A great example of why it pays to work with a buyer agent

This weekend I held open house at a very popular property. We carefully researched the price. Recent sales, available comparable properties and market conditions were carefully analyzed. Recent record low interest rates were also considered. After careful deliberation a price was chosen.

The price could have been higher but based on the family’s desire to procure a relatively quick sale we ‘priced to sell’. However we did not price for multiple offers. In fact the home was priced a few thousand higher than the highest sale ever in the neighbourhood, and 17k higher than an inferior home that sold a few weeks previous.

The family left for the weekend, and over the course of the weekend came a steady flow of agents with their clients, open house guests, and many realtor.ca buyers who called me directly.

By Sunday afternoon the impact of this home on the market was shining through. You could see why… www.801applecroft.com. Four agents expressed interest in presenting offers the following evening (Monday).

The moral of this story rests with the half dozen or so Reator.ca (formerly mls.ca) inquiries and open house guests. More specifically the 2 who were more than just bargain hunters.

Both called me Monday afternoon and wanted to revisit the property and perhaps try an offer.

I had to break the news to them that 3 offers were already registered. I also had to ask what must have seemed like intrusive questions coming from a stranger.

1. Have you been to a lender, have you been pre-approved?
2. What sort of down payment?
3. Are you familiar with closing costs/mortgage insurance premiums?
4. Are you familiar with Market Value?
5. Do you have secure jobs (are you landed immigrants? Or can you buy a house in Canada)
6. And a host of other personal questions…

With the flurry of activity surrounding this listing and working with my own buyer on scheduled showings, how in a few hours could I possibly qualify these potential buyers and have them at the table by 8pm Monday evening?

With only a finite amount of time available to me, I passed their information over to my buyer’s agent, who took charge of the situation.

He reported to me that one party was interested in putting in an offer and was not afraid to compete, however he would be coming to the table with sketchy financial information at best.

The reality is, just like we are strangers to them, they are strangers to us. When their offer is presented to the Seller the ‘newness’ of our relationship with this buyer must be disclosed.

On the other hand, I can say that buyers working with buyer agents have been pre-screened by their agent (USUALLY!). Questions 1-6 have been answered well ahead of time. They are prepared to make an informed purchase.

The sellers as well as I took comfort in the words of one of the buyer agents, “I have been working with these buyers for a while now, and you can’t get people more qualified than this couple’.

If you are a buyer out their, doing it on their own, I won’t go so far as to say that you won’t save any money. I have represented ‘sign call’ buyers on many occasions and they have done well for themselves. (They came very prepared).

But in most circumstances a listing’s agents’ loyalty must be with his principle – the seller. The agent can be fair and honest with you, and even represent you. However there are no stead fast rules of engagement; it is different from agent to agent and listing to listing. A buyer without representation is really rolling the dice.

And in this case missed a golden opportunity.

The house sold Monday night.