Friday, December 29, 2006

Problem: No Buyers Agent Available

What client services are included when a home seller works with a Full-Service Realtor to list a home for sale?

  • Agent-2-Agent Networking - Yes
  • MLS Listing- YES
  • Advertise Property - Yes
  • Negotiate And Manage The Sale - YES
  • Show property to other agents clients - ???
Showing a property to other agents clients is a hot debate among Realtor groups and real estate consumers. This extra service from the listing Agent answers the demand of home buyers who want to see a property before they buy it and then submit an offer through a Discount Broker. Before the Internets' transparent introduction of letting home buyers view MLS listings and Open Houses on their own, the Buyers Agent would accompany the buyer and show the property. Now a relationship with a Buyers Agent, is less of a requirement, to find a home.

Touring homes with Redfin participating as the home buyers agent is done through a service called Redfin Direct. The first tour, for up to three hours, is free and there is no obligation whatsoever to use Redfin as the agent. Future tours are $125 per home or $250 for a three-hour tour. Also Redfin explains:
Calling a listing agents or touring a property on your own is easy and listing agents are typically happy to show the homes they are representing to qualified buyers. For first-timers, Redfin offers an outline of what to say on the call, and a spiffy one-page Redfin introduction for you to print and show the listing agent once you do the tour.
Kevin Boer explains via his comments on the Refin Blog that there isn't an obligation to show property to other agents clients. Keep in mind - don't shoot the messenger.
...though it seems really, really, really screwy to folks outside the industry, as it stands now, the listing agent does not have an obligation to show the property, and if he/she does, it's going above and beyond...
Even though it's not a legal obligation to make oneself available to show the property on behalf of a missing Buyers Agent, I feel it should be a moral obligation. The owner and Agent have an interest to sell the house. A licensed Realtor in this situation should set an appointment to show the property and allow the home buyer(s) to tour the property by appointment.

If you're working with an Agent to sell your home make sure to ask how they will handle home buyers that choose to tour homes without a Buyers Agent.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once the transaction is safely in escrow, I would imagine that Redfin's client service would include re-showing the home to the buyer's relatives, re-showing to take measurements for furniture and meeting all the required inspectors. What about the buyer's final walk-through(s) to insure that the sellers have left the home in its represented condition?

Will Redfin be on site and available to represent their client's best interests? I have found that contract negotiations are only the beginning of a transaction....

Danilo Bogdanovic said...

By not showing a property to an interested a property, the listing agent is NOT acting in the best interest of their client.

Though the listing agent may be cut of any commission on the buy side, they have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of their client (seller) and show the property to an interested party.

Anonymous said...

I'm happy to show my own listings to someone without a buyers agent. But the prospective buyer may not want to see the home with me as there's more than a decent chance Redfin would not be paid on the transaction, meaning the client would be receiving 2% of zero on their rebate.