Why is it in your best interest as a buyer?
I have loads of examples. First off, having this listing on Devon Drive has blown up my phone. Buyers from all over Canada are seeking the elusive waterfront lifestyle, and it is no secret that Penticton is where it is at for retirement and vacations. Having said that, you need an agent on top of the game. I have had plenty of calls from buyers ‘who just missed that one that sold for 1.8’ Well, you lost it for a reason. That buyer was a local and working with a local agent who was on TOP of IT!
You don’t have to be local, but you ABSOLUTELY need someone local ON THE HUNT!
You need to be ready to pounce when that agent says it’s time!
Therefore, you need TRUST and LOYALTY. An EBA spells out mutually beneficial legally binding obligations.
I had a call from a Vancouver agent who was just livid with a sale one of my colleagues did. I feel bad even writing this because I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was his error that cost him the property. He said that he had made an offer. And was shocked and put off to see that it sold for the price he had previously offered (the seller turned his offer down and that agent didn’t even call him to give him another chance at it when another offer of the same price came in).
Well, human nature. You can’t avoid it; A local agent sold that home. So, yes, there was another buyer willing to pay the same amount of money, but he was an out-of-town agent who was not in the loop…..his offer didn’t go so well. He had a few words about that listing agent and asked me to let him know when something else on the water came up for sale. As he was a serious buyer but being an agent, he would be writing his own offer. I have yet to give him a call!
Another one would be a couple I went back and forth with on this listing on for weeks and then they came to town with an out-of-town agent. They opted not to purchase the home and asked that I call them when something else becomes available. I am not your agent, and, not only that but 55 other agents in my office will know long before your out-of-town agent gets a sniff at this new listing.
I don’t mean to sound rude. I like helping people, but I am ethically and legally bound to help my clients first. The reality is there is enough local competition for hot new listings in this market that you have to go local, and you have to exclusively!
As mentioned, I have my clients that I write the offers for, I am ethically and legally obligated to tell MY CLIENTS when something else becomes available, so I can’t do my clients any favours when I am telling their buying competition about the hottest new listings. I am, in fact, compromising their buying position and making them pay more. So, I indeed cannot tell anyone and everyone when something good comes along. I sure as heck can’t tell someone who is working with or as another agent!!
I want to write the offer for MY CLIENT. Get it? Good! Having said that, in the last 24 hours of preparing the present, I have had two people ask me to let them know if something else comes available. Market insight there have been zero waterfront sales to date in Penticton and only eight active listings for sale. When that listing does come on there are 285 other realtors in my board area and many thousands of buyers online who will see it 72 hours after the agents do.
So, if I have my handful of loyal clients, I won’t be able to keep a log of 35 people who may, or may not, chose to be loyal or thankful if I let them know about this listing. I would rather get to know exactly what is going to suit your families needs and have you up on my wall, as a reminder in my phone as a contract on my desk that I am MOTIVATED and contractually obligated to tell about that hot new listing! Or even better, I find that listing before it is a listing and you get your hands on it and tie it up before anyone has a chance at it. I do not offer Exclusive Buyers Agency to just anyone, I am selective of my clients, we have to be a fit for each other. I enjoy my work, and I take on incredible loyal clients, it makes all the difference in the world.
I get that not everyone gets this business. I understand completely, but I get this business and my clients get the best homes and I enjoy a natural high and several super awkward happy dances that only my husband witnesses when I find that gem of a home for my buyers. I have even had other agents ask me if it is ME who is moving into the home because I become so involved and feisty with every detail of the transaction. I feel like a stalker when I hear of a new listing coming on. I am a delicate vulture carefully positioning my buyer and their offer while protecting and nurturing the relationships with the other side for that successful happy dance!