"Don't let the buyers agents control you!"

While most of the REO agents in my area sit, twiddling their thumbs waiting for this Tsunami/Shadow Inventory/Wave to hit, I've been blessed with keeping a flow of inventory hitting the market making me one of the more "popular" agents on the block. While this is good for my business, keeping me and my staff busy, I've had the unfortunate experience of dealing with buyers agents who are unhappy, frustrated, or just downright negative. They continously complain, threaten me, tell me how to run my business, even demand me to accept their clients offers! The sad part is some of these agents are within my office! Its a shame agents have to go this low. I simply just take a deep breath and stay focused.Initially I thought it was just me, I mean I'm a down to earth guy, really laid back (don't let the picture fool you) but after talking with some of my peers in the same boat, they were experiencing similar reactions. Recently at the 5 Star an agent on the panel was going over productive ideas and one of them was "don't let the buyers agents control you". I was relieved to know that many of the REO agents are going thru the same issues.If you're a buyers agent on this site and are trying to get into REO, until you get that first listing, here are some tips:1. follow directions. Usually a good listing agent will leave instructions on the MLS. For a better response on your offers, please have your contract packages complete.2. have your lender contacts ready. If a listing requires a specific prequal from a direct lender, have your client in touch with that loan officer immediately. With the shortage of inventory, it is very competitive and timing is a huge factor.3. understand the REO market in your area. If your buyer is an FHA first time homebuyer with 3.5% downpayment competing with investors offering cash 20% over list, your buyer does not stand a chance.4. understand the thinking behind the offer accepted. Just because your FHA, 3.5% downpayment offer was 40% over list price, and didn't get accepted, understand why. Banks usualy have a couple of BPOs done from local agents and a appraisal. Its how they get their list price. Just because your client offered 40% over asking dosen't mean they will accept your offer. We know it won't appraise and don't want to deal with it later in the transaction.Staying in control keeps my staff and I busy as we can spend all day arguing with buyers agents who are not even in contract with us. I hope this helps for everybody on this site. OK I'm done venting. Thanks for reading!
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Comments

  • Hello Harry,

    Thanks for sharing. I'd like a copy as well. Pls. send to: tonga.doan@mykeyrealtors.com
  • Hi Harry,

    Please email me a copy of the Word doc to doug.realtor@comcast.net

    Thanks.
  • Harry,
    I would love a copy of the word doc. Please e-mail to frankr@americanreosales.com Thanks!
  • Harry, would love a copy. Please forward to deeripper@gmail.com. Thanks!
  • I received a 6 or 7 page form from an asset manager, she got it from an REO agent in another state, I tweaked it to fit my area and clients. I send it out to everyone that contacts me prior to receiving their offer, it has two pages that they should review with buyers and sign and return with the offer. The ones that take the time to read it, don't hassle the escrow process. The ones that don't, I know will be problematic.
    My all time favorite is "I want a written rejection from the bank!" Now don't we have enough rejection as Realtors, now they want it in writing.
    I will be happy to share that Word document for anyone that wants a copy, it's helpful, and I wish I could give credit to the guy that actually started it, but I don't know who it was.
  • lol ya see I'm not the only one who feels this way! My venting has turned into a postive therapy session! Let it all out so we can continue focusing on our clients and giving them excellent service. Here's a toast to all the agents in the front lines.
  • 8. Please don't call me at 9:00 at home (after having cyber stalked my and paying for my home phone number with an online private detective) to scream at me about how your buyer's offer should be entered in the (already closed) submission portal. My sellers have specific submission instructions and it is not a violation of ethics to stop submitting offers when instructed. It IS, however, a violation of your new restraining order to call me at home. I only get a few hours a day there, for goodness sake!
  • All good points. Let's continue:

    5. If instructions indicate that email receives the quickest response and is preferred, please don't call, leave a message, and then call back right away (sometimes mulitple times) expecting us to immediately answer. Please remember, we receive numerous calls on our properties, from sign calls, agent calls, client calls etc, so call backs are prioritized according to urgency and importance.

    6. Please do not send an offer (many times over asking price) without your clients first visiting the property. I've seen this happen more and more lately. Please be respectful of everyone's time and to those buyers and agents that have taken the time to view the property and complete their due dilligence on the property before submitting an offer.

    7. To expand on point 6, please ensure that all decision makers and personal confidants of the buyer view the property. Remind buyers that the property is bank owned and bank will not be making any repairs (most of the time), that bank is selling as is. It's frustrating to accept your offer only to be told that the boyfriend, father, brother, etc inspected the property after offer was submitted and they talked the buyer out of the purchase.
  • Very good points Daniel! I have shared your pain, many times. I had one buyer's agent call me to say that he had clients fall in love with one of my REO listings and they wanted to submit an offer, but he didn't want to deal with REO listings and the hassles that come with it. Then he proceeded to tell me how the deal was going to work. Yeah, that went over well!

    I took a few minutes to explain how the process worked with the bank and he started to relax a bit and trust me more to handle the situation properly. And I think that is the biggest part of the problem, we as listing agents are not taking the time to explain the process properly. We get wrapped up into what we are doing, which can be totally overwhelming at times even with a team, and forget that the agents we are working with may not fully understand what needs to be done and how different the process may be. And we often forget that each bank has a different process also. No wonder these buyer's agents are confused and defensive!

    We closed 4 weeks later, right on time, without any issues. Except for one thing that was requested by the buyer’s agent and the bank agreed to against my wishes, the use of their closing attorney! The “new” closing attorney took a full day and a half to wire the funds to the bank. Boy was the bank freaking out and was about to have me go to the house with the Sheriff to lock the doors until funds were transferred. That will never happen again!
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