Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to AllView360 all things real Estate Podcast. With your hosts Daniel Gutierrez and Shannon Dempsey, we explore real estate from every angle, giving you insights, tools and confidence to make smart decisions that support your future. It's time for a new perspective on property. Welcome to AllView360.
Hello, Daniel.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Good afternoon.
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Good afternoon. Beautiful Friday.
Are you excited to pod?
[00:00:25] Speaker B: Excited to pod. Busy day, but this is, is the highlight of my day.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: Ooh, that's a sad day.
Just kidding. I love that.
Okay, today we are going to talk about buyer's agents, but more from the perspective of what we would be asking if we were buyers and looking what we'd be looking for in our buyer's agent, which I think is really important.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: So a little how to guide for all the buyers out there in regards to how to prepare and what to ask your potential buyer's agent to make sure you're setting yourself for success on the home buying process.
[00:01:03] Speaker A: Yes. And this is, I think now more important than ever. Now that the BRBC is in place and the whole buyer's agent contract is really utilized, it has to be used now, whereas before it was just an option and a lot of people didn't use it. But if I'm bringing it back down to the basics over the last. When did that change? Beginning of last year.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Beginning of last year. And two things I should have also prefaced that this is also commercial as well, applies for both. And the BRBC is with the Buyer Broker Agreement, and that is the new agreement that's required because of the NAR settlement and now actually a California law, both in commercial and residential, that all agents sign this buyer broker agreement with their clients before really starting to help them do much of anything. And it's in the interest of disclosure, transparency and making sure that the buyers are fully informed in regards to what's going on, compensation expectations and just best practice, clarity and transparency, which I love.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: We love transparency. And this, I mean this practice, some agents had already worked it into their normal business practice for years, but now it's required. You have to have a B, R, B, C to be showing a buyer property, which means for buyers you are signing an agreement with the person that's showing you property that's working for you as a buyer's agent from the get go, agreeing to their compensation, agreeing to essentially working with them for a certain amount of time, which is new buyers did not have to be in a contract before. So now I think more than ever it is important to vet, interview, understand your buyer's agent because you're hiring them and you're in a contract with them. And so when we were looking up the stats of what this actually looks like, they're kind of surprising to me, at least. So the first NARA stat that we looked at was 88% of home buyers used a real estate agent to purchase their home. So that's a combination of they had their own representation or they had the listing agent representing them as well, but a version of an agent looking out for them, representing them to purchase the home. So then you said, well, what's the other 12%? So then we looked that up. What's the other 12%? 5% was new construction. So they're purchasing directly from a builder, they're dealing with the new construction agent.
Not as much negotiating with that 5% bought from somebody they already knew. So family member, landlord, if they had been renting it, something along those lines, just a paperwork thing. 2% represented themselves.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: So truly it's 2%.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: 2% purchased homes without proper representation or their own representation. Is that lower or higher than you would have guessed?
[00:03:47] Speaker B: Well, Even though that 2%, I would like to break it down. Like, for instance, I have a lot of attorney friends who will represent themselves in a transaction without an agent because they know the law and feel comfortable doing it themselves. I think I've only known less than a handful of people who were not attorneys or real estate professionals who represented themselves in a transaction. And things didn't go that well.
And I think one of the guys who did it, his response was, I have. What do you say? I think the commission would have been like, somewhere around like $35,000 because, well, I have $35,000 worth of mistakes I can make before I end up losing money.
[00:04:27] Speaker A: I've never known anyone personally that has completed a transaction or an escrow with a hundred percent representing themselves. But I have had on listings, buyers come unrepresented. And every time I just kind of go over the, the pros and cons with the seller. And a hundred percent of the time the sellers have chosen to not work with a buyer that is not represented in some capacity, which I think is a wise decision. I would do the same thing.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I know on the sales side, when buyers come in, they say they want to represent themselves. They don't want any representation. You know, you're just going to have to walk them through everything, hold their hand and pretty much do everything anyway, which is a whole different set of issues and liabilities.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: And yeah, I wouldn't if, if I'm not representing them, then yeah, that's a whole can of worms that I would never want to open up.
[00:05:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: But the assumption, I think is that they will have a version of it. Actually, I don't even know what the assumption is because I've never.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: I mean, the assumption is, is real estate, it's not that hard.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: That is the assumption. Don't trigger me.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: You're so triggered.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: So triggered. Well, so many things pop up all the time. And I tell the agents, real estate, like that's the reason we exist is because there's problems with every transaction. If it was easy, then we wouldn't need to be around. But it's not.
[00:05:41] Speaker B: Well, if it was easy, I think computers could do it. But transactions are such an emotional process that, yeah, agents are needed.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: Super fun.
Okay. I added a couple other kind of fun facts. So 70, 76% of first time home buyers said their agent helped them understand the buying process. So now we're dealing with the 100% that had representation. Only 76% said they actually helped them with the process. I don't like that or help them understand it.
[00:06:09] Speaker B: So 26% saying their agents did not
[00:06:11] Speaker A: help, 24% did not help them understand the process. Ew. More than half of the buyers said their agents helped them identify problems and features that they didn't know or see on their own. Okay. I feel like that should be higher too. And then here, okay, here's what surprised me. Cause I thought that this would be a higher percentage.
74% of buyers only interviewed one agent. Wouldn't you expect that to be higher?
[00:06:36] Speaker B: Well, no, I don't think so. So on the buy side, they probably are thinking it's. Well, it's probably less comp. They're thinking it's less complicated, less risk than on the sell side. And on the buy side, it's how you know, you have your friends who are real estate agents, you know someone, and generally even on the sell side. Right. The majority of listings come from referrals. So someone's going to say, hey, I, you know, use my real estate agent, they're great. Or call their parents, their friends, their best friends, their neighbors, whatever, and they'll get that referral and then go about it that way. That, that's not as surprising to me.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: But 74% only interviewed 1, 16% interviewed 2. And this is first time home buyers. Seven interviewed 3 and 3% interviewed 4 or more.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: That's a lot.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: I know. But I. So for the, for those of you out there interviewing 6, 7 agents only 3% of the people are doing that. I. To me, I would interview at least two.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: And then repeat buyers, it goes up. 76% of repeat buyers only interviewed one. And that makes more sense because they probably have an established relationship. Probably wasn't an interview. They already know what they want. So would you. How would you interview a buyer's agent? I have 10 questions with some nuances in between. What? You always add nuances.
Why should I hire a buyer's agent instead of just calling the listing agent?
[00:08:01] Speaker B: We discussed this on a previous podcast. I think you absolutely need to hire a buyer's agent to represent you, to help you, and to be there for you. Going to the seller's agent can be helpful under the right circumstances, but there is an inherent conflict of interest there. It's difficult line to walk, but some walk it better than others. At the end of the day, you need proper representation. You need someone looking out for you. And in. Unless you're a very sophisticated and experienced buyer, you're much better off with your own agent. I've had times where I listed a property and the buyers come directly to me and they've done 20 deals on their own. They already have an entire crew. They have their attorneys. That's less important. But unless you're at that level, you need proper representation. You need to make sure you have a skilled, experienced, knowledgeable agent representing you so you have help making one of the biggest financial decisions of your life.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Agreed. And you're right. In that scenario, when it's a really savvy buyer, they've purchased a lot of properties, maybe it does make sense in that situation that they don't necessarily need advice or someone looking out for their best interest because they know how to do it on their own, but they do need, you know, need someone to complete the paperwork, walk through the transaction, make sure everything's compliant. In that case, I think it's really comfortable. Other than that, you want someone looking out for your best interest. Period.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Also, too, on the.
From the seller's perspective, kind of what we were talking about earlier, if you walk in and you're trying to represent yourself, you're not going to be taken seriously.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: No. Under a lot of circumstances, when that scenario presents itself on the listing side, oftentimes this. I'll explain the ins and outs, and we've talked about this in another podcast, but this is what it looks like if I represent both sides, because immediately it's, it's. I'm going to save on money and commission. You Know, they're, they're looking at the commission cost, not the net proceeds or how this transaction actually goes. And sometimes sellers will say, no, I don't want that happening. So the buyer is walking in, just assuming that the listing agent's going to jump at the chance to represent them. And that's not always the case.
Oftentimes it's no, I'm, I'm not actually authorized to do that. And now you're scrambling if it's a competitive situation to find someone that will represent you. And then on the flip side, if there's other offers on the table and there's a solid buyer with an agent that's been working with them that can communicate their strength and knows them well, they're going to stand out as the buyer. And you're probably going to risk not getting your offer accepted.
[00:10:30] Speaker B: Well, a good buyer's agent is also going to prepare the buyers to move quickly in the correct manner. So having their pre qualification, their authorizations, all of their documents, their banking information, you know, the, that nice letter written from the family of why they need to be in this neighborhood and having all of that ready to go when
[00:10:51] Speaker A: they're submitting if the seller's reading them.
[00:10:54] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
[00:10:55] Speaker A: I say get a buyer's agent and don't make your plan B. I'm just going to go find the listing agent and figure it out. It's probably going to backfire on you more than it's going to work in your favor, and you just don't realize that.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: But there are certainly the times where it does work in the buyer's favor.
Not always, but there is. And then there's some questionable issues thereafter with how it all went down.
[00:11:19] Speaker A: Yep. Always usually a problem. I know agents that just refuse to do it, Period. I will not double end a deal.
[00:11:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Okay. How many buyers have you helped recently?
So that important word in that question is recently.
You can have had Your license for 30 years if you haven't represented a buyer in the last five, how are you going to know as an agent what is happening in the current market for buyers? If you're in a competitive market, how is that agent going to know what needs to happen to get their buyer's offer accepted? If you're in a buyer's market, how. How is that agent going to know to negotiate and what can be negotiated, you know, in the best benefit of the buyer recently is the important part there that I'd be asking. I would take a 3. An agent that's been in the business 3 year and has helped 10 buyers over someone that's been in it 30 years but hasn't been practicing, you know, for the last decade. And I see that happen a lot. Usually it's someone that has twilight phased out of real estate or isn't currently pursuing the business, but then a family member wants to buy and there are hiccups. The forms change. I feel like the forms change monthly, but the forms change often the house has changed. Like it has to be someone that's done work recently or is working under someone that is very active in the current market and has that mentorship and information available to them.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, things as simple as homeowners insurance. Right. We spoke about that previously, knowing, hey, we need to get quotes for this earlier, making sure one you could afford it until you actually able to get insurance. Seeing those potential hurdles with lenders, HOAs, things like that. Someone who's actively helping buyers and have done it, done so recently will know all those things. Someone who hasn't done a deal in 30 years, they're out of the game.
[00:13:07] Speaker A: They're out of the game. They're going to be confused with the solar stuff, or not confused, but not as up to date with it, not as quick. The defensible space stuff there. It's just a constantly evolving industry. So I would focus on someone's recent experience and not assume that they're going to know everything because they've had their license for a long period of time. That being said, a lot of agents have had their license for a long time and are active and know what they're doing. But I would just try to understand and not solely lie on the or rely on the duration that they've had their license. What's their actual current experience?
[00:13:40] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: I would ask how are you going to help me compete in today's market? And that kind of piggybacks on the first question, like, okay, so you have done transactions with recent buyers. How are you going to strategize to help me with what's going on in the current market? And that's right now, it would be a negotiation strategy, right in the, in a hot seller's market, it's a lot on offer strategy. How are you going to help my offer stand out? What are you going to do to help me win now with a buyer's agent because it is a buyer's market, how are you going to negotiate the best possible deal for me with still getting the deal done would be where I think the strong negotiation is and
[00:14:20] Speaker B: strong negotiation isn't necessarily just strong, it's balanced because you can negotiate yourself out of a deal.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And I'm seeing buyers right now and it's. I can usually tell by the agent, but they're thinking they can ask for the world. We've talked about this on other podcasts. You can't. Like, when it comes to repairs, it's. There's still logic behind it. Right. You don't get to ask for all the repairs to be done in an extra 50 grand just because it's a buyer's market and there's agents that are doing that and the deals are falling apart. And you need to understand and be walked through what the actual logical ask is, how far you can push that envelope with what you can get back without the sellers telling you to pound sand. And I see it happen both ways. I get very excited when it's a buyer's agent on the other side that still is acting with reason and you know, their clients understand the logic behind the ask. What about how available are you and who supports you?
[00:15:15] Speaker B: And that's a big one. If you are someone who is going to want to see 20 open houses, wants to go multiple weekends, weekdays that expect expectation needs to be put up front because not every agent has the desire, time or willingness to do that. And you need to find someone who can and will. Like, are you working full time and could only talk between the hours of 9pm and 11pm like, you have to find an agent that fits your needs
[00:15:45] Speaker A: and your style that is available to show you properties and or has a team or structure in place that's going to make sure that you can see the houses you want to see in an appropriate amount of time to be considered if you're interested in it.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: And then good agents, when they have time, go and tour the properties themselves prior to even taking their clients. That's a really good agent.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: It's a simple question, how available are you? And their answer is going to be whatever it is it might be, oh, I have a lot of deals going on or a lot of clients, but I have a buyer's agent or a showing agent.
And that is, I think, wonderful. Right? Because that person has set themselves up to be able to serve their clients at all times on all levels. And if that is the answer, I would then want to understand what does that look like? Because people have a fear of being handed off. I don't want to be handed off to someone else. I'm hiring you.
So what is your structure with your showing agent, with your buyer's agent. How does that look? And how I would want it to look is the person that they're interviewing is leading the negotiations, having the conversations, understanding everything, and the showing agent or buyer's agent is the one that's available to show them the properties to make sure they get into everything they want to see. Where I learned this from my past lead, when we would identify, and I was acting as her showing agent, when we would identify a property that the client wanted to write an offer on, then she would jump in, go see the property herself, and then, you know, kind of take it from there. So I would want to understand, are you. Do you have a buyer's agent? And you're handing me off to the buyer's agent and you're not going to know what's going on the whole time? And now I'm not even talking to or interviewing this person, and now this is what's happening. Or are you still very much involved while creating a scenario where your availability is freed up? You know, where someone can show me the property or however it might look?
[00:17:37] Speaker B: Absolutely. They communicate in a similar fashion. Or even one of the nuances that we've both talked about over the last few years is when the client comes back and says, I only communicate via phone and in person. I want to sign everything in person.
And that's the. Yeah, exactly. Like, okay, let me go buy a fax machine. Yeah, no text, no emails, everything in person.
Which shouldn't be that difficult, but it totally takes you out of your normal groove.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: Well, and that kind of leads into how do you communicate with your clients and other agents? Which also to me seems like a simple question, but is this a scenario if you're someone that wants to be on a group text and constantly texting properties back and forth and talking about it, you know, you have both people purchasing or the individual purchasing in the agent, and you want to constantly be talking about it. Some agents thrive on that and love that, and other agents do not communicate that way. So that's something that's really important to understand.
Everyone has different communication styles. And if you. Your communication style doesn't align with your client or you don't understand your client's communication style, therefore you can't match it, that's going to be a problem.
[00:18:51] Speaker B: It's going to be a big problem.
[00:18:52] Speaker A: Breaks down with communication.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: The second part of that question is how do you communicate with other agents?
[00:18:58] Speaker B: So that one shouldn't be as big of an issue as it is, but. And 99% of the time, it's not, but that 1%. If that agent has a bad reputation, if that agent has pissed people off in the past, you will be locked out of any deals that are being represented by someone who has a bad experience with that agent. And mind you, we've talked about it in other podcasts. We have those, that list of people who we would never want to work with again.
And likely if offer comes in from that agent, I'm going to tell the buyer, hey, like, I've worked with them in the past. This is what they do. This is reputation. You know, we probably want to consider that before accepting their offer. And that could hurt their buyer, their client.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: I would want a buyer's agent to tell me if someone said, like, how do you communicate with other agents? I would want them to express, I'm, I'm collaborative with other agents. I work really hard to have good communication, a good reputation, and my goal is to work hard with the other agent to make sure that all parties are led to success.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:57] Speaker A: And not, I wouldn't want someone, and this is me personally, that villainizes the other side or acts like the other side's the enemy.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:20:06] Speaker A: Because the deals that go successfully, that close and are smoother are when both agents are collaborative and not us and them scenarios.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: Even though the reality shows don't demonstrate that most of us are friends. Okay. What happens after my offer's accepted and what kind of support transaction team is in place? I wouldn't even have thought to ask that if I wasn't in the industry.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: So no one does, but I think that's such an important factor.
And you assume and expect and hope you could rely on your agent to have a good home inspector, good plumber, electrician, whatever it might be.
But you can't always rely on that to a certain point. You also need to know who it is, maybe do your own due diligence and really ensure that you're getting the proper inspections that you need for that kind of home. Not every home is the same.
And an agent who doesn't understand that is just going to be a one size fits all inspector. It's going to come back and hurt you.
[00:21:12] Speaker A: Right. I want to know who your vendors are, I want to know your relationships with them. I want to know how long you've been using them. I want to know who's handling your paperwork on the back end, what kind of compliance you have. These are things that you should be asking and understanding. And most great agents are gonna have that laid out for you. But you just have to think to ask and talk about it. The amount of times that I see, like, on the Facebook groups or this and that, like, does anyone know a plumber? Does anyone know that? And I'm like, you guys got the agents gotta. You have to build your relationships with your vendors, and you have to make the extra effort. If someone's demonstrating really good customer service and pricing and you see them on the other end and they're a really great vendor, reach out to them, get their number, add them to your list, track who's done what where, who's a specialist in what area, and work well with them, because then you're going to move forward. And like, some of my vendors that I've been working with for a long time, they'll. They jump in clutch when I need in an emergency situation, they'll move stuff around and they're there. And I'm proud of that. And buyers get to see that in action. But I would be asking, what does that look like ahead of time? Because I'd want to make sure that. That my agent had that type of support team around them that I could then lean on and trust too, because it is overwhelming.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: No one has time to start vetting everyone else.
[00:22:32] Speaker B: I've been on. On the buy, on the sell side, when the buyer's agent comes in and the. The buyer's agent comes in with the inspector, and the inspector, you know, opens their mouth, it's like, oh, this home's perfect. There's no issues. And then you get a request for repairs. It's like four pages long. You're like, excuse me.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Ooh, that's. Yeah, yeah, that's a. That would be on the list side. I would be asking, do you attend
[00:22:55] Speaker B: the end of inspections or even on the buy side? Like, having that list of qualified vendors is huge. I know. Like, I have a H Vac guy that we use for really old buildings because he know he's super old and he knows all the old stuff. Like, he's one of the only people that, you know those around when these 50. When these units were installed, like 40, 50 years ago. Or likewise for the electricians, like having people that actually know that mechanical components of that age, I think is super important.
[00:23:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And that your agent, if they have those vendors, that means they've experienced these things. So it. It kind of answers multiple things at once.
[00:23:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: What happens if something goes wrong?
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Duh.
[00:23:37] Speaker A: Something will go wrong.
[00:23:38] Speaker B: Yeah, obviously.
[00:23:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: Yeah. So for me, I mean, I don't know if a client asked me that My answer would probably be like, there's. There's a good likelihood that something will go wrong, but I think that's normal to be expected.
We're going to address it accordingly. If it gets to a situation where it's not worth it anymore, the risk is too high, and I disclose all risk as clearly as I can, then you know, it's not worth it and you move on.
I was helping a client buy an apartment building. The building was completely renovated. Looked really nice from the outside, really looked really nice on the photos. But we started going through and going in and we had an awesome inspection team. Specializes in multifamily. It was like six inspectors for the physical building, then plumbing. Plumbing and roof. Different guys, different guy for electrical.
Just really great. And they found a massive foundation crack.
Like so much so where, yeah, it was like the home was starting to go or the front of the building was a more like a single family home style than the back was traditional stack.
It was going in two different ways. And we went through the whole process and we're like, hey, this risk is just. Is too high. Because even if we got the credit that we were looking for, you still have to go through the work. And when it comes to foundation, you never really know you could fix it and then that could break other things.
So I recommended to the client, like, this isn't worth them. Let's just walk away. We actually, I did a little bit more due diligence on that and found that the seller actually had very large pending lawsuit for a home they sold to someone else. And it was less than functional, to say the least. It was like it was a really big, ugly lawsuit. And then that buyer was actually suing the seller, the seller's agent and their agent for not representing them properly.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: Ooh, did they walk away?
[00:25:33] Speaker B: Yeah, we walked away. It wasn't worth it. And one of the things I always say to clients or really anybody, if we can't trust other side, and there's no deal to be done. Because at the end of the day, you can't really believe anything that they're saying or have done in the past. Especially with newly renovated places. You don't know if it's just the stick on a pig and then how, like how quality those renovations are done.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: You know, we've talked about this too with the flipping process. There's a ton of incredible flippers, investors out there, some great products and some that are not. And what people need to realize is oftentimes when those homes are purchased to wholesale, can't wait to do the podcast so I can fully understand the ins and outs of that. It's usually because there's a serious defect with the home, something like a foundation, some reason that made that home a cash only purchase, or the seller sell it significantly under value so that investor could then do the work and flip it and they will remit, like remedy the problem. But are you getting all that information on what it was and how it was remedied and did they use licensed people and. And that leads into question 8. Will you tell me not to buy a house?
[00:26:40] Speaker B: Yeah. So that same building before we found out that there was a foundation crack, one of the garages was just completely covered in mold and sellers broke or came back to us. They're like, don't worry, my buyer will have this completed or will have this all remediated by tomorrow and done. Like there's no way. Yeah, like there's no way, like you can't do this correctly in, you know, less than 24 hours.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: He's like, it's just spray some bleach on it.
[00:27:07] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. And then repaint it.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, we're going to walk away.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: But will you not tell me to buy a house? Absolutely. Yeah, 100% I will tell someone not to buy. Do tell people not to buy houses.
And part of what depends on the client.
Usually when they're highly emotional and just very excited to get a house, that's when I'm like, okay, I'm really gonna have to take the emotion out of it for them and try to look at bigger problems down the road. Or what does this look like? Ooh. And this goes back to have that initial meeting. Like you. If you're interviewing a buyer's agent, step one, make sure that they wanna sit down and talk to you ahead of time and not just meet you at a property and hope that you're writing an offer. But in that initial meeting, you're understanding what these buyers want. And when I can tell that it's. If it's two buyers and they're on different pages, then I'm really paying attention. And when it gets highly emotional and one's really excited about the house, I'm trying to bring it back and remind them this is. You didn't want to be on a busy road or this was your deal breaker or sometimes there's a really significant issue. I just dealt with this where we went back to the property four times before they wrote an offer. They're very savvy buyers. They've purchased homes and done a ton of upgrades over time. That's kind of what they like to do, that sweat equity, you know, kind of seven, five, seven year plan. And I was feeling hesitant as they were talking about the things they wanted to do. I'm noticing things that are significantly larger and not cosmetic that were concerning. The big thing was like a. The water, the seal between that where they had built in below, you could smell moisture. I'm like, how do you even remedy that? I ended up calling someone else out. It was a 200, 000 ballpark figure to remedy it. But once they said, ooh, we're kind of on the fence, I just probably let loose a little bit more. And I'm like, you should not buy this house. Like, you are already on the fence. And there's so many unknowns that we're dealing with. And then I started showing them some of the other stuff that I had noticed, like, this is moving here. And I don't. I'm not a foundation specialist or anything like that, but what I can see is I feel like you're going to open a can of worms and you're going to be 500,000 in before you even start talking about that beautiful backsplash that you want to do.
And I think that it. It was helpful with them because one was already off the fence and the other one was super on it. But we were able together to use all three of our opinions to solidify this is not a good decision to purchase this home.
And, you know, now we're still looking and we're going to keep looking. And. And I feel good about it. Where sometimes I. I go to most of my showings, I attend and I see people interact with their buyer's agents. And I'm triggered when I can hear a buyer's agent trying to sell that home so hard and not pausing for a moment to listen to what their buyer is actually saying. And when a buyer does get the opportunity to get a question in, it's an immediate like, oh, that's not a big deal, or, oh, that. You know, like, this is very common. This is what we see. And it's. I'm like, you're not paying attention to your buyer and you're just over here trying to talk over them and sell them on things that might be actual problems. I can't stand that. And that happens often.
And I always wonder, like, are those buyers feeling hurt? Are they feeling sold? Like, you know, what is that even? I couldn't imagine doing that.
[00:30:21] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you touched on something earlier, and this is a harder topic. But when you're working with a buyer, the financial component, like, they come in like, oh, we want to do this, and we want to renovate this and that, and you start looking at it, you're like, you're underestimating this by 75%. It's going to take you much more time, much more money. Like, you're. From what I know you're not in a financial position to do this or even sometimes too, at the very beginning, realizing, like, they're not in a financial position to afford a home at all.
And having to have that conversation or not, because that's a super difficult conversation to have. Some people don't want to have it.
[00:31:01] Speaker A: I know some people stress me out. I'm like, when they want to go to the. To the max that they're approved for, and then they're wanting to do all these renovations, I'm like, so at that
[00:31:11] Speaker B: point, I at least try looking at the numbers or, like, compile the numbers and say, hey, no emotion. Like a motion aside, these are the facts. These are not. This is nothing for me. These are just the facts. Do with it what you will. And hopefully they realize that they're over and over their skis.
[00:31:28] Speaker A: Yes. In over their skis.
[00:31:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:31] Speaker A: You're throwing all the terms out or all the. Can't boil an ocean in over your skis. I'm adding that one to the mix. The goal is to. For me, with every buyer, I want them walking into a property when they close escrow, eyes wide open. I don't want any stone unturned. I want them to understand every possible thing, and I want them to feel comfortable saying, this isn't going to work for us and we can walk away.
[00:31:53] Speaker B: The other thing, too, is when the agents come in and remember a few years ago, date the rate, marry the home. It's like, well, what happens? And the rate doesn't. Yeah, I know you didn't. We talked about how much we dislike that.
But, like, what happens if the rate doesn't change? And then what, three years later and it didn't change?
[00:32:13] Speaker A: I didn't like it then initially.
And now I'm like, think this is why I didn't like it? Like, I feel so validated.
Why would you push anyone into an unknown financial scenario to get a deal closed? No, thank you.
[00:32:26] Speaker B: It's not in the best interest of the client. It's only in the interest of the agent at that point.
[00:32:30] Speaker A: So the best way for a buyer interviewing an agent to kind of see where they land on that stuff is, will you tell me not to buy a house and have them give you examples of times that they helped guide people away from a home? Or what does that look like for you?
[00:32:44] Speaker B: And I think the best agents will also interview the buyer as well because they want to be able to work with someone where they'll be successful and it'll be a win.
[00:32:52] Speaker A: Okay, here's one. How well do you know the neighborhoods I'm considering?
[00:32:56] Speaker B: That's huge.
[00:32:56] Speaker A: So important. Yeah, huge.
[00:32:59] Speaker B: I remember just driving around San Diego with you when you're like, that building can't get insurance and this building is this, and that neighborhood is that.
Yeah. And like, your knowledge was just so vast that someone coming from outside of San Diego or even who doesn't have as much experience as you is just not going to be able to represent their client at the level that you will because of all of your experience.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: True. And like, this is where this could go both ways. The answer to this question, right, like, if you're relocating somewhere or you don't know the neighborhood, your number one or the area in general, like, say, say we're moving to Idaho. I don't know. I know Boise school. I don't know much about Idaho. My number one criteria in a buyer's agent would be, how well do you know this area? Because I don't know it at all. So I'm relying on you a hundred percent to guide me through all of this.
If I know the area that I'm buying in and I understand what neighborhood I want to be in, now I'm looking for. That's not necessarily the number one criteria anymore. Now I need someone that's going to represent me that I can trust, that's going to guide me through things. But I'm going to know the neighborhood. So I think that that's important. Depending on what your move looks like.
[00:34:10] Speaker B: And the majority of this conversation has really been geared towards the buyer on the kind of owner operator, but also too on the investment side.
Being able to work with an agent on the buy side who knows what you want is going to be able to deliver gets you getting you into the neighborhoods that you want to be investing in. The neighborhoods that are going to perform well. Appreciation, you know, low to no Mello Roos. They are the cities that aren't going to have the really strict and stringent tenant landlord laws. And that's ever more important if you're investing out of your immediate vicinity, because you're not going to have that information. You're not going to know. And unless you have agent who knows that and ideally at that point could even like better underwrite your deal and really tell you what the real numbers would look like, it's not going to go well. And difficult thing there is most every agent says they're an investment expert and they're just not. But having an agent who really does know that is going to be the key for successful investment.
Really anywhere.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: Also, on the neighborhood thing, if you know, like I only want to be in this community, like this is where we want to buy, I would reach out to whoever predominantly sells in that community.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:25] Speaker A: There chances are they're going to know what's upcoming, they're going to know, you know, everything about it. Like that is not a bad approach. If you don't have a relationship with an agent and you're looking for one, contact the person that sells the most in that area that you want to be in. Okay, what about, oh, this is a, this is one that everyone's messing up. I already know this. How are buyer's agents compensated? How do you think the agents are doing a good job communicating that and explaining it ahead of time in general?
[00:35:51] Speaker B: No, I think as time goes on it's going to be, agents will get better and better because it's more normal and the conversation will be had a lot more. But this is still fairly new relative to the, you know, most people's time in this industry. And it's an awkward conversation at times because a lot of buyers don't know and they explain, expect, oh well, I'm not paying any of the commission and you need to sit them down and say, you know, there's a chance where you might, you are.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: Yeah, this is one of the most important questions that need to be addressed up front. And buyers, when you're interviewing agents, ask how their agent is compensated. You, the contract you are signing is signing what their compensation is and you're essentially agreeing to pay that compensation regardless of if the seller is willing to contribute towards it.
So you really need to understand this. How are you compensated? What do you charge? What does this look like when we're writing offers? How much could I end up paying out of pocket for you to represent me? And don't hesitate with this question. Be aggressive with it because what you don't need is to get hit with, oh, I, I, this house I want to buy. The seller's not willing to pay any of the buyer's agent commission. Now I'm paying two and a half percent and I didn't budget for that.
[00:37:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:00] Speaker A: Or I wasn't expecting to pay it. And then shit hits the fan.
[00:37:04] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a big issue.
[00:37:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Get ahead of that and don't be scared to ask about it. A good agent will have a good answer and be transparent.
[00:37:11] Speaker B: Well, they're providing value. They're providing. They should be providing a lot of value.
[00:37:15] Speaker A: Yeah. They're worth it. The good ones are.
[00:37:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:18] Speaker A: What are the biggest mistakes buyers make? I would be asking this question. This is going to help you understand how experienced they actually are and what they have learned from all of their experiences.
Why are you smiling? What do you think the biggest mistake they make is?
[00:37:32] Speaker B: So I. My initial response and I want to hear yours independently is that people get too emotional during the process and make emotional decisions that hurt them in the short and long term.
[00:37:45] Speaker A: Yep. Well, you're not a big fan of
[00:37:47] Speaker B: emotion, so that's why I want to know what yours is. Because I love it.
[00:37:51] Speaker A: Tell me everything. Let's cry about it. Let's laugh about it. I think, I mean mistakes that buyers make sometimes and you'll probably disagree, but I like, sometimes just go for it. Like I think people get in their, their own way and they'll get really hung up on like this one possible repair. Like it could potentially be this. And, and I've seen so many buyers, specifically first time home buyers, so they don't already own a property and it's scary right now. It's super expensive to do anything. Right. So I understand.
But they'll constantly back out of homes and I'm like, you gotta pull the trigger at some point. Like no house is perfect. There's always gonna be a problem. And I see them get in their own way with the fear of actually securing that first property.
[00:38:34] Speaker B: I don't disagree with you at all. I think I have less of an experience with that because I generally don't work with first time buyers and I'm super comfortable and confident in regards to repairs, in regards to renovations, ground up development. I'm a general contractor, licensed.
Fun little fact.
[00:38:54] Speaker A: Fun little.
[00:38:56] Speaker B: Yeah. But I mean on any given day I'm probably overseeing five to 20 projects and like pretty significant ones.
So I don't worry about that and I think my clients don't either. Maybe because I, I have that confidence in what I'm saying and doing and could walk them through it all. But for you, on the first time buyer perspective. Yeah, absolutely. If someone is going to back out because they see a water stain at the bottom of a sink, like they're never going to buy anything.
[00:39:21] Speaker A: Being someone that will tell you this is not a good decision or I, I wouldn't purchase this home if I were you. On the flip side, sometimes I want to say, like, this is a great sin. Even if that pipe leaks and you like, it's. It's. Sometimes it's a really good scenario. And they just, it's almost like they're looking for excuses to not make that sort of commitment. And sometimes I get bummed for people when I, when I see that happening because. And they've been doing it for years because the rates haven't gotten better. The how like. And now they're paying significant amounts in rent. They never secured that first property.
[00:39:53] Speaker B: Do you think that some people also just like doing that? Cause I've definitely see that on the buy side where they'll come in and it's like, this is so ridiculous that I almost think you're just trying to find an excuse not to buy it. And I have the feeling that they do this often.
[00:40:06] Speaker A: Yeah. There I can think of one couple that they, Their names floated around amongst brokerages in the community that they like, seem to really like to make offers and then just destroy the properties and back out. Not destroy them, but tear them apart with inspections and then back out of the deal. And it was so bad. And I look occasionally to see if. And they still have never purchased anything so bad that people were giving warnings. If these people call, you just know that this is what they did to me. And it just went on and on.
[00:40:37] Speaker B: That's weird because inspections could get expensive.
We had a listing probably two years ago, and buyer came in, he saw the home like four times, five times, finally put in an offer, wanted us to represent him. We're like, okay, this a little weird, but sure.
And this was an investment property. And we connect with his lender and the lender was like being really standoffish and weird and we're like, hey, we need the documents, we need this, we need that. She's like, yeah, I'll get it to you, I'll get it to you. I'll get it to you.
[00:41:07] Speaker A: This deal is not going to close.
[00:41:09] Speaker B: So, yeah. So then sure enough, he did an inspection. He backs out. And the lender's like, he did it again. And I'm like, what do you mean again?
He's. He. She was like, this is the, I think, sixth time he's done this.
And it's the same MO every single time. I knew this was going to happen. That's why I didn't even bother putting the file together. Oh God.
[00:41:32] Speaker A: But yeah, it's, it's. Sometimes people just get in their own way or they're just not meant to make the purchase.
[00:41:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: Emotionally. Okay, my final question, and I've recently honed in on my answer for this.
But what makes you different from every other buyer's agent?
[00:41:48] Speaker B: For me, I think probably my good looks.
[00:41:53] Speaker A: Agreed. I didn't mean to laugh that hard.
[00:41:55] Speaker B: Yeah, I would say it's probably number one and then number two, I think the breadth of my knowledge in regards to all things real estate, I think that is probably something that sets me apart from the average agent and broker, honestly. And broker. And it really is advantageous for the clients I work with.
[00:42:17] Speaker A: For me, and this would be the answer I'd be looking for is that I. This is a full time job for me. It's a career. It's a. I treat it every day. You wake up, you get ready, you go to work and you're working for your clients. Which sounds to me simple. Right? That's what we're doing. If it's, if I don't have appointments, I'm doing other things to get ahead of things. I'm calling to hear about what upcoming listings are happening. It's working way more than a 40 hour week, but dedicated. I don't think that's as common as people assume. I think that a lot of agents, sorry, agents, but do the work when it comes to them and then they will do the things when they're happening. But I think what makes the top agents and agents that are continu. Continuing to thrive is if they're treating this like a business and they show up every day regardless. And I think that's uncommon.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. And that's something that I, I think I see with other agents. We work with not as much agents on our team. I think we have a lot of really great agents on our team who are 100% committed. But those that treat it as a pastime are the ones that say I only do this for, on a special occasion. It's like, oh boy.
[00:43:26] Speaker A: Yeah. And especially if you're a buyer that the agents that are waking up every day and heading off to work, they're the ones going to the networking meetings, they're the ones continuing to build relationships to find out the off market properties or build the relationships with the vendors that are going to show up for the buyer when needed and things like that. I think it's. Is this your career? Do you treat this like a business? Is what I would want to know.
[00:43:49] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:43:50] Speaker A: Do you have any other questions you would ask?
[00:43:53] Speaker B: One of the last questions, this is kind of the overarching question, is just asking the agent is like, what does.
Like, what does a great experience look like for you? What does winning look like for us? What can I expect out of this? And really set the precedent there in regards to what you want this whole experience to look like.
[00:44:12] Speaker A: If you're a buyer and you're looking to buy a home and you're. You're wanting to interview an agent, the initial response from the agent when you call and say, hey, I'm interviewing buyer's agents, the right agent or an experienced agent is going to be excited about that. They're going to be thrilled to answer your questions, to meet with you, to show you what they can bring to the table. Why are you smiling?
[00:44:33] Speaker B: Because. Depends on how the question goes. It's like, hey, I'm interviewing agents to find the right fit. Awesome. Great. That's what I want to hear. Or, I'm interviewing agents. This other agent just offered me, you know, 1%. What are you going to offer?
And that is a conversation that I think happens more often than not.
[00:44:52] Speaker A: Well, newsflash, I'm interviewing you, too.
[00:44:54] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. And then it's so easy for me
[00:44:57] Speaker A: at that point where I had that happen, I did not get hired for a listing. And it was because I wouldn't budge on a few things that other agents were offering them. And twice now they have called. They called. The first time, we're not happy with our agent. We really wish. And when they told me they weren't hiring me, they were like, you were 100% who we want to work with, but if you're not willing to budge on A, B, and C, we're not going to hire you. And I was like, cool, catch you later. And I was okay with it. And, you know, sucks, but I'm not going to. I wasn't going to budge. And then two months go by, hey, we're unhappy with our agent. Are you willing to come talk to us again? I. So I hopped on the phone and I asked, what's going on with your agent? And honestly came to her defense. You know, they were priced high. And. And so I kind of talked him through that, that, here's the things that you should be paying attention to. Are you listed at the price that she suggested? And. Cause that's not the price I had suggested and kind of came to her defense there because I could tell they were being difficult and I could see that she was doing the most. Like I saw the property everywhere. All that. Then they called again and hey, we're still unhappy. These are our terms. Will you list our house? And I said no. Just. I'm like, you were talking so much crap on your agent that I saw working very hard for you. You weren't willing to pay for what you wanted essentially. And so now I see they're listed with another agent. You know. And it's. You're interviewing those people too.
[00:46:17] Speaker B: 100 and we're fortunate. We're in a fortunate position where we can do that. But there are a lot of agents who need the business and will take it no matter what because they. They just need some deals. And that's a.
[00:46:30] Speaker A: Not every deal or not all business is actually a closed transaction. Sometimes it's someone that's gonna take all your time and effort and marketing costs and money and not result in an actual deal. So you're worse off. And you need to know how to navigate that. And same thing with buyers. If they're not willing to sign the buyer broker agreement or have that solidifying conversation with you, they're probably going to waste your time at some point as
[00:46:53] Speaker B: well because they've probably signed another five broker buyer agreements and are telling everyone the same story.
[00:46:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Super fun, super ethical industry.
Gotta navigate it. Okay. Any other questions you'd ask as a
[00:47:07] Speaker B: buyer's agent and ultimately just how'd that feel? Do you feel comfortable with that person? Do you feel that you could trust them? I know we were chatting with someone one time and when they walked out of the room and it was like everyone kind of had that feeling. And how it was put into words is we all checked if our wallets were still in our pockets. Right.
And you know what that is when you. Yeah. When you encounter it and it's just like, are you good with that? Do you communicate in the same way? Are you able to have a positive interaction for a positive transaction?
[00:47:39] Speaker A: Yes. And that kind of builds on when. When you are working with your agent, especially in the home buying process, you are communicating with this person in and out all day. Not all day. But like you're with them for a long time. You're spending a lot of time with them. It's not just a nine to five. You're talking about things while you're sitting at your dinner table. You're seeing them multiple times a week looking at property. Like you have to really click with the person that you are going to be doing this with because you're about to spend a lot of time together. Yeah, I'm right up in the couple's mix. Right. It's like me and them. Here we go. Let's do this. So just make sure, aside from getting all the right answers you want, that it's a personality fit for you too.
[00:48:17] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Well, this was fun. Hopefully we provided some value to buyers out there. Big one of the biggest decisions of your life, I think probably second to marriage, but one that having a trusted advisor will go a long way and the right agent will save you more money than they ever cost you.
[00:48:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And it'll make it a better experience.
Don't be afraid to ask the questions, period.
[00:48:41] Speaker B: You still have to be an advocate for yourself as well.
[00:48:43] Speaker A: Yep. Okay. What are we talking about next?
[00:48:46] Speaker B: So on the pipeline, we're going to be talking about all things adu, what it looks like, how long it takes, the permitting process, the build process. I'm currently building an ADU right now, bringing on a guest who's done quite a few. Super excited about that. Also, we have a good friend of mine, Justin, who works for Brandon, Architect, so very high end architecture firm in Newport Beach. He's going to come in and tell us what it's actually like to build a custom home. Not what it's like on HGTV, not what it's like on YouTube, but what it's actually like in real life. These guys are, you know, are building some of the nicest homes in Orange county and Southern California across the country. And I think now they're even going international.
But he's going to be giving us a really great breakdown of what that whole process looks like. Subscribe like, let us know what you think. Let us know if you have any questions or anything you want to hear us talk about.
[00:49:37] Speaker A: Yes. See you next time.
That's a wrap on this episode of Allview. 360, all things real estate. If you found this helpful, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone navigating their own real estate journey. Connect with us anytime on Instagram @AllView360 and on LinkedIn @AllView Real Estate. Until next time, stay curious and keep your perspective. 360.
