Comments on: “You Hate Me, Don’t You?”

By: Jenea

Jenea — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:26:27 +0000

This thread is more than a year old, but I wanted to add my voice anyway. A few months back my husband and I bought our first home, using Redfin as our buyer’s agent. We deposited our refund check without guilt, as we did a hell of a lot of our own legwork, work that would normally have been done by a full-service agent. In other words, the sellers got their money’s worth.

All that being said, I would agree with the rest of the posters here. You would have been well within your rights to tell that guy where to stuff it. “You hate me, don’t you” indeed!

My husband and I never imposed upon a seller’s agent to open a home for us. We went to open houses and took advantage of Redfin’s field agents instead. If we had found ourselves requiring a seller’s agent to help us out by opening a home, we would have been more than willing to compensate said agent.

Times they are a changin’, and the real estate market is long overdue for a shakeup. Just because some Redfin buyers are jerks doesn’t mean we should throw out the baby with the bathwater.

By: RayNLA

RayNLA — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 01:45:30 +0000

PJ… How do you know about Housing Panic?

By: Kris Berg

Kris Berg — Tue, 29 May 2007 14:56:34 +0000

Thanks for the public service announcement. Now back to our scheduled programming.

Sven, I do not yet see Redfin as “so successful”. They are doing almost zero business in San Diego County. I have had just one call since their coming out party where the buyer has mentioned Redfin, and it was in the context of using their site to search for properties. He admitted that he had a Buyer-Broker Agreement with a traditional agent. Time will tell.

By: Sven

Sven — Tue, 29 May 2007 06:48:31 +0000

Redfin has been expanding very quickly. As have the other discount brokers (Buyside Realty, ZipRealty). Even in a deflating market, they have expanded into new regions. The mere fact that they are so successful tells you that people ARE buying and/or selling many homes through these services.

With the exception of actually showing the property itself, these services handle everything else. Seems like a good compromise would be to just schedule the visits when you would be in the area anyway. You can simply explain that by using a discount broker that they have to see it when it’s convenient for you to show it. Obviously, this would have to be on a reasonably near term timeline, and I doubt the seller would really fault you for asking to show it the next day.

BTW, you should check out some of the new features Redfin is offering. They definitely beat realtor.com in the detail offered on their site for property searches. I can see why they are so popular. I didn’t know about the $125 showing fee, but that really makes a lot of sense. If I was seriously looking at places to purchase, having to pay a small fee to see them would be completely resonable in my opinion. Especially if I was getting 75% of the buyer commission back to cover that expense and more.

By: Another Interesting Blog Post « The Best Real Estate Anywhere!

Another Interesting Blog Post « The Best Real Estate Anywhere! — Wed, 23 May 2007 05:52:38 +0000

[...] that in mind I point interested parties to a blog post by Kris Berg, an accomplished California [...]

By: Posts You May Have Missed & Staying Under The Radar | BloodhoundBlog: National real estate marketing and technology weblog | There's always something to howl about...

Mon, 21 May 2007 17:22:56 +0000

[...] though it was last week, I fear too many readers missed Kris Berg’s post “You hate me, don’t you?”. It’s the perfect illustration of the old saying, “You can’t make this #%$& [...]

By: Kris Berg

Kris Berg — Mon, 21 May 2007 02:53:26 +0000

The out-of-area broker you speak of, Dave, continues to be an issue here as well. Probably another post for another time, but there is a similarity in that it results in a shifting of duties.

I think I am getting the loud and clear message that it may be time to draw the line. I kind of knew it all along, but needed to be sure. Thanks for the comments!

By: Dave Lopez

Dave Lopez — Sun, 20 May 2007 20:32:37 +0000

I use to do that but no more. Why? After many cancellations of my appointments: the no shows, no offers, false information, no return calls, not to smention how my family time was cut short, I said no more.
The truth of the matter is: If a buyer really wants to see it and wants it, they will do what is necessary including sending a family member, come at lunch or very early in the morning.
There’s some truth also to the “bird in a hand” saying. Yes, we want the best offer for our sellers but if I had a nickle for every offer that was coming in… Waiting sometimes back fires on the first offer and your client looks at you with “where is the other offer and now waiting has weaken my position” I now go with what we have on the table; you can always do back-ups or other strategies.
I agree with the other comment on the fiduciary issue. I find that the buyer always starts asking qouestions and it’s best not to even show the buyer the property. I always suggest to the buyers that if their agent is unavaiable to call s/he to have another agent or office manager show them the property. They choosed the agent and firm and it is the other side who must set the expectations and if they don’t, well there is nothing I can do as my relationship lies firstmost with the seller. That is just my business practice.
Regarding “you hate me” No, I don’t hate, I don’t even know you. You have a fiduciary relationship with your agent and I would suggest you two work out how to best see the property as that is one of his/her responsibities in representing you.
This really applies as well to agent who do not belong to our MLS and come in from other counties and want the local agents to “open the homes” cuz their buyers really want to buy it. I already have bought one bridge and swamp and I don’t need another one!

By: Kris Berg

Kris Berg — Sat, 19 May 2007 21:31:22 +0000

Lisa – Thanks for your generous offer. (What a kiss-up). And, you are right. Next time will be different!

By: Lisa Yates

Lisa Yates — Sat, 19 May 2007 17:13:59 +0000

Kris you made the right decision. It would have weighed on your conscious had you not made the attempt. Having the opportunity now to think it over with more clarity, and of course the time to absorb the wonderful opinions expressed here, I have a feeling next time the scenario may play out a bit differently- without the fear of compromising your fiduciary duty to your client.

P.S. Stop worrying about bugging your buyer’s agents. I will gladly assume the role of resident “Pop Tart” so your children get a decent meal.