Is my potential agent taking to long to write an offer?

Is my potential agent taking to long to write an offer?

Realtor · Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

What's appropriate here? 

First, I have not signed anything with any agent yet. Second, I flew to a different part of the country to look at properties in the chosen area because the cashflow is much better there than where I'm at in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Friday and Saturday I met with real estate agents on different days to look at rental properties in different areas. Both companies also do property management as well.

Call them Company A and Company B    

The properties I looked at with Company A are on the North Side of Town and they are properties I personally picked out in advance. I gave him the addresses, etc. and he made arrangements to to see the insides of the properties that we could go inside. Some of them we couldn't go inside because they are occupied and in essence I would end up having to make a curb offer. 

The properties I looked at with Agent "Slowski" at Company B are on the South Side of Town and they are properties I personally picked out in advance. I gave him the addresses, etc. and he made arrangements to see the insides of the properties that we could go inside. Some of them we couldn't go inside because they are occupied and in essence I would end up having to make a curb offer on these as well.

None of the properties I looked at with Company A are properties i liked after seeing them close up. 

Three of the properties I saw with company B I liked and I told agent "Slowski" this on Saturday. We discussed what amount the offer should be, strategy on how to handle a potential counter offer, etc. and then I told him on Saturday afternoon to go ahead and write up the offer for the amount we've agreed upon. Get it over to me, and I will sign it. He smiled and said OK.

Did not hear back from him the rest of the day Saturday........

Did not hear back from him on Sunday...........

Monday morning I call him and ask, when can I expect to get the offer from you so I can sign it......

He says, "I'll have it to you on Tuesday".  Needless to say I was surprised, but it was a Monday, beginning of the week, and I could tell he was in the middle of something by the tone of his voice, etc. etc. so I said OK.

I have emailed him twice today (Tuesday) about the offer and asked when can I expect to hear back and he still has not responded back.

It is now Tuesday ......5:00pm California time....Which means it is 8:00pm his time so I am assuming he will not be getting the offer over to me today. 

Before you say, find another agent at Agent "Slowski's" Company and work with him or her,....I already have.......but nothing seemed to change.  When I first contacted this company the receptionist put me through to "Agent Slowski" and we had a nice conversation ,...Afterwards I looked up his name on their website and found out that he is the Office Manager at this company....and he is a licensed Realtor. Over the last 3 weeks before flying out to their part of the country to look at properties he was either slow getting back to me, or he wouldn't get back to me at all. So I contacted a different person at their office.....someone who is on the SALES side and does not have collateral duties of Office Manager, etc. He in turn said to stick with "Slowski" but CC him in on all communications, which is what I've done.      

I have not signed anything with anyone at Company A or Company B , .....and I would guess that any Realtor will tell you that from an ethical standpoint I am supposed to "write the offer" with the agent that took me inside the property..........but when is enough, enough regarding waiting on this agent? 

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Dana WhickerPro Member
Investor · Fernandina Beach, FL · Member since 2014 · 557 posts · 374 votes
9y
If an agent knows you're a legit buyer this is Absurd. Fired! If they know you flew in to look at properties they should be all over you as a buyer. My agent writes offers, gets them to me for signature, and delivers them to seller's agent in 4 hours.
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  • Real Estate Broker · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2017 · 719 posts · 658 votes
    9y

    I like when people are saying "I'm not a licensed agent in any state but I know that..."

    Maybe you should read something for educational purposes :)

    Every year Division of RE in Ohio rules in favor of agents just on the basis of signing "Consumer guide of agency relationship" with the client - no offers, no acceptance - that relates to the contract, not the agent-client relationship. 

    People call listing agent "selling", mistake "Agency disclosure" with "Consumer guide to agency", have no clue about basics of the profession, however, rush to give their advices - because they feel it's fair.

    Then, everyone wonders, why lawyers make good money :) that's why! 

  • Investor · Saint Charles, MO · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 15 votes
    9y

    I have sometimes taken a day or so to decide to make an offer or not. Once I decide, I text my agent with the offer and only 1 time did it take him longer then 2 hours to get the contract for me to sign (he was going to the baseball game). He let me know that is what he was doing, and I had the contract late that evening after the game (baseball is important in St. Louis). Even at that I have lost several deals because we were too late. Crazy sellers market. You need to work with another agent. I don't see how he could think that you are not serious.   

  • Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Brian Garlington The answer to your question: Yes, that's too long. Our multiboard contract here is 13 pages, and seriously its a stretch to even say it takes me 15 minutes to fill everything in. Even less if your info and the listing info is already entered in my Dotloop account. I personally use my wind down time later in the evening to write all of the non-asap offers, and if its a hot-hot-hot property I can write it up for your signature in Dotloop or DocuSign on my cell and you can sign it on your cell before we even leave the property. Totally unacceptable to wait DAYS.

    Many people have brought up a possible procuring cause issue. I'll refer any opinon on that to someone who is familiar with Ohio laws, ie @Irina Belkofer. Its really not your problem though unless you sign a buyer-broker agreement where you may owe a commission to the broker if its not paid out from the list agent. Even so, it'd be a good idea to discuss your situation with your new agent prior to them writing the offer so they can decide if there is a potential issue.

    For Illinois, my opinion is that by not writing the offer in a timely manner, the "uninterrupted chain of events" required to claim procuring cause would be broken at that point.

  • Real Estate Broker · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2017 · 719 posts · 658 votes
    9y

    @Matthew Olszak I agree that it doesn't affect the buyer unless he sign the "Exclusive buyer agency" agreement.

    This is bad for his agent who will work on this offer. If he wants to build good professional relationship with an agent in the area of his interest, it's the best to be honest with our agent and document the broken chain of communication with the previous one.

    Real estate is relationship business, and it's not what you know - it's who you know. If you work out of your area of expertise (as of location) it's better to have good established relationships with local agent, contractors, lawyer etc

  • Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Irina Belkofer Totally agree, that's why I recommended discussing it first with the new agent. I'd be super-pissed to find out about an issue like this a month after closing if I was the agent who actually ended up writing the offer. Its a relationship business and many folks underestimate how tight the professional community is and how small the group of quality agents who farm an area is. No need to burn a valuable bridge by hiding what is going on.

  • Real Estate Agent · Cupertino, CA · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    Did you get qualified showing him all the preapproval letter, proof of funds, your credit and reference?

    Did the realtor complete his CMA analysis suggesting a value you agree upon?

    Before I started showing I ask all three questions. You want me to present you making an offer it needs EMD, POF, and your finance track record. Also like the rentals you have seen it therefore there should not be any inspection contingiencies. People bring me

    Chase, BoA, Wells Fargo, and Citi not necessarily in that order showing he are ready. In your write up you did not describe how it is to be paid and said nothing about how solid your finances are. 

  • Frisco, TX · Member since 2017 · 201 posts · 95 votes
    9y

    I would definitely ditch Agent Slowski but as someone else mentioned, he may still feel he is due his commission or at least he could argue he is. I would talk to the agent from Company A, document everything, and explain what you want to do.

    Then do This: Notify Slowski via email that due to his inability to act in a timely fashion you will be "hiring" another agent to make the offer. The other agent can pay him a referral fee (Agent from Company A should agree to this before you send this email - and probably will). Make sure you point out that Slowski is being fired due to his inability to produce an offer and perform his duties. This should protect you and the other agent from any commission dispute as commissions are not paid out with a "threshold test" alone. The Agent who makes the deal happen is due the commission. Then make your offer through Company A's agent.

  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Cary, NC · Member since 2017 · 1 post · 0 votes
    9y

    I submit my clients offers within a few hours !  

  • Real Estate Investor · Encinitas, CA · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9y

    @Brian Garlington Circling back to yesterday's question, yes, it might appear that you want the property.  But it's a false "problem" as without a written offer from Slowski to e-sign you're in ZERO position.  So if you're worried about someone else making an offer in the meantime you'd better get in the game.  If you're not worried about getting the property and it's more opportunistic then, sure, corral another agent.  I'm just getting you have some urgency since you posted about ol' Slowski.    

  • Middletown, CT · Member since 2017 · 18 posts · 16 votes
    9y

    Procuring Clause can be a problem although I doubt that Slowski is fast enough to go after you.  Perhaps everyone in his brokerage knows him as such...not a bad guy but a slow poke.  If you called his broker and told her/him of the situation, chances are good that another agent who is faster will be assigned to you.  In this case you will have no conflict with the procuring clause since the broker has taken care of that problem and hopefully you will  have a new agent that can hop for you.   

  • Will BarnardPro Member
    Moderator
    Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Irina Belkofer:

    @Matthew Olszak I agree that it doesn't affect the buyer unless he sign the "Exclusive buyer agency" agreement.

    This is bad for his agent who will work on this offer. If he wants to build good professional relationship with an agent in the area of his interest, it's the best to be honest with our agent and document the broken chain of communication with the previous one.

    Real estate is relationship business, and it's not what you know - it's who you know. If you work out of your area of expertise (as of location) it's better to have good established relationships with local agent, contractors, lawyer etc

     I agree this is a relationship business and you can look back over 9 years of posts with me stating that very thing. I also recommended in my last post that the OG poster document the history so he could provide it to any other agent (listing agent or otherwise) for their review. I also agree that it is important to be upfront with any other agent regarding the timeline and what transpired so they can make a decision to move forward with you or not. Great advice Irina.

  • David OunanianBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · St. Louis, MO · Member since 2017 · 380 posts · 195 votes
    9y
    In this market your agent has to be able to write an offer the same day you see the property end of story. Otherwise you will miss deals and waste time. You must also take the time to interview agents. Call them text them and email them. Note how long responses take etc I do this all the time when I refer people in other markets. Sometimes I have to call 5-10 agents to find one that works hard and is always available.
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