Saturday night I received an email from a good friend. He said they wanted to talk to me on Sunday about downsizing. This was no surprise...we had talked in the fall about that possibility and he had told me that they would propbably want to do something in the Spring.
After a morning meeting, I stopped by their house. He told me they had found a townhouse. I started asking questions to find out what he meant by 'found.' It turns out that they were driving around looking at areas and neighborhoods. They saw something that piqued their interest and called the Realtor on the sign. She sent over one of her team members to show them the property--thus avoiding Dual Agency if they liked the property. Of course, this would set up a Designated Agency situation (this is based on Virginia State definitions of Agency--your state may handle this differently). They saw the house, took the information and called me.
My first question for him was, 'What services are looking for from me? Do you plan to use the Realtor who showed the property to you as your Buyer Agent?' After all, he could be looking for my help only with listing their current property.
He was adamant that they would not use her. He went on to explain that in the past they had a very bad experience with Dual Agency and were determined that they wanted their own representation--representation that they trusted and that they hired.
I try to be a good colleague to other Realtors--I return calls, provide feedback, and respect relationships. This situation kind of caught me by surprise. I know the team on the other side was a little frustrated, and with good reason. Unfortunately, in this business, we all spin our wheels and waste our time on occasion. It is kind of the nature of the beast.
As Realtors, we all know the process and the procedures that should be followed in a transaction, but we can't always control the actions of our clients. Certainly, if we had sat down and they had told me they were beginning to look for property, I would have reviewed procedures with them and explained Agency. In this particular situation, they went out for a drive and, rather than calling me immediately, they called the agent on the sign. It has happened to all of us.
Thank you to the team on the Seller's side for their understanding and efforts. Hopefully, your efforts will result in a contract that will make your sellers happy!
In the meantime, rest assured that I have talked to my clients about how to handle this situation if it should happen again...
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I believe that this is one of the most problematic areas that we have in my area. Thanks for the info!
Holly, I think it is a common problem. Some people don't understand and the others get caught up in the adrenaline of finding a place and wanting to see it.
This is one of the areas that is so hard to educate consumers on in advance. I'd love to see some of my money paid to NAR go towards educating the consumer more in this area. Wishful thinking? I'm glad the other side was professional and it probably could have been avoided if those agents just asked the simple question: "Do you have a Realtor"?
Happens all the time!!! When I get "roped in" my first reaction is to blame the other side, but reality quickly sets in and tells me that if I would have done my job right (explaining Agency AND getting an Exclusive Agreement) then I wouldn't be in that predicament!!! Thanks for the post Holly!