Andi Grant's Blog - Everyday Real Estate with a Twist

Andi,

This is unfortunately true...  I cannot believe how the public seems to think we make money from NOT selling real estate. 

Ann Hayden in sunny Wildwood, MO

Hi Andi -- another great blog!  Now . . . you've got to GO PUBLIC!  Get some Google Juice going!! I've done that once or twice as a new agent -- the Muss Bus.  Not anymore.  Ready, willing and able buyers.  I haven't had a tourist in years . . . (knock wood!)

I had a buyer annoyed that I wanted a pre-approval from them before househunting.  This one was initially member's only so now it is public

Thanks for posting Andi. I think we have all been in that situation at some point in time during our careers.

I wonder how folks in Destin, FL or other beach communities deal with this? Seems such areas would draw the lookie-lou crowd.

That story makes my stomach churn- I definatly take the time to figure out if a buyer is serious or not...  1 hour of conversation can tell you a lot.... and save you exponential time!

Dan - yes we have ...live and learn my friend, live and learn.

Doug - funny you say that!  The story centered around the couple last going to FLORIDA before being found out.  I don't know if this is an urban legend or not, but its still a lesson.

Shanna - I definitely screen first.  It's also out of respect and caution for the seller that we aren't taking random people in and out of their private homes, not to mention the waste of time and gas for us. 

Glad you made this public. How disrespectful people can be, I guess we need to do a better job of both educating and screening otherwise we'll only have ourselves to blame! Love this post.

Corinne - THANKS!  You are right. I guess we do shoulder some of the blame when this happens.  Of course you can still have a pre-approval and be a tour guide in rare cases. 

This situation has happened to me recently, so I know the feeling.  You either have to be a hardball about buyer pre-qualification, or you just have to have good intuition about when to part company with unserious buyers.

I have heard of it... probably happens to people in CA,FL and any place more vacationy (is that a word)  than a place like Columbus OH. 

When I first moved to Columbus I knew an agent whose husband would do that when he was in a town on business.  Or so she told me... only I don't know if it was sight seeing and free lunch.  She said he chose pretty female real estate agents...  and his wife (who was gorgeous but never smiled) knew this?   And told us? Sad and creepy.

Creepy, creepy, creepy...

Shawn - I agree.  I have REALLY close friends who I've shown around while in the process of getting pre-approvals because they take my career seriously and wouldn't take me away from showing other's around if they weren't serious. :)

haha! great post! i do think of myself as a tour guide sometimes!

From time to time, I will present myself as a walking, talking Chamber of Commerce aka local Realtor, especially when dealing with buyers who are new to the area. But I do ask the clients to meet me first at the office so that we can talk and I can discern what appeals to them and what they can afford.

Yes, some of these tours didn't pan out...but many of them do. And the ones who did join me on the "tour" were so appreciative of how I introduced them to the highlights of the community where they eventually bought a place.

The closed escrows were the best tips for being the day's tour guide.

Yes, sometimes, it's a win-win.

OMGsh Maureen!  How sad and creepy as you said! 

Billy - Thanks!  We are tour guides until that right home is chosen. That I don't mind.  But I had someone (a cold lead) really beome annoyed because I didn't want to show them homes without pre-approval. 

Pacita -it does work out most of the time.  I like the walking-talking Chamber of Commerce statement.  Maybe you should do a hyper local blog and have Chamber of Commerce (your city name) in the title so that when people pull that up for your target city you come up. :)

Hmm...

what works in one market may not work in another. luxury homes are different than second home market and both are different than "new" construction markets. but, yeah - i've been taken advantage of some "buyers" and even that hasn't hurt me because I learn the inventory to show the real buyers the good stuff.

funny about the bus - a year or so back the news was full of agents that rented a bus to take customers out to see the foreclosed - reo - market

Gregory - True about different markets.  I have considered the buyer caravan but they would STILL be pre-qualified or a STRONG referral. We have to be careful not to have unqualified strangers going in and out of private homes. 

Also, most of us have to buy premium gas am I right?  Its 3.27 a gallon here and my city alone is 50+ sq. miles not to mention other cities! :):)

Dear Andi, i think I would go with the "three strikes" rule here. A maximum of three tours. Have a great day!

I love this post.  I have heard many agnets who will go around showing 50 + homes to buyers.  When I ask them if they have a preapproval letter or an exclusive buyer agency 1/2 the time they tell me no.  Oh, we don't want to make them angry or mad at us.  I say BS to that.  I qualify all my buers before we even get to the pint of looking at homes.  I an not a taxi service or a tour bus.

Andi...

And the question is ..."if we find the right house at the right price are you ready to buy TODAY?"

Blair - So if they are not pre-qualified, they are allowed 3 days worth of tours until they must have pre-approval in hand?  Here's a compromise:

First tour means they have shown great interest.

2nd tour means they have already made contact with lender for pre-approval and are in the process of getting all docs together.

3rd tour they must have actual pre-approval letter in hand? 

Hmmm...I'll have to think about that one Blair.  :)

Hi Andi~  Unfortunately, whether we want to admit it or not, it has probably happened to most of us that have been in the business for a long time! 

Shawn - that's insane!  Those are the agents going postal when they end up buying with another agent they met an an open house. There were no boundaries. 

Richard - YES!!!  That is THEE question!

Vickie it happened to me when I first started.  I may need to edit this to have it posted in the ActiveRain Newbies section as a heads up to them.

******

Also don't get me wrong. I will sign the non pre-qualifiers up for Listing Book or other "Hot Listings" programs (which doesn't require any gas) in order to whet their appetite and keep them in the loop on home price fluctuations.  Also my newsletter in order to hear about new home programs or guidelines.  :)

******

Andi-

I just spoke with my cubie mate on this exact thing after the "relo" "or not" buyers just informed her that they decided to not accept the job offer anymore in our area. This is after 3 lunches and 30 homes over a span of three weeks.  Ouchie! Ouchie!  Too bad we can't have everyone pay C.O.D. 

Duane - WOW!  Sometimes those things happen but if they were looking for city tours with lunch included, that is terrible! 

Glad you made the post public and congrats on the feature. Until we are REALTORS put a value upon our time and learn to say "no", then our prospective buyers (aka tirekickers) will never value our time, either.

Christianne - *hand clap* that is so true. 

Also, I can't help but think that when it comes to referrals that you have more of a chance of getting them from clients when you've informed them of the process, set clear boundaries, helped them to target their searches (what better way than pre-approval) and ultimately make clear and logical decisions when it comes to making the biggest decision of their life.  If they were all over the place during the process, I can't help but to think that wouldn't bode well for future referrals.  JMO. :)

Andi, I can really relate to this.  I met a buyer last year at an open house.  She really liked the house but felt that she hadn't seen enough homes in the area to make a decision (she was moving here from out-of-state).  I asked what it would take?  She said all she needed to see was 5 more homes.  Two weeks later, we started our seach.  Needless to say, it took 55 more homes and about 2 1/2 months of looking.  She finally did end up buying but it was a long and tedious process.

Andi, you mean we don't work for FREE?  Imagine that!!

Before I show houses to buyers, I first (1) have them complete a buyer interest form (2) get them to submit a buyer pre-qual letter from their lender (3) meet with them personally at the office to review their form & their goals.  Due to these proceedures, which I've learned OJT, I no longer work for "FREE"!

Tammie - I'm glad it ended well!  Moving from out-of-the-area and making a huge 30 year decision like that I can totally understand it taking that many homes as you familiarize yourself with the many neighborhoods and areas. 

Regina - it sounds like you have a great "weeding out" process to me!

We here in Florida do not want to practice Wheel Estate and neither should you. It becomes real easy to discourage these types of folks.

First, we only work with people who have a preapproval for a mortgage and or proof of funds within 30 days aging. Secondly we require that they come in to the office and we explain how we work and they sign a Buyers Agency Agreement. If they don't sign...we don't work with them.

All of this tends to screen out those who want to use us and abuse us. BTW, we also have a policy to take a copy of their drivers license and keep it at the front desk. This is our policy so that any weirdos know that we know who is touring homes with our agents. It is a safety issue.

All in all, we mean business.  We teach people how to treat us...if we act business like, we have a better chance of writing some business:)

I'll tell you what: I have listings that have 30-40 and 50 showings and you can bet that there aren't 30-50 sales to go with those "buyers." There are an awful lot of tour guides out there with licenses. 

Great post! Its sad but so true. I prefer working with sellers. And when they want to buy, I know they are serious.

I always prequalify my buyers to avoid as much wasted time as I can. The other time waster is people calling and asking to have listings sent to them with no intention of buying either. Albeit, its not as time wasting as showing actual property, but it still is frustrating.

Congrats on the feature, and the post was so good, I had to comment twice!

Excellent Post!!!! I'm pretty sure that some where in the long, lost land of Real Estate that there's some truth to that Urban Legend!!! Congratulations on the feature!!!

I don't take anyone out until they come to my office so I can meet them and get them on the phone with a lender. I'm a lousy tour guide but an excellent Realtor.

Andi, I don't do buyer broker agreements (yet), but I DO require a buyer to be pre-approved before I will show them property.  Hey, if you missed this post, you might want to check it out and watch the video at the end.  Makes sense to me to try their strategy to see how it goes.

How To Properly Qualify Buyers And Only Show 5 to 7 Homes

I'm looking forward to reading your next hyper local blog to hear about that neighborhood that has been looking "fabulous" lately :)

Living at the beach, agents have to really be on their toes on rainy days.  Tourists can't lay on the beach but they will try to sucker you in for entertainment.

The loan preapproval before I go out plus a preemptive CMA for their search criteria eliminates a lot of this....

So true.  It seems that agents forget that step of qualifying them.  Sometimes that occurs when the agent really doesn't have any business or business plan and that is the only buyer they have...  They are afraid of the client walking away of they get tuff!

What agent doesn't get buyers qualified these days - oh yes - there are a few still giving tours for free!

This will be the last stop of our tour.  If you truly enjoyed your experience, tipping is not required but encouraged.  Thank you so much for using Andi Grant Tours.

Ecxcellent post Andi!  Congrats of your shinny gold star!

We often get calls from "potential buyers" who are "thinking" of buying a home in Phoenix/Scottsdale. And would like us to show them some areas. I have grown to dread these calls or referrals.  Often we end up showing them homes in one location only to have them go back to their hotel or relatives house and call us to show them homes the next day completely on the other side of the valley because their friend/relative said there are some great deals out there.  We don't want to put up the stop sign right away because often these are referrals from other agents, so we want the agents to continue to count on us.  But what really irks us is when AGENTS themselves exhibit this type of behavior.  And believe me, we've schlepped around a number of agents through the years that probably really had no intention of buying a home here.  They were probably using us so they could write off their trip down here.  Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame, shame, shame on you!  Great post and best of luck Andi.

I learned early on that running around with buyers who either have no real timeline to buy or have no idea what they want is a waste of everyone's time, mostly mine! Thanks for the post.

hi andi...your story is exactly the reason I get a buyers brokerage agreement signed before anyone tours the town with me!

Understanding who you are working with is critical!   Sit down with the buyer and talk about everything, including financing and if they aren't prequalified, find out why not!  Then decide if you want to spend time showing them around.   Ask yourself if they are serious buyers or not.   You time might be better used doing something more profitable.  I always talk about a representation agreement, but say that I will show homes for one day without it because I might not like THEM!  LOL  We never have a problem getting a signature the second day.

Thanks for a very good post. There is an old saying that goes as follows: "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me". I will take anyone on a modest first tour. After that no brokerage agreement no preapproval, no me.

Somedays our jobs can certainly feel that this.  I know I have had a few of them myself.

In the Words of Cuba Gooding, " Show me the Money" AND " Let's take your car..." , and "Your signature goes here on the buyer's agreement",  will give you plenty of time to prospect for real buyer's, work on listings, or write an offer with a serious Buyer. 

A genuine and serious buyer will understand the need for preapproval and meeting first in the office to drefine their search criteria. These steps make it a much more efficient process for both sides.

Great post Andi!  I am meeting buyers on Sunday who sent me a list of 20 houses they would like to see.  Not sure if I'm a tour guide, a set of keys, or a buyers agent!!

It is so important to prequalify not just the sellers motivation but also buyers motivation. I bet we can all find better things to do with our time.

I have had this happen a couple of times... it is not fun... I've gotten much better at weeding out these types of buyers.... We should have a private place to post their names so other agents are taken in by them.

I'm always amazed at how many agents are more than willing to hop in the car with unqualified buyers and waste their time & money. IMO, the majority of those agents get what they deserve. If they're not professional enough to screen and pre-qualify, then they're just asking to be abused in this fashion.

The first thing my mother drilled into my head when I became an agent was "Don't take them out without getting a pre-approval letter". I can say I haven't been anyones tour guide yet.

What do you do when its to cold for the beach?.......look at realestate

We had a cold winter in Fort Myers  this year, so as you can imagine we had a lot of requests for our tour guide service.  I dont trust impulse buyers. I let them know I work by appointment only and offer a meeting for another day. If they agree, and they usually dont, I remind them to bring their proof of funds, and/or pre- approval letter. 

Walk ins are invited into the conference room  for a property tour via computer. We look at property online using our mls, google earth and google maps. But before we get in my car I want to see proof of funds.

Next season Im going to be offering an alternative: If you dont have proof of funds Ill still take you out, but I require a $250 non-refundable retainer.

On sunny days people often want to go see pretty waterfront tracts of land. I have had one guy in particular that has been "looking" for 3 years.  Great article. 

We have a TON Of these in our touristy town!!  Easter weekend I could have shown homes from sunrise to sunset for four days straight.  I value every moment I have so I decline when they can't proof or pre-approve.  I have a pretty good BS meter ;)

We definitely have our share of these in our area.  They just find an agent and go for a ride - or rather they take the agent for a ride!  It's nuts.  Can't people find something better to do with their down time?

Hi Andi -- Wow, how about asking to see a verified pre-approval done in the last 30 days before you show the 1st house?  That will weed out 90% of them.  The other 10% you can use intuition and sniff them out.

This is an incredible story.  It should make every agent obtain a Buyer's Rep Agreement and pre-approval letter from their "buyer" before putting him/her in the car!

I qualify my clients for the ability to purchase and for their desire to buy.

My time is too valuable for me to become a tour guide. They can read my blogs for that. If they are serious, and demonstrate thaty they are able and willing to buy, that's another story. Well said, Andi.

Hello:

Can't it be both? Seriously, it does seem like sometimes we are tour guides, but I don't usually mind that.

I do feel like a tour guide sometimes.

AZ is the exact same way. I've had some prospective buyers this spring calling me to let me know  they will be vacationing in CA then AZ and thinking of  maybe moving here and would like me to meet them for a couple of days to show them around one being a Sunday. ... the vacation thing gave me the instant reaction that they will just want a free tour.

I said do you own a house where they're moving from? They said Yes. is it on the market yet ? No. how long ago did they purchase it ? oh 2005. ok ( so I already know they probably can't sell unless is a short sale ) are they going to move with a job relocation... No. they were 2 friends and one was actually looking for rentals in the 700/ month range andhe's he one that was calling me for both of them. good God I am to tour rentals that you are not even read to move into...can thise be viewed online.  OK , I said I need to talk to your friend that will buy so i can get them qualified ...then I will have to have a buyer broker agreement and a non refundable $ 200 deposit that would be credit back at escrow. I sent them the agreement and a bunch of homes for rent and sale

Guess what happened? I never heard back from them. Until we can come up with some minimum standard on how we perform our jobs we are going to be taken advantage of. and in this kind of market if we let ourselves be taken advantage of we are going to get very discouraged. I would rather do BPO's and learn the inventory out there then drive people around that are vacationing... :)

When the out of towners come in and don't have a clue where they want to live, I tend to drive them around as much of L.A. as I can.  And boy, is that some driving.  I have done over 70 miles in a few hours.  I think from now on they are going to have to pick their area.  I was in the travel industry for many years.  I think is is still ingrained in me.  I actually enjoy it :)

oh and another one that  I just had to have a very serious conversation about why I need an LSR.

 I had realized from the many conversation over the phone  that they might not qualify so easy to buy if at all. So he told me that their mortgage borker will get me what I need .. .I said ok let me talk to her. So I did and guess what they need to do ABC before they can even attemptn to buy ... along process..

Remember some brokers will still give LSR's that are as good as the paper they are on. Even big leders like BofA. 2 deals fell apart in the past 6 months even tought they had LSR's.

I was representing the seller so I did not have access to talk to the buyers otherwise I would have know they can't buy. Agent kept tellig me they can buy; we extended bank approvals for them then I finally canceled the deal after the last approval date and COE passed and the lender send me a letter they were denied and  based on financing contingecy they should get the earnest money back.  a week after the COE date ... if anyone needs it I will privately email you the lender's information both cases from BofA.( fromer Countrywide mortgage "people ")

Andi ~ 5 homes is my limit on the 1st looky-loo trip. 

Oh my goodness. I had an Andi night off and caught a film noir film festival and checked my emails.  WOW! 

I LOVE reading you guys's input! 

Jane - Wheel Estate?  That's classic!  You guys are very thorough.  Don't mess with Texas Florida!

J. Phillip - that's a lot of foot traffic that could possbily be made up of random  strangers coming into private homes without any paper trail.  I think that is scary.

Ryan - sellers turning into buyers is ideal.  True about the sending listings but if its automatic at least it keeps your face in front of them for when they are ready to buy. :)

Carla - you told me way back then to go public...THANKS TWICE!

Vanessa - thanks!  It gets such a strong reaction that it has to be true!

Cameron!  I believe you!  Also, meeting them at the office is a safety measure that we sometimes forget to practice.

Cynthia - the local challenge wiped me out!  I do have bits and pieces of a hyper local blog put together.  I need to post it while I still have my hyper local mojo! 

Linda - I never even thought about it, but so true about being the rainy day entertainment.  How terribly selfish.

Cheryl - I now get a pre-approval.  This blog was prompted by someone getting P.O'd at me for wanting a pre-approval before taking them out.  I don't mind them going somewhere else, especially since it was a "Doth one protest too much?" type of vibe.

Chris - True...if their relationship is that fragile it probably will end up a nightmare anyway. 

Anna - thank you!  *shines gold star*

Jerry - The write-off - I bet that's it!

Eric - your welcome!  Thank YOU for stopping by!

Michael - admittedly I haven't pushed the Buyer's agreement.  I haven't really had to because of asking for the pre-approval. 

Ha Mary Ann!  I'm sure that happens too! 

Tom - modest first tour?  Is that the backyard and garage only and then you graduate to home showing with pre-approval?  :)

Bill - I think we all have until that first burn.

Sanna - Let's take your car is great!  Here in Los Angeles, EVERYTHING is spread out.  So that request would be ideal.  No pre-approval you drive.  Pre-appproval I drive.

John - I agree.  I think pre-approval should be in all private remarks.  "Unless open house, home to only be shown to pre-qualified buyers. No exceptions!" 

Lori - I pray that it is the latter and that you will have a successful outing!

Eileen - absolutely!

Joan - I like that idea! 

Ryan - yeah, but it happens mostly to newbies.  The more seasoned agents usually know better...usually.

This kind of thing happens all the time here being a coastal beach town...And it always seems to happen on Holiday weekends:) 

Andi:

This is probably something that happens more in tourist destinations but we can all potentially have our time wasted if we don't qualify buyers. They must have a valid pre-approval and sign my contract before we do any "touring."

Andi, would a buyer broker agreement with a retainer solve the problem? Maybe! Good post!

Here is a tip I learned years ago, do not work with anyone staying in a B&B without a signed Buyer Agent Agreement & prepaid retainer fee. They are too comfortable there with getting breakfast in bed, they are really pampered. Of Course they will call a wonderful Realtor who will drive them out into the country. Usually in autumn to see all the fall colors and look at land. They never buy, been there and done that years ago more than once...so no more.

Morning Andi,  True or not it happens all the time doesn't it ?  So many agents are desperate for a sale and consider driving unqualified buyers around all day a productive use of time !

Andi.......your post brought back the following......

I remember the time when I used to show Stephanie Powers and William Holden's Palm Springs home. He had a secret room put in, she had a wardrobe closet as long as a bowling alley and they had a room that was decorated in ancient Voodoo/African style that scared you silly. Just for fun, a lot of agents were showing the home to their clients which was on level with touring the Hearst Castle. Always got a lunch out of it. Thank you

I don't have this happen with traditional buyers. 

My pet peeve is the self-proclaimed investors, who want to see hundreds of homes from one side of town to the other.  Great.  Happy to do it.  My retainer fee for an investor is $500.  It will be credited back to you at closing.

I don't wanna be a tour guide!!

Andi,

Very interesting, I really like Jenna Dixon's suggestion.  It is a great way to prequalify the lookiloos.

Ugh, don't even get me started on this one.  I actually just tweaked my Buyer Questionnaire form that I use during my initial consultation.  I added the question, "If we find the house that meets your criteria today, will you make an offer?"  Why not ask.  No more tap-dancing.  This is serious business, and our sellers are counting on us to bring them qualified buyers when we walk through the doors of their homes.

It does sometimes feel like "the tour guide job"  oh welll.....

Patricia

Andi - WOW Andi!  Look at all of these comments!  You'll get some Google juice for sure!  Good thing I'm not an agent.  Someone did that to me they'd be partying with Jimmy Hoffa! 

Well, there is a difference between you folks in "destination" locations and those of us who just sell regular houses in regular markets. My spiel would be more along the lines of pointing out the NEW high school and the NEW Costco, along with the place where we feed ducks along the river. This weekend I have a great transferee buyer and I'm making a list of out sights right now! I wonder if I should include the new Sonic drive through?

Hi Andi ~ I just noticed your "logo" on the bus. Excellent! Too funny.

Liz

My absloute favorite is when grandparents come to town to visit saying they want to move to be closer to the grandkids. You're courteous looking at all their photos of the adorable little ones. After a few days these adorable little angels have turned into regular, rowdy, into everything kids and it's time for Grandma and Grandpa to go home for some peace and quiet.

And sometimes the locals use you for cheap entertainment too!!!