Random Acts of Stupidity
Why is it that buyers insist upon calling several Listing Agents when searching for a home, rather than working with one Buyer's Agent? It doesn't cost the buyer anything to have someone represent him/her, someone that he/she feels comfortable with and trusts. I realize that not everyone is aware of buyer representation, but most people are aware that it exists. I have worked with buyers who had no problem picking up the phone and calling a Listing Agent in order to see a home or ask questions, even though they know we have an exclusive agreement to work with one another. I have even had buyers call me and ask for information about a particular property, then two sentences later, they tell me that they are currently working with an agent, under a signed agreement for representation. After confirming what I thought I had heard, they go a step further and tell me that they "didn't want to bother their agent, as he/she is very busy". Excuse me?? Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Correct me if I'm wrong, but when that buyer closes on a house, isn't their agent getting paid a commission for providing a service to them? And they don't want to bother their agent, as their agent is busy? And what exactly does that imply, that I'm not very busy? I just sit around and wait for buyers to call with questions that they really should be directing to their agent, right? Not even! So, can someone clarify this for me, please . . . so, it's not okay to call your agent to ask some questions about a particular property because he/she is very busy, in spite of the fact that he/she will get paid at some point in the near future, right? BUT it is okay to randomly call some other agent, who is also very busy and ask questions about a property, knowing that this other agent will not be getting paid because you made it to the closing table, correct?
Can someone shed some light on this for me, please??
1 comment:
I think this shows that people all just want to be savvy, or think that they are. However, not retaining the services of a professional that is there to serve their needs is like performing surgery on yourself. It just aint right.
Perhaps that although the media has done much to jade the public on professional services outside the normal medical, legal and dental professions, most folks really do figure they can do it themselves.
That would be like me saying, "I've never built a home, or had any training in construction, but I sure can save money if I do it myself." Well, no. Because of permits, legalities, and labor issues, it is certainly guaranteed to cost me more time or money or both to get it right.
As a mortgage advisor, I love when folks learn of what I am for a living, and they ask, "Oh, what's your rate?" I'm thinking, rate for what? I know nothing of you save your name, and not one rate fits all. Does that mean I don't want to tell them their rate, no, I'd love to. But, I am a professional and I'll tell them the rate they're qualified for, instead of some ridiculous rate on some newspaper ad. And perhaps they do qualify for that rate. Great! But, like a doctor, I'll only state that rate after I've done my diagnosis.
It just tells me that when folks only know how to keep a conversation going by asking what "my" rate is, it tells me that they really don't know enough to ask anything else. Of course, they feel they're being savvy, so that means I have to start from step 1 and be a servant to their true needs and educate them to help them understand what can be done to help them get a true rate for their situation.
In other words, people may not know as much as they think they do, and they may not know THAT.
So, it's time to elevate the thinking of the public, that they don't need to do it on their own, and it's not weakness or stupidity that drives that. It's that real estate is not an amateur's game, just like medicine or law, it requires the best minds in the business... and you stay away from the hucksters that aren't.
Can I get an Amen?
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