Seaman, Trusty Dog of Lewis Meriwether

I met with a new buyer client (rare these days….send me more!) to discuss her goals and options. She is a first time home buyer and had been referred to me by one of her friends who had sailed on our boat, The Dew Drop Inn. She had already met with another agent who has lots of listings, but for some reason she was not happy with that agent. It turns out that trust is a huge factor for her.

So here is a buyer who has a large down payment, and also has specific wants and needs for her first home dream house. After some talking, and much reflection, I realized that her natural for her) inclination to be wary, was triggered by some common wrong thinking on both sides. My buyer contacted the listing agent because she thought she would get a better financial deal if she made an offer on a house through the listing agent. This is a common misconception from even experienced buyers. While the listing agent is held to a high standard of truth and fair dealing, she is not bound to discount her contracted commission with the seller just because she brings a buyer to the property. Got that? Not bound to discount her commission. The other problem that came up for this buyer is that the listing agent decided to show the buyer only her own listings. Why? Well, the listing agent at this point was representing her clients, the sellers. She had a buyer who had money to buy, so she performed her duty to her seller clients by pushing their property to this buyer first.

The upshot is that the buyer, while inexperienced, is very savvy. She wondered why she was only getting shown properties that were listed by her agent, and these properties were not in line with her dream home expectations. This resulted in the buyer developing a strong sense of dis trust in her Realtor. My message here is that your Realtor, who by the way can go by many interchangeable names: Realtor, Agent, Broker: is investing in your dreams by working with you to buy your dream house. I think it is important that you trust your Realtor. How can this happen after an experience such as I have described above? Well, by interviewing the Realtor and by getting a referral from someone else you trust. When you interview the Realtor, start out by being open. You have nothing to lose. Tell her what you are looking for and use words like “important to me”, “not negotiable”, “must have”.  We all know that if you are able to find most of your wish list in available properties, you can decide to let go of some items on your list.

Ask good questions, and evaluate how well the Realtor listens to you. Some things you might want to cover are: How available are you? How do you Communicate…phone, email, text? Will you show all listings or only your own? What is your greatest strength? Do you have an area of expertise?

Be prepared to let your Realtor know what is really important to you. Your Realtor may be interviewing you as well. Do you have your finances in order? Do you have a goal in terms of time? Have you spoken with a lender? Are you easy to get in touch with? Are you reasonable and will you listen to your options from the Realtor? Do you like dogs?