4 Habits to avoid when working with a Real Estate Agent
Annoying your real estate agent will work against you, whether you’re doing in consciously or unconsciously. If you want to avoid making your real estate agent feel like taking you on as a client was a poor choice, you must consciously avoid engaging in the following habits.
1. You have no clue what you want
Coming to a real estate agent without knowing what you want in a home is like going to the chef and saying you’re hungry but have no desire for anything in particular. Neither scenario ever ends well for anyone involved. A real estate agent wants you to have at least a general idea of what you want before you go hunting for homes. That way they can help you find homes that fit your criteria. Until you know what you’re looking for in a home (and also how much home you can afford), hold off on seeking a real estate agent to help you buy one.
2. You constantly change your mind
Do not be fickle with a real estate agent unless you have a desire to watch them try and pull their own hair out. Once you know what you’re looking for in a home, try and stick to it for the rest of the hunt. If some dire circumstance in your life forces you to have to make changes to what you’re looking for then that’s all fine and well due to being justifiable. But constantly changing your mind about paint colors, layout, number of rooms and other variables will increasingly annoy your real estate agent. Think long and hard about what you’re looking for in a home and then cling to that ideal as long as you can.
3. You ask for numerous showings but never make an offer
Here’s a good way to annoy your real estate agent and a seller. Now, it is a common and accepted practice for a buyer to ask for multiple showings of a particular home if they are serious about making an offer. However, if you ask for multiple showings and never once mention money then you come off as being a time waster. To avoid being labeled as such, make a decision after the first showing as to whether or not you are going to seriously pursue the home in question. If not, then you should politely ask your real estate agent to show you the next one on the list.
4. Lowball, corner pocket
Should you begin negotiating a price with a seller, you can end the negotiation fairly quickly and raise your real estate agent’s blood pressure in one go by making an absurdly lowball offer. Yes, it is common for the buyer and seller to haggle over the selling price of the home. You may wind up paying a little more than you wanted, they might be selling it for less than they wanted, but at the end of the day everyone winds up happy. However, it is considered bad form to make an offer of or lower than a quarter of the asking price. This does tie into you being labeled a time waster again and your real estate agent will continually fight the urge to throttle you. Conduct research about negotiating prices before you start making offers. The seller and the real estate agent will be all the more impressed with you if you do.
Now that you know how you can effectively annoy your real estate agent, do them, the seller and yourself a favor and refrain from doing so. Buying a home is difficult enough as it is without causing unneeded stress on your strongest ally. Remember, it pays to know what you’re looking for and what you can offer before you head into the housing market so do your research beforehand. While that may seem like an annoyance to you, consider how much less of an annoyance you’ll seem to your real estate agent.
Kelly Hodgkins | Mortgage Loan Officer | NMLS # 466504
TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank
ME2-076-021 | One Portland Square, Portland, ME 04101
T: 207 761-8523 | C: 207 450-3895 | F: 207 828-7521
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