Beware of Shifty Real Estate Agents!

I was watching Nightline last week and they had a segment about real estate agents that re-list homes for sale to make them “fresh listings” in their MLS to fool the general public.  In effect, they are resetting the amount of time a listing has been on the market.  This was a big issue in San Mate County last year until the local MLS stopped it.  Today, when you look for a house on our MLS not only can your agent see the history of the sales of that property, sometimes going back years, but so can you. But agents who do this kind of smoke and mirror re-listing are shifty agents.

Why is this issue important?  To some people it isn’t but if you are the type of analytical soul who wants to understand the marketplace this data is extremely important for you and your agent.  MLSListings, my local MLS, no longer allows an agent to cancel a listing and then re-list it under a new MLS number.  Unless 90 days have passed, or the agent has changed brokerages, the same MLS number stays with the property, even if it’s re-listed for an expiration of the listing agreement.  It’s very helpful to me, as an agent, and I always share the information with my clients.  We can see if the property is about to become a Short Sale by how long it’s been listed and how the prices have been reduced over that time frame.

I applaud MLSListings for making the policy.  It went into effect last October and there, truthfully, was a lot of grumbling going on by many seasoned agents.  Today, there is nothing an agent can do to get around it, as the program we use to list property has been written so an agent must keep the same MLS number with that property.

If your agent isn’t sharing the historical data with you, shame on them! Ask about it and demand to see the data from them. If your agent isn’t in the same MLS as I am, they are still able to get their hands on the data.  Don’t let them fool you.  A good, professional agent, will give you this data without you asking, especially when you’re getting ready to write that offer.  If they don’t, shame on them!  Demand to see it.

Realtor with clients

For some reason people think that real estate agents only represent the
interests of the seller in a transaction.  Sure, that was true years ago but it sure isn’t the case today.  When I represent a buyer in a transaction I am their advocate, their coach, and their representative 100% of the time.  Did you know that it is possible for a buyer to have a contractual relationship between the agent and themselves, should they want one?  Yes, there’s a form just for
that so do ask about it if you think it necessary.

Here’s why it’s important for you to know who is in your
corner when you are buying a home and what a good agent does for you,
as a buyer. Good agents are….

We’re here to make sure you are working with a professional lender, one who will take your interests and needs above making additional compensation from a bank, one who is ethical and who will be there for you in the future.

We’re here to make sure you have really been Pre-Approved for a loan before writing a purchase contract.

We’re here to make sure you understand the contract you are signing and if not, to explain it to you so you do get it. You are signing a legal document that becomes binding once ratified.

We’re here to answer questions about the disclosures that you read, show you what is important and what is not (for example, a pest report mentions a loose toilet as a class II issue, and that’s not a critical thing to worry about), and if necessary, suggest additional inspections that might be needed to fully
know about your future home.

We’re here to negotiate the best price for you with the seller, to present your offer to the seller, and help you get a fair deal.

We’re here to work with the selling agent making sure all documents needed by the lender, title company and you are completed, and signed prior to close of escrow so we can close on
time.

We’re here to sit beside you during your signing at the Title company.

We’re here after you move into your home, to act as a resource for tradespeople in the community.

A good Realtor becomes very close to you before and during a transaction, and hopefully after you’ve settled into your home, they become a friend to you and your family.

Picking a good Realtor is not always easy.  It’s an intimate relationship.  We learn a lot about you and your family and your finances.  This is all very personal stuff.  A Professional Realtor keeps all of that information locked up inside of them, only using it to help you find the perfect home for you and your needs.  A good Realtor is, above all else, ethical.  Ask your friends if they had a good experience with their Realtor as friends
often refer their agents.  We have a great deal of business from referrals of past clients.  Our clients are our friends and advocates.

Poof of Smoke

Real Estate is a funny business and I don’t mean it sarcastically but
literally.  It’s a very easy business to enter.  Take some classes, take a test, pass it, get a license from the state, and put the license with a broker and you can say you’re in Real Estate.  But, ah ha, are you?  The school you might have gone to in order to learn the stuff needed to pass the test really teaches you nothing
about the business.  And yes, this is a business and finally we’re seeing it run more like one in many brokerages.  Why am I talking about this?  Well, it’s near the end of the year and that’s when people disappear from your office.  Poof, they vanish without a
word of good bye or for that matter, hello.   The only way you know they’ve gone is to see an empty desk.  No matter.  They never were sitting at that desk doing any business any way; they were just schmoozing, if they were there at all. So they vanish and appear in another office thinking it will make everything
better in their life.  Ha, ha, ha!

Most people don’t understand how this real estate business works.  Agents are all independent
contractors, not employees and as such we dont get any benefits or a paycheck.  We work 100% on commission but we don’t get 100% of it, only a split of that goes to us if we close a deal, and what that split
is depends on many factors.  Therefore, client loyalty to a realtor is important to us and our bottom line.  As independent contractors we can do pretty much what we want. Our broker might disagree with that and demand certain things in return for letting us have a desk, such as continuing education, attendance at meetings, paperwork being done a certain way, files complete at close of escrow.  None of that is too much to ask for on their part, but many of the people “working” in real estate might disagree.  This business does attract Free Spirits and these people do not like being told what to do.

If you, as a potential buyer or seller of a home isn’t careful you can end up with an agent who isn’t a
professional in this real estate business; one who is hard to find when you need them, one who is sloppy in their paperwork, sloppy in how they talk with you in general.  These are often the ones who keep
moving around to different brokerages at this time of year.  How do I avoid this you ask? Ask your agent questions about how they work.  After all, whether they are a professional and well respected Realtor should matter to you as much as it matters to all of the other Realtors in the market who have to deal with them.
A bad Realtor doesnt get offers on their listings. A bad Realtor won’t get offers accepted because professional agents dont want to work with them.

Living in San Mateo County, we are very fortunate to be in a somewhat insular location for housing.  We are not seeing the dramatic foreclosure rates that other California and Bay Area counties are seeing.  Our prices are not dropping dramatically.  We are seeing the usual 4th quarter slow down and price reductions that take place in December but houses are occupied or staged for sale around Burlingame, Hillsborough, San
Mateo and the like are not sitting vacant and bank owned.  Sure, Altos Research says we are in a Cool Buyer’s Market right now but that’s a whole lot better than we’re seeing in other areas of California or the rest of the country.

Take time to get to know your Realtor and find out how they work. Its a very intimate relationship that you both have while you search for a new home or list your current one. If your agent changes offices
this time of year find out why they did it. If they say it was time to move on, or change is good, probe deeper because a change of real estate office isnt the problem. The problem is with them and perhaps their fear that they will not be able to serve you next year during a bumping real estate market. Look for experience and good communication for your agent.

Were here to help you in all of your real estate needs in San Mateo County. We are experts in Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo, Foster City, Belmont and San Carlos.