This is a three part question....Am I wasting my agent's time? Should I ask to enter a buyers agreement? Should I just approach the listing agent on my own? I have zero investing experience. Background...After speaking with a loan officer she suggested an agent that has worked with investors. We went to look at a house I wanted to put an offer on. I put in an offer and the bank accepted someone else's offer three days later. Since then I've found other foreclosures and my agent has taken me to see them. I put in other offers and the bank comes back with counter offers that I'm not even close to willing to pay. I guess I don't feel like I'm lowballing since I'm offering the highest price where my numbers are working out. If I keep this up (since I have no intentions of stopping), will my agent eventually just get tired of me wasting his time? He runs comps and tells me a price the house is probably worth, which in my opinion aren't fair comps because the houses I am looking at are in bad shape and cash only. Comparing that to a nicely put together home doesn't seem right. This is why I ask if I should enter a buyers agreement so I'm 100% sure he's looking out for my interests. I feeling like approaching the listing agent on my own would be more beneficial only because he/she will get the full commission. Thanks for the thoughts, Blaine

@Blaine Brown You might be better off submitting offers directly to the listing agent and just explain your agent you feel you're wasting his time. The listing agent has the responsibility of showing all the offers to the seller regardless of the size of your offer. You can also look at REO comps, although obviously it will be hard to come up with a value, it will give you some ball park number on how much investors pay for these properties. I highly recommend you get your license. I recently got mine because I want to be able to see any property I want whenever I want without depending on the agent. Having a license will also help you cut on commissions which truly adds up and can make the difference between losing or making money on your first deal.

I appreciate the comments Michael. The reason I'm on here asking is because I truly don't know. I have absolutely no experience in sales and don't really know what comes with the territory. I would have a difficult time putting in work hours based on a "hope it turns out". I started feeling as though I'm wasting his time, but wanted to get others' views on it. What I'm finding is this is just part of the game and if he thinks there is no potential value in it then he can ask me to go find someone else. I think you may have misunderstood comments about going to a listing agent. I don't really care about them having my interests in mind (of course they don't) because I know he/she has to submit whatever offer I put forth. The agent then doesn't have to split a commission and I won't be dragging around my agent and wasting his time. I just figured having my best interests in mind isn't suggesting that I pay the same price for an old run down house as a completely remodeled and beautiful home down the street. I just thought comps worked differently, not based solely on square footage. I also didn't know you can comp a house based on the asking price of other homes for sale in the area. I've found that each agent I work with tries to get me to pay as much as possible for a home. For good reason I suppose. It makes it for a much better offer to get accepted as well as a higher commission rate. I've even been told by one agent that banks don't move on price anymore so I should just offer full price if I want the house. I figured a buyers agreement would fix all of this. From everything I've gathered here, I'm just going to keep with my numbers and continue doing what I'm doing. I'll either get something accepted or he'll eventually ask me to find someone else.

Am I wasting my agent's time?

Jeremy Pace

Contractor · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2014 · 885 posts · 359 votes

10y

@Blaine Brown

How about this?

Why don't you tell your agent your exact criteria? That way he'll only send you things you'd actually be interested in. If he knows exactly what you want, it will be easier for him to provide you with options ... or it will give him an opportunity to tell you to find another agent.

1 Reply

Jason D.

Broomall, PA · Member since 2016 · 85 posts · 28 votes

10y

Blaine Brown If more than 1/10 offers are accepted then something may be wrong. Sticking to your criteria allows you to not go broke. Depending on your price range there may be very little commission per transaction and from an agent's perspective the time spent looking at properties may not be worth the return. You could certainly contact the listing agent so the commission would not have to be split up.

1 Reply

Anthony R.

Property Manager · Lakewood, OH · Member since 2015 · 250 posts · 258 votes

10y

I use my realtor like a knowledge resource, a teacher. You are probably not your realtors only customer and you're also likely not their first. They know the market better than you and they know what things should and shouldn't sell for. I trust my realtor and I take his advice when putting in offers. I've got some great deals this way. It's a double edge sword though, if you don't trust your realtor to do the right thing then you could get screwed, sure. That said, if you don't trust your realtor then why are you working with them?

As a side note, the last four family I bought I searched for 5 months with my realtor looking at COUNTLESS places. I even had a rehab deal fall through halfway into it. The four family I bought before that I had a offer on a 3 family fall through. They know what their job entails and they get paid well to do it.

Am I wasting my agent's time?

Most Popular Reply

32 Replies