On a Friday afternoon several years ago, I pulled up to a condo building in Bankers Hill where I was about to meet my client, Elaine. I saw her standing on the sidewalk with big, frosty, caramel latte coffee drinks in each hand. They were topped with mounds of whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles – clearly a special treat.
She handed me one and said, “Happy Anniversary!” and I didn’t get it. She saw my perplexed expression and said, “Today marks one year you have been showing me properties,” and I literally groaned, “Lord, help me. We’ve been looking at properties for an entire year!?”
Elaine didn’t buy the Bankers Hill condo that day, but a short time later, we closed escrow on her dream condo at the Breeza Building in Little Italy where she spent many happy years making new friends and enjoying San Diego’s waterfront life before we sold it for a hefty profit and she moved out of state.
A buyer taking a year or more to find and purchase a home is not uncommon. I often hear from buyers and their agents they’ve been looking for two or even three years.
Buying a home is one of the most important and personal decisions a person makes and when an agent facilitates a transaction that ends with the buyers over the moon with their new home perfect for them, that’s one of the best feelings for the agents and a smart, financial move for the buyers.
Successful Buyers’ Agents wear many hats:
Scheduler: Coordinating multiple showings with numerous agents and their home sellers is no easy task. People work from home; babies’ naptime; family is in town; they can’t show at 4 p.m. but they can show at 5:00; messing up the three homes before it and the two afterward; listing agents not returning phone calls, texts or emails (Thank goodness for ShowingTime appointment services).
Researcher: Is the neighborhood a good fit for the client? Is the house priced fairly (this is critical; a good buyers’ agent will always do his/her comps). Anything nearby that will be built or demolished that could affect the property’s value? Is everything permitted? What is the building records history? What is the height limit, wouldn’t want a neighbor to destroy a view. Construction Specialist: After years of selling and buying homes, seasoned agents notice issues surrounding foundations, eaves, roofs, leaks, and wall or ceiling cracks. They’ll recommend knowledgeable home and termite inspectors and insist on sewer scopes – no one wants to learn after a home closes the cast iron pipe is disintegrated and will cost $25,000 to replace.
Master Negotiator: In a hot sellers’ market – which we’ve been in for 12 years – buyers’ agents need to write tight, appealing offers, and check the right boxes on the Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA). Passively submitting offers will get nowhere. Buyers’ agents must follow up with phone calls, texts, and emails. Probing questions unearth important nuggets of information that help buyers’ agents write stronger offers.
Offers must include Proof of Funds (POF) and a strong lender pre-approval letter. Seasoned agents often refer their go-to lenders with proven track records of closing smoothly and on time to their buyers.
Citing the potential for discrimination and racism, NAR & CAR (National and CA Assoc of Realtors) frown upon personal letters, I strongly encourage them because I believe in the First Amendment and home sellers love them. Outside of children and pets, people are most attached to their homes. They love knowing the next owner will love their home, too.
Zen Instructor/Hand Holder:
When a buyer loses a house to another buyer, he/she can be heartbroken. A good agent empathizes with their disappointment and bolsters them to move onward and upward!
Though house hunting is stressful, it’s nothing compared to escrow. By the time escrow closes, buyers would rather go on a tropical vacation than move into their new home. Same with agents.
There are hundreds of pages of documents to review and sign, inspections to schedule and understand, seller disclosures to decipher, repairs to request, responses to request for repairs to negotiate, qualifying for the mortgage, passing appraisal, bargaining for furnishings and appliances, contingencies to adhere to, utilities to turn off and on, movers to schedule. An expert buyers’ agent prepares and guides their buyers through this overwhelming and arduous process.
No matter how savvy a buyer thinks he or she is, life-altering mistakes increase dramatically when buyer (or sellers) represent themselves instead of using reputable, experienced, professional agents.
The best part of all this reputable, experienced, and professional assistance is that, under the current system, it is free to buyers; the sellers pay commissions to the listing and buyer’s brokers.
But that’s all about to change or maybe not…
In June’s issue, I will write about the groundbreaking, $418 million antitrust, NAR settlement on real estate commission fees that could overhaul the way people sell and buy homes starting this July.
– Reach eXp Realtor and La Mesa Vice Mayor Laura Lothian at: [email protected].
Photo credit: Pixabay.com
