10 Ways Your Real Estate Agent Can Kill a Deal

Recently, I had a buyer reach out to me and share with me that he had made several calls to Realtors, asking them if they would help him buy a home. Most didn't return his calls. Why? I can't respond for these Realtors but the buyer was serious and not too many took this buyer serious. That's a first clue. They don't respond.

My top ten list:

1. They may not have the experience or training to handle the transaction;

2. They bring in an offer that is offensive to the seller and may not have told their buyer that it is possible that the seller won't even look at the contract;

3. The Selling Realtor doesn't explain the contract or the process to the buyer and hence, the buyer is confused;

4. The Realtor may not have gotten the buyer pre-approved with a lender, with all the documentation into the lender and hence, it is only a pre-qualification letter and most listing agents, like myself, will put the offer on hold until there is a qualified pre-approval letter;

5. The Selling Realtor has the client drop off the earnest money, the revised contract to the listing agent (hence, creating a risk for problems down the road as the buyer may asks questions of the listing agent) when the Selling Agent should be involved with the contract and running the errands for her/his client;

6. The Selling Agent doesn't explain or have control over her buyer and hence the buyer is reaching out to everybody for answers because their may not be a trust factor with the Selling Realtor;

7. The Selling Agent doesn't understand or know how to respond to the issues at hand and tells the Listing Agent information that she doesn't want to hear;

8. The Selling Agent faxes information that the Listing Agent shouldn't see and it puts a "red flag up" for the Listing Agent right away;

9. The Agent doesn't understand the marketplace; financing issues; the Federal Guidelines and Underwriting Guidelines that could possibly hinge on mortgage fraud; and

10. The Selling Agent doesn't convey the information but uses his/her own interpretation to the parties involved and hence; a delay and possible cancellation of a contract because the Seller, the Buyer or the Bank didn't understand.

Just because a real estate agent responds to you, whether buying or selling, don't make assumptions that they qualify. Have a list of questions to ask them and qualify them. A Realtor has fudiciary responsibilities to you, their client.

So when you are in the real estate market again, interview the Realtor and find out about their experience, knowledge base and ability to negotiate. How they respond to you with their answers and the ease at which the information flows from their mouth, will tell you if that is the Realtor for you but also know that while you are interviewing them, any good Realtor will be qualifying you as well.

Until Next Time,