“Deal Mop-Up” If you’re a Buyer’s agent nervous about slow-to-arrive Seller signatures,** what’s a good interim step to reassure your anxious clients? Ask the listing agent to change the home’s status on MLS. “Pending” = Done Deal So, if the home is “Active,” changing it to “TNAS” (“Temporarily Not Available for Showing”) assures that no...Read More
Tax Records vs. MLS I don’t know about other Buyers’ agents, but before I show clients a 1.5 story home — or one that’s billed as a 1.5 story home on MLS — I first check the county tax records. When the county says “1.2 stories,” I know that any upstairs Bedroom is marginal at...Read More
Agent to Buyer: “Stop By That New Listing on Broker Tour Tomorrow” When an agent looks at a home without their client in tow, it’s known as a “Preview.” See, “Proper (and Improper) Uses of Realtor Previews.” That’s in contrast to a “showing,” which is when the agent and client view a home together. So, what...Read More
“KISS” (Keep it Simple, Stupid) — Realtor Version “Lockbox is on rail to left of side door (north), combo is “LMZ.” Use large key to open deadbolt (turn to left); then use small key to unlock knob lock (sticky, may have to jiggle). Alarm in laundry room down hall, then left; code is 49827 (press...Read More
Enabling(?) Non-Committal Buyers (aka “Fence-Sitters”) One of the things that invariably happens in the course of representing a Seller is the Listing agent gets a request from a Buyer’s agent to “be kept in the loop.” Translation: ‘let me know if someone else is about to buy the home, so my client at least knows...Read More
Some Properties Are Bought, Some Are Sold True or false: what Realtors call “the selling agent” once a deal closes represents the Seller (no, this isn’t another “Grant’s Tomb” question). Answer: false. The agent who represents the owner/seller is called “the listing agent”; post-closing, the Buyer’s agent is referred to as “the selling agent.” Nomenclature...Read More
