Thoughts on contacting the seller directly through Facebook?

Question

We are very new to REI, in fact, we have not bought a property yet. That said, we have placed several offers and some we even offered cash and went 5-7% over asking... and lost.

We're in Northern Michigan and like everywhere else, inventory is extremely low up here.

Anyway, we are wondering if maybe sellers are steering clients in ways so they can double dip ~ 6%.

Right now, we have a seller agent that is not being very cooperative and we are wondering if they are holding our offer so they can work directly with some Zillow leads directly so they don't have to share?

Ok, so that is off topic, so let me come back. Is there ever a time when you might reach out to the seller directly thorough FB or email?
It is really easy to pull the plat book, look up the owners, search for them on FB, and find them.

Anyway... I don't mean to ramble, but just wondering if any of you experienced buyers ever reach out to sellers directly though social media or email to "do some research"

Drew Sygit · Answer

If I'm a seller and you go around my agent to contact me directly... you better have a great reason to do so! Othewise, I don't want to be pestered.

Not understanding part of your post. If you are going through the listing agent directly, they won't have to split commission.

Jason Wiser · Answer

Thanks @Michael K Gallagher  I will ask my buyers agent about this.

and I see now the vote if 4-0 do not contact the seller directly... thanks

Jason Wiser · Answer

Hi Account Closed yeah, that's what I meant to say. We are using a buyer agent and we are thinking that might be why the seller agent is not being so helpful, and why this might be a case where you could reach out to the seller directly to make sure the sellers agent is doing their job.

Account Closed · Answer

@Drew Sygit yeah, I had the same thought Drew. The post is a bit confusing. I’ve seen a few folks purposefully not hiring a buyer’s agent lately in hopes of using the listing agent and getting the inside track that way.

Michael K Gallagher · Answer

@Jason Wiser if you have an offer in, if the property is on the MLS and you have a buyers agent. It should be really easy for your buyers agent to get a response back from the listing agent. There is actually a section on the bottom of most offers that should be returned to you signed by the seller that they saw your offer, at least that’s how we do it in OH. But yeah I’d steer clear of going direct to seller unless the listing expires or something.

Jason Wiser · Answer

Thanks @Sam Hecht you are the third response to share this consensus, so I think we can put this topic to rest...

It is a bad idea to contact the seller directly.

Thanks to everyone.

Jason Wiser · Answer

hey @Drew Sygit Thanks for joining he discussion. That makes sense about not wanting to be pestered. It is kind of implied and intuitive to not contact seller, but I was just wondering if anyone does that. I see your point. And sorry about not being clear in the post, we are using a buyers agent. And that is the issue, I can see where going direct to the sellers agent might be a better option the way things are. Just we are loyal to our buyer agent. They are amazing and are helping us so much.

Sam Hecht · Answer

Hi Jason,

Typically contacting a seller directly without going through the listing agent (especially if you are a buyer) is a bad idea. Seller's dont want to interact with buyers in any capacity. One of the reasons that seller's hire a listing agent is for that agent to handle interactions with buyers, or with buyers' agents. Perhaps if you are having a hard time with this listing agent, then it might not be a great deal to start with. I'd say messaging the seller's on Facebook would only diminish your chances of closing.

Hope this helps!

Thoughts on contacting the seller directly through Facebook?

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