Buyers and real estate agents have a unique relationship between themselves. The real estate agent knows how or what he or she can offer to the buyer so that buyer gets the most out of a property deal. But buyers often make some mistakes which really offend the real estate agents and spoil the deal. As a result, the frustrated real estate agent loses interest on that deal.
As a new home buyer, you can easily avoid these situations. You just need to know what are those mistakes and how would you handle them efficiently. As long as you know about the buying process and your limitations as a buyer, you can easily keep yourself away from those mistakes. So, let’s look over few the mistakes buyers often do that always piss off the real estate agent.
1. Asking for properties without getting pre-approved
Real estate agents normally don’t like to waste a good opportunity whenever they find one. They are busy people and always looking for a good deal that can benefit both of you. So, it may take a lot of phone calls and a lot of traveling to find a suitable house for you. Practically, they’ll also need to know that you are also serious about getting the house or not. If you are not pre-approved for a home loan, you can’t provide a handsome incentive to your real estate agent, after he or she shows you the property. It may take several hours to several days to check a house completely, and agents will do that for you. But, it would be worthless for an agent if he or she picks up those houses that you are not qualified for.
2. Calling the listing agents
As a buyer, you have right reasons to hire a buyer’s agent. He or she intends to help you and ease up your home buying process by using his or her skills and expertise. So, you must use his or her skills with total faith in him or her. If you don’t trust your current agent, then you must choose any other real estate agent. Ask your real estate agent to find new properties for you, don’t forget to inform him or her the criteria. But for god's sake, don’t call up listing agents to search a property for you. By doing this you’ll actually disrespect your agent totally, and he or she will not co-operate with you at all regarding your property dealings.
3. Asking the listing agent to search a home
Use your buyer’s agent to find new properties for you. Don’t ask for the listing agent’s help if your real estate agent isn’t there. The listing agent won’t do it. If your buyer's agent is not giving you proper attention, then change your agent. If he or she is not able to communicate with you as per your schedule, then you might need another expert agent who can give you proper guidance along with sufficient time. If your agent can’t meet you at the weekend for visiting a home, whatever the reason is - ask the local real estate agency or company to find you another professional agent as soon as possible.
So, don’t ask to see a house if you are not even pre-approved for a loan. You must be aware of the difference between a mortgage pre-qualification and mortgage pre-approval. These are totally two different things.
4. Not doing any research
If you are buying a house, you must have a common idea of where you actually want to live. Telling your real estate agent to show you a list of houses in a city where you really don’t want to live in is nothing but a nonsense. So, make your own research on the town, locality and nearest communities where you really consider having a home. After that, ask your agent to pick as per your preference.
5. Calling the agent suddenly
If you are dealing with the expert agents, you must remember few things about them. Real estate agents are busy people, and they handle several clients at a time. They also have lives and family just like us. So, don’t expect an agent will reach every time you want to visit a house. Treat your agent well and professionally. Inform the agent 1 or 2 days before you’ll possibly be visiting the respective house. Hear him out if he has any other pre-scheduled meeting or not.
6. Looking but hesitating to make an offer
If you are asking the real estate agent to visit the same house again and again, make sure you must ask the agent to prepare an offer for you. Do not hesitate to make the offer. If you don’t make an offer in time, the agent will face difficulties while negotiation.
7. Making excessively low offers
Before you make an offer, your agent will calculate an amount as per the current scenarios visible in the home. He or she will compare by checking recent sales, the sale amount of other local houses. He or she will inform you about the actual value of the property you’re going to buy. It's quite natural that you’ll try to save a good amount by quoting a low offer. But, too much low offers are both insulting and a waste of time. By doing this, you’ll definitely piss off the seller and your agent also. So, there's a fine line which you mustn’t cross.
8. Working with multiple buyers’ agents
You must not work with multiple real estate agents at the same time. You might be thinking that it’s very helpful to you, and you can get several offers at a time from those agents. But, it isn’t fair to the both parties who are involved in those deals. It may happen that two or three agents may look over for a single property which you like, and none of them can finalize the deal. It's because they'll make the seller and their agent super confused. So, I would rather advise you to drop this idea unless you are planning to buy property in different areas of a city.
9. Buying a home with others at an open house
Real estate agents help you to find a suitable home in return for a handsome amount as commission. It's known to all that without commencing the sale, they won’t get a single penny. So, if you initially work with a buyer’s agent and all of a sudden purchased a property through an open house event with the help of another person, may be a listing agent, do you think it’s fair? This is too embarrassing for the agent and unethical from your end. Your agent probably showed you several houses by wasting his time including weekends and nights just to earn a good amount for his family. This is how you want to repay him? Absolutely not. This probably tops the charts of things buyers do that real estate agent hate.