“You’ve mentioned how important it is to have a good full-service Realtor if you’re selling. We’re buying a home and my friend’s sister has her license. She doesn’t really practice real estate, but she’ll kick us back $5,000. Is it worth the money or should we get a full-time agent?”
Answer:
You can guess my answer. Let me start with a story…
In a sale last year, after the buyer inspected the property, we heard nothing. We called the agent 3 times to see if the buyer was taking it “as is”, but no call back.
Finally, the agent called TWENTY-THREE days after the contract deadline to request repairs and asked, “Did you get our repair request?” We never did, nor did he have proof he ever even sent it. Because they missed the deadline, they lost their right to ask for any repairs.
His negligence cost his client $1,000’s in repairs the seller might have agreed to pay if the agent had acted timely. And I don’t think his client ever even found out how what his agent did to him.
Why am I telling you this?
Because in my experience things like this are far from rare, especially with limited service or part-time agents. Real estate transactions are getting more complex by the day and require full-time, experienced agents or “teams” to watch over all the details and protect and serve their clients.
So use a good, experienced, full-time agent.
