Buyer’s Agents Who Say We Are Sending an Offer

So much of the time the agent who claims we are sending an offer never sends it.

Buyer’s agents in Sacramento often email or call to say: we are sending an offer on your listing. Does the offer ever show up? Sometimes. Sometimes not. Most of the time, I don’t even tell the seller that an agent is promising to send an offer because so many times the offer simply never materializes, and then I’ve got a distraught seller on my hands. It doesn’t matter that the seller is not upset with me, the fact is the seller would be upset, and I’m not going there.

Part of my job as a listing agent in Sacramento is to manage expectations. Buyer’s agents, for example, can be more excited about a listing than their buyers because they view the home with professional eyes. They can also misread a buyer’s hot buttons, believe a home is perfect for the buyer when it is not. However, I will say, in this Sacramento market at the moment, the home could be held up by toothpicks, painted bright purple with the roof in flames and it would sell in a heart beat.

The point is agents tend to get upset when the seller takes another offer and does not accept their offer. They also get miffed if they call an agent to say an offer is going to arrive, and that listing agent and her seller do not wait for them. They don’t understand that we are not obligated to wait for every Tom, Dick and Harry who says: we are sending an offer. If you have an offer, hand it over. An offer in my email or in my hand is worth something. A promise to send an offer?

Well, what do you think?

What do sellers think? Sellers tend to think words are words and actions are actions. There is a new form that Lyon created for listing agents to upload to MLS with instructions for buyer’s agents on how offers will be handled. To stop the whining. Do listing agents need to explain to buyer’s agents how our spring Sacramento real estate market works? That buyers might want to submit “highest and best” because a counter offer might not be forthcoming? It’s called Real Estate 101. Except for the rare short sale here and there, I don’t typically attach seller instructions to MLS because I don’t happen to believe it’s in good form to pre-decide how an offer will be handled when every.single.situation is unique.

There are also buyers who won’t make an offer on a home if they realize the seller is angling for multiple offers. Why would a seller want to eliminate any buyers from making an offer? Sure, leaving offer submissions flexible means it’s more work for the listing agent, but so is getting out of bed at my age. Every home and every seller deserve an individual plan. We go with the flow. My approach is always customized for the situation at hand, with my seller’s best interest as the focus. I can tell a seller a buyer’s agent says we are sending an offer, but sellers won’t care until it shows up.

If you prefer a strong listing agent in Sacramento who will focus on you, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.