A few weeks ago, I had a listing of a house for sale in which my sellers and I received a lot of offers. Let’s say, for the sake of example, that it was an even dozen.
This is the kind of market where you really need to try harder if you want to get the home. You don’t want to cut corners, and you don’t want your real estate agent to cut corners, either.
One buyer couple did come see the property during my open house. (A “blind offer” is when the buyers write offers on homes that they haven’t seen.) Their agent never did, though. She did not visit during the 2 open houses and she did not preview at any other time, either. She did submit an offer on a property which was, for her anyway, “sight unseen”.
Let me tell you, that kind of thing does not impress a listing agent who wants to know that there’s going to be a solid professional on the other side of the transaction. The listing agent is going to be less enthusiastic about working with someone who seems either unprofessional or lazy or unmotivated to do a good job. (What kind of advice could she have given her buyers if she never saw it in person, never saw the neighborhood?)
Most of the time, the buyer’s agent’s laziness or lack of professionalism will not obstruct the transaction if the buyer has by far and away the best offer. However, if it’s neck and neck, that’s the kind of thing that can get your offer eliminated. Would you want to lose the opportunity to buy because your agent could not be bothered to drive over and take a look and hopefully advise you about what she had seen?
Sometimes when a buyer loses out in multiples, it’s not so much that it’s a bad offer as it is a badly performing buyer’s agent. Want the house? Everyone on your team must exert a little more – your buyer’s agent, your lender, and you. Don’t cut corners. In an appreciating market, those short cuts are mighty expensive.
More on buying a home in Silicon Valley:
Mistakes that buyers’ agents make which damage their clients’ chances of winning in multiple offers
Do you have a strategy for buying a home in Silicon Valley?
A summary of tips for multiple-offer situations in Silicon Valley real estate contracts
