The writer at Seattle Bubble wrote this post about Consumer’s Wish List that resonates with me on several levels. I’ll credit my assistant, Nina Shorten, for having noticed it on today’s SB blog and saying to me “you fit this article to a T, it’s everything that you do”. What it is is a consolidated list of items that the real estate buying public is asking for in a professional.
I’ll say that we’ve offered pretty clear cut answers here at Team Reba for some time that address pretty much every item listed. I’ll give a bit of a break down here for you, our reader based on the list that was posted:
1. being treated like a “partner” and not a lead – we begin our relationship with most clients in a 2-3 hour meeting where we learn what a client is looking for. This covers much than just the criteria of the house or investment they want to buy; we cover what this purchase means to them (personally, financially, long term plans), their expectation levels in working with us, and much more.
2. relevant information, fast and accurate – we do a lot of research on a property and we even put in writing that we’ll provide anything and everything that we possibly know about it to our client. We provide sources of information that are outside of our expertise (required by law) but we know enough about many areas of expertise that impact real estate that we can refer appropriately to attorneys, accountants, school websites or teaching professionals, and other sources where applicable. One person can’t know everything but the idea is to have the resources available to try and do as much due diligence as possible in the relatively short time alloted for a real estate transaction. We tell our clients that “you’ll know when I know” so if information comes to light we are getting info to you.
3. info on why I should buy a house and why I shouldn’t – if we’re talking purely about the situation where a client likes a house and is considering making an offer, this is easy. I always tell my clients that part of my job is to act as a devil’s advocate. That means after I’ve listened closely at our first meeting, and any thereafter, I make sure to bring back the items that my clients have mentioned that may not match the house they’ve chosen. In some cases, the issue might be layout, location, size, price, meeting family needs, yard, etc. It can be all kinds of things. But, if after going through the “here’s what you told me you wanted before…” list and the client still wants the house my attention then turns to getting them what they want in the terms they want it. If we’re talking about whether now is a good time to buy or sell – you go through the same steps. Does it meet a need for the client? What is their motivation? Does it meet a tax or financial need? Is your financial house in order for it to make sense? Does the investment meet your required return on investment/hurdle rate of return? We’ve told plenty of people not to buy or sell property for a variety of reasons.
4. if my investment objective is equity, solid advice based on ownership horizon – let’s get real. Not everyone has a crystal ball, nor could a single person stop the media from over-hyping elements of the industries that impact real estate. If, of course, a reasonable person is paying attention you can possibly foresee some impacts but since real estate is so localized in nature regarding supply and demand, which translates into value and potential appreciation, you can give general advice. There is also the access we have to the NWMLS that can help us provide data which we can utilize in a number of ways for reporting. We’ve done this for years and before our appreciation slowed down in Puget Sound we had forecast it. A general feel doesn’t mean it applies to all situations in an area. I can think of certain neighborhoods that are doing much better than others. The housing stock available and the condition of those properties make up part of the difference. I will tell you that we turned away more speculative investors than I can count in the past few years. We wouldn’t touch a deal that seemed like a bad idea for our clients and we walked away from a lot of potential clients because we didn’t agree with their investment philosophy.
5. I want to know who is paying my agent, and how much – this is also really easy. We have a buyer’s agency contract that spells out my compensation and who is supposed to pay it, in what order, and it’s at the buyer’s direction. Our contract meets WA laws with regard to disclosure and we give out the agency pamphlet in every client meeting so they understand what we are required to provide them – which includes information about how we are paid. If you’re a listing client then we have listing forms that spell out compensation as well. We also tell our clients that if a seller is offering a higher than usual (than our stated fee) payment to a buyer’s agent then we let them know about it and we frequently either split the difference or we give the full difference amount to the client.
6. I want to know about referral or other financial arrangements between companies ahead of time – again, an easy one. We cannot receive any kind of financial incentive or referral fee from a vendor we work with without the agreement of our client. And, we don’t do it anyway. All of the vendors we use are non-affiliated with Team Reba, and usually also our broker’s office. We have to disclose if there is any management or financial sharing between these businesses. There is also a law against some of these things, called RESPA (Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act) that prohibits kickbacks. This doesn’t apply to the lender’s side of the transaction although they must still follow RESPA but they frequently will do disclosures of affiliated business relationships.
7. mortgage fees, how do I know they’re real? – we typically offer to help our clients review their Good Faith Estimates (GFE) if they want help in seeking out “junk fees” or just to learn more about what each fee means. A GFE is also a RESPA requirement, by law. We also advise them to ask about yield spread premiums (YSP) and if a mortgage broker will notify them of these fees up front or only with a notice of (POC) paid outside closing on the HUD Settlement Statement. I know several good mortgage folks who give discounts on their fee to clients if a YSP is paid on the back end. What the public doesn’t really understand is that agents are not required to do this for their client – we offer it as a service but not everyone takes us up on it.
8. look out for my financial and personal interests – doing all of the above helps accomplish this and we spend a lot of time getting to know our clients so we can do just that – we educate them so they can make good decisions, we can’t make decisions for them.
9. make me aware of market conditions now rather than after the fact – it’s part of our job to do this but it is also part of the client’s job to be aware of it as well. There are so many places to find this information out that it’s disengenuous to believe that you can’t know anything about it. Also, not everyone buys or sells strictly on market conditions alone. We’ve learned that in our business there are several outside forces that cause a person to either buy or sell a property not the least of which are divorces, children, death, relocation, etc. If you are buying real estate with a long term view then you have the ability, like the buy and hold philosophy of stocks, to average out your returns. If you’re being speculative – then you better be a more aware of the market than the average consumer as a matter of your own due diligence. You wouldn’t believe how many people want me to bring them the most gorgeous investment on a silver platter without any effort on their own part. These are people that we move on quickly from in our business. If you want to be treated like a partner in our business then that also means you do your work and due diligence too.
10. benefits and detriments of a multiple buyer situation – we help clients analyze these situations to help prevent them from paying too much or getting themselves into a risky position by removing contingencies such as inspections. We’ve walked away from several of these situations with clients. When the client wants to go for it we give our best advice and then it’s up to them to decide if they want to move forward and even then we’ll continue looking out for their best interests.
11. putting your trust in us – my life’s work has been built on my reputation and I guard it fiercely. If you can’t trust me, then don’t work with me. Because my relationships are what my business is built on it’s in my best interests as a business person to treat you with respect, to tell you when I don’t know something but to also have resources to go to find what we need (information, services or otherwise), and to create a positive working environment between us. Communication is an absolute requirement in the relationship that we will build between us. I expect the same commitment from you.
12. Incentives and how they affect you as a client – part of this falls under the compensation discussion but it also can be in impact to your financing. We’ll discuss these items with you and also look into what the requirements are in each scenario.
13. I expect you to be responsive and collaborative with everyone in the transaction – I put a similar statement as this in a list of pledge items to my clients which is part of our client packages. We work around issues and because we know our processes (and the ancillary services) so well we can usually anticipate issues and circumvent them.
14. I want to work with a professional – Ditto. A professional relationship is what we’re creating. We’ll provide you with a professional service. We put it in our C.A.R.E. statement: Conduct becoming of a professional, Aggressive and effective negotiating, Representing you exclusively, Excellent communication throughout the process.
15. react to problems before they occur, not after – while we can’t read minds we do know our processes and we can usually anticipate most situations. The times we have been blind sided have been when a problem exists on the other side of a transaction that was hidden from us (ie. seller/agent fights) or a client hasn’t been straight up with us. We know our stuff and we can usually head off most issues or at least be able to work through them successfully for our client.
16. I don’t want my loan documents at the last minute – well, honestly, unless you’re staying on top of your lender there is less control over this than the average consumer realizes. We follow up with lenders regularly but if last minute changes are occurring because a client changed his loan product at the last minute, you’ve just created your own problem. Open communication between the client, lender and agent help to make these things go more smoothly but it’s a common issue when getting loan documents out the door from a lender that it’s pushing time limits for closing. Sometimes it’s an underwriting issue, others it might be slack customer service, another might be changes to the loan package near the end of the process, issues with documentation, missing client info, and more. Many things impact these issues and it will depend on the kind of lender and loan product you’re using along with the experience of the individuals involved. Another thing that will help clients is if they don’t ignore all the paperwork that comes to them between the purchase and closing. Many documents like GFE’s, escrow instructions, lender disclosures and what not get mailed out in the process and many buyers ignore them till the last minute.
17. I don’t want to pay for inexperienced agents – with us, you won’t.
18. I want choices in the service levels I receive/purchase – no problem, just interview several agents and you’ll get a choice. We offer some service options for our listing clients but we generally have a standard package. Keep in mind too that as a buyer’s agent, while I may have a buyer’s agency agreement that states my typical fee, I have many times received less than my usual fee because of what a listing agent has posted as the buyer’s agent commission or fee on a sale. I give the same level of service despite frequently having to “lose money” on a client’s purchasing decision. To me it’s all about the relationship so I really don’t focus on the fee part but rather on creating a positive experience for my client so they’ll use me again in the future and refer me to their friends, colleagues and family.
Comments are always welcome, but I hope that this has given you a little more insight into what it’s like to work with Team Reba. Back to work!
