Agent Concerns

[casper222]

My husband and I have been working with an agent since January trying to buy our first home. The realtor we choose has decided to leave the real estate business and advised that we find a different realtor, we did not sign a contract with her. We found a new realtor who has only shown us one house, I am not very happy with her. She is very hard to get a hold of and always seems to busy to show us any houses. My husband and I found a house on realtor.com and we are interested in seeing it as soon as it is available. We had told this agent this several times, but we always spoke to her voice mail. After getting discouraged my husband decided to call the agent selling the house to get more information and possibly set up an appointment. He was more than willing to help us and set up an appointment for us right away. After we spoke to him the other realtor called and left a message stating that she had set up an appointment for us to see the same house, but later in the day. I am not anxious to continue to work with this agent because it is very stressful not being able to contact her when we need information. Can I cancel this appointment with her and explain that we have found a different realtor that suits our needs better, or will this cause me legal problems. We have not signed any paperwork with any realtor, because we have not found one yet that we are happy with. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Albuquerque, NM Realtor]

Casper, if you aren't happy with the agent's performance and you don't have a signed agreement with her, you aren't obligated to use her services, especially if she hasn't invested much time in your home search.

Just cancel the appointment with her for this afternoon and tell her you no longer want her help.

You deserve your new homebuying experience to be fun and exciting.

Maybe you can find an agent who is attentive to your needs and who also specializes in first time homebuyers. Perhaps you can call the broker of a nearby real estate office and ask him for the name of one of his best agents.

Good luck!

[ResaleBroker]

Can I cancel this appointment with her and explain that we have found a different realtor that suits our needs better, or will this cause me legal problems.

Based on the information you've posted I don't see anything wrong with cancelling your appointment and letting the agent know that you won't be needing her services.

[pcdoc]

In short, no signatures, no contractual commitment.

[judyo]

I never suggest seeing a home with the listing agent as they cannot give you full representation. Sounds like this would be a dual agency relationship if you liked this particular home. If you wrote up a contract you need to understand that this agent (the listing agent) will not truly be working for you.

[AaronSOLD]

I never suggest seeing a home with the listing agent as they cannot give you full representation. Sounds like this would be a dual agency relationship if you liked this particular home. If you wrote up a contract you need to understand that this agent (the listing agent) will not truly be working for you.

In most states, the agent should provide you with a disclosure on your state's agency laws at the first meeting that you discuss price, terms, or motivation. In some states a listing agent can only represent the seller, in some they can represent the seller and buyer, but in that position they usually cannot provide opinion that is detrimental to the other party (i.e. price opinion, terms, etc.)

[Remaxman]

I never suggest seeing a home with the listing agent as they cannot give you full representation. Sounds like this would be a dual agency relationship if you liked this particular home. If you wrote up a contract you need to understand that this agent (the listing agent) will not truly be working for you.

How soooo not true. Dual Agency is fine and as long as you understand it there is no problem. It all comes down to this, The dual agent cant tell you the buyer the seller will drop down to XXXXX amount, and on the flip side the agent can not tell the seller that you the buyer are willing to go to XXXX amount.

BUT the agent can show you a CMA on the property to give you an idea of what type of offer you should make. He should not be helping you with pricing specifically, but can give you all the information and tool for you to make an educated decision.

Dont believe all the hype about how bad dual agency is, its bad if someone doesnt know how to act under the term. And no, the consumer does NOT get screwed. As a matter of fact if something comes up you have a better chance of the agent taking a hit (money wise) if its dual agency the if its a cross sale.

Keep in mind the code of ethic and laws require BOTH parties to be treated fairly and honestly.

[AaronSOLD]

I agree with Remaxman. There is also a lot more effective control over the transaction since there is one point of contact.

[judyo]

What I was trying to imply is that this buyer would not get exclusive buyer representation, if that is important to him. Dual agency is legal in my state (IL) & I do practice it. I explain everything fully to my clients. However, I feel every buyer is entitled to full buyer representation if they know what that entails & if they feel that is what they want.

Do I enjoy being a dual agent? No. My last dual agency deal resulted in an extremely pushy buyer making me have to go back & forth making demands to the seller. Of course, I explained everything to the seller & was lucky that they complied. This was due to a bad inspector saying things he shouldn't have & causing the seller to pay extra money to get a certification that should not have been expected - even the guy who did the certification asked, "What's wrong with this inspector?"

I had to "soothe" two parties who were bad mouthing each other. Buyer felt the seller, who is a contractor & did much of his own work, didn't know what he was doing & did shoddy work. The seller is questioning the entire inspection & felt like he was really getting screwed over. Neither one blamed me but I still didn't feel good about that deal. A bad deal is never good but when you're in the middle of it it's that much worse.

Maybe it's just me, but I personally prefer representing one party to a deal rather than being a dual agent.

[u2man]

Plain and simple use a buyers agent!! Preferably somebody who knows how to answer their phone. Never ever ever have a listing agent show you a home.