Helping Their Client? Or Hurting?
For the benefit of every Buyer’s agent in multiple offers during the upcoming Spring market (start: early Feb.), who thinks they’re serving their client by hounding the listing agent . . . the following is for you:
Dear fellow agent:
As you know, the home your client is interested in buying is now in multiple offers.
Per my email, the deadline for presenting offers is tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
If there is a change in that timetable, I’ll be back in touch.
While I certainly appreciate your interest, I do NOT appreciate hourly emails, texts, and voice mails asking if there’s any change in the home’s status, asking the identity of other prospective Buyers, details about their offers, etc.
As I tell my selling clients — especially ones in multiple offers — the best Buyer isn’t necessarily the one who offers the highest price.
Other factors that can be just as (or more) important include: how strong the Buyer is (or isn’t) financially; their lender (related to factor #1); how flexible their closing timetable is; and how easy they (and their agent!) are to work with.
A Buyer who relentlessly pursues a Seller before offers have even been presented is likely to make mountains out of inspection mole hills, scrutinize every punctuation mark in the Seller’s disclosure, and generally be a pain to deal with.
Or as I tell my selling clients, when it comes to dealing with Buyers . . . past is prologue.
As a listing agent, I can assure you that my singular goal is to help my client get the best possible deal for their home, and that the process will be conducted fairly and transparently.
Thanks for your interest in my client’s home.
Sincerely,
Ross Kaplan
Edina Realty City Lakes
So far, I’ve only thought the foregoing, not actually sent it to anyone.
But, there’s a first time for everything . . .
See also, “How Over-Aggressive Buyers’ Agents Hurt Their Clients in Multiples.”
