“Your Buyer? Show it Yourself!!”
After my own vent, what’s next most cathartic?
Another Realtor’s.
So, I enjoyed fellow blogger 
Teresa Boardman’s recent post about having other Realtors’ clients call to have you show them properties that you’re listing.
With 30 minutes notice (maybe).
Nope, actually that’s their Realtor’s job.
Mine is to make sure my Buyers know about and get into properties that they want to see.
And if the other Realtor is too busy/out-of-town/can’t be bothered — or they’re telling their clients to “just call the listing agent” — the prospective Buyer just may not have the right Realtor. (Practice note: yes, Realtors do go on vacation occasionally — or try to. But when they do, they line up a colleague to cover their Buyers, vs. expect random listing agents to do that for them.)
Ms. Boardman is also 100% correct that it’s appropriate — actually, necessary if you want to make a living — for any agent showing homes to first establish that the Buyer can afford it.
Sunday Open Houses
What’s the only exception to not accompanying your clients to homes they want to see within their budget?
Sundays, when listing agents are busy hosting open houses.
Then, it’s perfectly appropriate to send Buyers through other Realtors’ opens — preceded by a courtesy “heads up” to the hosting agent to keep an eye out for your clients.
P.S.: And yes, I know that at least some office managers — and a few selling clients — may take exception to this stance.
But in my experience, deals that start out with “boundary issues” (translation: procuring cause problems) with Buyers’ agents can be hard to get back on track.
It’s also the case that prospective Buyers who really are serious about a particular home (vs. “just curious”) have a funny way of tracking down their agent (and making them do their #&% job!!).
