agent made a comment *to the buyer* that the inspection was taking a bit too long, and to "Let Tim do his job". Well low and behold, there were NUMEROUS defects... I found out the buyer threw in the towel on the house and the AGENT. If a buyer is endlessly nit picking and spending 10 minutes talking to me about a hole in the wall where a towel rack was ripped out... that's too much and I applaud an agent who is willing to "Do some heavy lifting".. I really do!!

Awkwardly enough, I am doing another inspection for the buyer (who later expressed that she felt "rail-roaded") next week. She told me that she felt like they didn't even want to request for any repairs... the Furnace and AC were junk, the plumbing had a slab leak @ foundation from Hot Water and a list of Lil stuff.

Anyway, she found a new agent and a new house... I retained her as a client, my referral source lost her, needlessly so IMO. The house Killed the Deal all on it's own, which sucks for the Agent.. sure. At the same time, make some requests and go from there without wasting a whole bunch of time on a dying sale. But... to make the client feel like the inspection was an inconvenience? That is NOT a self serving approach. And... I hear that as a *common complaint* from buyers.

You get an email like "Thanks for the GREAT JOB Tim, I was so pleased with your inspection and we're still excited about the house. I'm SORRY about the way my agent STOOD OVER YOU EVERY SECOND... we didn't know him/her and won't be doing business again.

And according to the buyer... it was all because the agent felt the buyer was *taking too much time* and making the inspection last a bit longer.

I mean... if the inspector is willing to calmly and patiently go over several major components and their defects so that the buyer understands what's going on... that's bad? Naaah.... it's not. That's what I get paid for

Do I agree with some long-winded overly-informative wind bag that wants to talk AT LENGTH about "Tips and BS"... no, you didn't get hired to play a TV Host doing a home inspection, do your job and move on. But, you need to do your job as well.

I hit the Treadmill for 2 miles a few times a week and can tackle a couple 2 story homes a day without breaking a sweat .

The next time an agent shadows over you, you slow down really slow. Usually the agent will get mad and stump away. Then there is no more agent to deal with. If that does not work, when the buyer asks how things are going just tell him if you can get your agent to stop trying to hurry me up, I can go a better inspection. That works really well. The first one is funnier though.