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Least Reliable
Sources for Agents: Calling on advertised property.
You're reading the Sunday paper, and you see a home advertised that
catches your eye. As you read the ad, your imagination conjures up your
dream home-and it seems like the right price and area. You can hardly
believe it. So, you pick up the phone, dial the number, and listen as an
agent answers. You start asking questions about the property and hear
all the right answers. You're anxious to see the property before someone
else buys it, so you make arrangements to meet the agent at the home.
Miracle of all miracles, the property is everything you hoped it would
be. You're ecstatic, and hurriedly make an offer on the property with
that agent.
You're so excited about
buying that property that choosing the agent is the last thing on your
mind. That may be a very expensive mistake. For one thing, the agent who
is "helping" you may very well be a poor producer or new agent
assigned to be the "floor time" representative (the person
assigned to answer phone inquiries from ads or real estate signs, and to
greet walk-ins), while the higher producers are out selling or listing
houses. To get top-flight service, you'll want to work with an agent who
has been "practicing" selling. He's more apt to know the
market, the trends, and the latest laws affecting buyers. Generally,
poorer producing agents and new agents are the ones who opt for floor
time. Why? They want a chance to get some leads.
For example, at one
real estate office I heard about, many of the agents were experienced,
but low producers who liked to have floor-time assignments because they
figured it was an easy way to get lea. Although they "sat the
floor" (Don't you love these insider phrases?), they didn't sell
anyone anything. After tracking their calls and conversations with
buyers, it was proved they were getting leads but over a period of three
months, it was discovered that they just didn't want to help a buyer who
was too demanding. If it was really easy to sell someone a home, they
would do it. You don't want to get stuck with an agent like that.
If you want to see a
property you've seen advertised, go ahead, but don't commit yourself to
working with that agent further until you've qualified him.
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