What Can Your Agent Do ?

Too often for both buyers and sellers the question "Why can't you take care of that, you are my agent!" Comes up during a conversation.  As your agent we do work for you, you in all reality are our boss and there are many aspects to our job that give us a large amount of control, but at the very same time their are parts that we do not have any control over.

Why Can't You Put More Information On The Listing ! 

• This is the toughest question to answer, because we are not only limited on the amount of room that is given on the description of your home but also what we can or can not say.  The Multiple Listing Service of Long Island has a very strict policy on what can and what can not be said.  Even a simple infraction can cost upwards of $250 for your Realtor.  Things like "Fantastic Schools" or "Up and Coming Area" are not acceptable on a listing so when reviewing your listing. 

• Affiliated sites like Trulia, Zillow, Yahoo Homes and many others pull their information directly from the MLS site, we do have control over whose information is listed for potential buyers to contact but we are not able to require specific information from a buyer who is placing the request.  These websites decide themselves on what is required from the buyer - some only require a name and phone number where others will require name, phone number, and email.  Coldwell Banker Residential does have a specific team for all inquiries placed through our direct site, these buyers are called immediately to get all the information for the agent.  

Why Didn't The Agent Know ! 

• This is a question that is not just frustrating for a homeowner, but for agents as well.  We do not have control over the knowledge of other Realtors, or even the way in which they show a home.  That being said that Realtor may not have control over a buyer insisting on seeing a property even if the Realtor knows it's not the right fit.  That saying you can lead the horse to water but you can't make him drink is the best fitting for this situation.

• We can speak to another agent about the great energy efficiency of a home, the recent upgrades, even simple aspects like the kind of sale the home is but we can not force them to relay this information to the buyers.  This is why many agents myself included prefer be there for all showings of our listings, unfortunately even than sometimes a lack of communication between buyer and agent can lead to a frustrating situation.  Try to give your Realtor a break, if they are attending showings they are trying to be as proactive as they possibly can be to make sure all showings of your home go well. 

Tell The Buyers/Attorney/Bank/Town To Hurry Up ! 

• Your agent will become the liaison between all parties during your transaction, communicating between all parties is actually the reason buyers and sellers opt to use an agent rather than trying to do it on their own.  It is important to realize and understand that sometimes even your agents hands are tied.  

• We can recommend to you our thoughts on a buyers offer but we can not negotiate offers or terms without you telling us to.  That is as much input we are legally allowed to is advise you on a situation, leaving the decision ultimately up to you.  Things like "low ball offers" must be given to you, even when we may clearly know that you will not counter or entertain - this can be frustrating for a homeowner but if you receive more than 2 or 3 of these offers you should take another look at your market to be sure your home is in fact priced correctly. 

• When reviewing contracts your agent needs to be very clear and specific on relaying the terms that were agreed upon to be sure they go into that contract.  The amount of time till commitment is required, closing date, concessions, permit & co information, and repairs are all important bases that are referenced in this contract.  Once you are in contract all of those items will no longer be able to be controlled by your agent once the terms have been set in place changing them is often not possible.  

• Let's look at an example of these, starting with bank commitment and appraisal.  We can not force updates on status commitment from the bank, not because of the buyer but because privacy laws will not allow even a status to be given to someone who is not the buyer.  Appraisals are actually done by 3rd party appraisers hired by the bank, the appraisal can only be ordered according to the process that the bank has in place not sooner or later.  The agent is also not in control of what comparable homes that are used, we will always offer them to the appraiser but we can not force them to use them -the agent unfortunately is not entitled to see the completed appraisal until the bank has received it. We also can not ask appraisers to leave items out of this report, every part of your home will be documented by the appraiser whether they are legal or not the appraiser also does not have a choice that is why they began using 3rd party appraisers to have a neutral party. 

These are just some of the common items that come up, the best way to handle these things is by asking your Realtor the open question of "Why can't you".  Many times it is not that the Realtor does not want to take action and remedy the issue it is many times out of our control.