Why 80% of Home Buyers make Mistakes
Hi Everyone, Glad to speak with you about one of the most common mistakes home buyers make. About 80 % of home buyers pick the first agent they talk with. Over 50% of those people won't come in contact with another agent for the rest of their home shopping experience. Now many lead generation sites for Realtors advertise this fact and so they sell their service of first shot at the leads they have. but what does this have to do with the buyers themselves? Well if 80% use the first Realtor they talk to we have to see what normally happens that causes them to talk to a Realtor.
See most people are"Just Looking" with really little or no intent to buy. This is the first phase of the buying process. They aren't serious yet so they aren't going to call a Realtor yet and many of them don't even know how Realtors work. They will end up just calling the agent on the sign of the home they want to see. Read my blog on "I'll just call the agent on the sign - Caution!" but it's kinda like warranties. When you go to buy a car, computer, or some appliance. You look at the price find the one you like and then when you get up to the counter they ask you if you would like to buy the warranty to protect it or extend the coverage. You never planned on the warranty when you were thinking of buying the item usually, but many people buy them. This is what happens all the time with home buyers. They aren't serious yet but end up seeing a flyer or ad and all the sudden they find themselves buying a home. I would guess about one third of purchases happen this way. Unplanned, unexpected, spur of the moment buying. It's kind of like a relationship. Many people who find a spouse or husband weren't planning on finding their future wife or husband when they went out that day, it just ended up, one thing led to another and opportunity arose and years later they are married.
The problem with buying a home like this or choosing an agent this way is that many times you'll take the first agent you met not really knowing the difference from one agent to the next. Many people don't know what to look for in an agent or what things to avoid and how those traits can affect their transaction. Lets take a look at just a few hints of what to look for and avoid. Picking the right agent is going to be key to your successful home purchase. More than any other person involved they will either make it a good experience or ruin it. All their contacts and people they use to facilitate other parts of the transaction are key. Getting the wrong loan, processor, closer, inspector, and such can be devastating to the transaction. Most agents come with baggage. Their preferred vendors. These can be good or really bad, and since the home buyer usually doesn't know who to use they rely on the agent.
My point is the agent is the very first person you should get involved, especially if your just looking. Don't wait until the spur of the moment dream house shows up and make a decision then. This is what usually happens. establish your relationship first with a real estate professional. They first natural thing to look for in an agent is patience and motive. We feed our families by helping new clients. There are many types of agents out there and not all are going to care about their clients. But if your going to be smart and hire a Realtor first to help you, you have to find someone willing to work with people and give space to people who are "just looking". See I know of agents who won't even talk to you if your not pre-qualified or if your not going to buy in the next 30 days or even if your not going to buy after one day of looking at homes. They don't want to waste their time with you if you aren't ready to go. This type of attitude is why many people avoid choosing a Realtor until they are ready. it's like going into a car lot and they jump on you, but once they find out your not looking to buy today they pass you off to the new guy so they can be ready to jump on the next person. You know what I'm talking about.
But you're not going to make that mistake, because it cost you much more in the long run after you get into a transaction and just pick a Realtor out of circumstance. The problem there is you may get that fast Eddie agent who will shove you through a transaction after they accept the offer and under negotiate things like the home inspection and repairs just to finish the transaction so they can get a paycheck.When you move in and the home is full of problems that could have been fixed you'll understand what I'm talking about. But then it will be too late. Don't make this mistake, Hire the right agent early. So patience and the right motives are the first thing to look for. They can't be about to make a quick paycheck and they have to patient to let you just shop without being pushy, yet also be there for you when you stumble along the right home.
The second thing is they should have some great tools for you to "Just Look". Like systems to let you do the looking yourself with auto email updates of the new homes that hit the market without them having to contact you every time. We have a system like this and it's great because you know what you want better than the agent does, so why not give you the tools to look and when you find something you like we can open it up with no pressure to buy and just assist you in the looking where we need to. If you ever decide you are more ready you have a relationship with an expert who will come in and help you pick a loan a negotiate an offer. This is really the best and smartest way to start looking for a home. We don't care if our clients buy today tomorrow, next year, or never. We are here to help. We listen to the clients and advise them with total respect for their goals not ours. I have found that is key to our success also. Where many agents may toss aside the "just lookers" we realize they are people who need help not a pushy salesman. They need better tools than outdated magazines that don't have addresses, they need better tools than websites design just to get their personal information to sell as a lead or for a salesman to try and close them. And most of all people need respect and freedom to do what they want while at the same time getting helpful guidance so they don't get themselves into trouble.
I hope this little chat has helped you mentally get a little more prepared for picking an agent first and then starting to think about looking, and There is no question we would love to be an option for you when it comes time to choose a Realtor. But we hope your successful no matter who you choose. if you would like to see some of our testimonials from people who have used us in the past click here, and don't forget to check out our website www.TeamQuintana.com for helpful information and read our other Blog posts on tips for home buyers and mistakes to avoid. As usual feel free to call us with any questions or post any comments below of things you liked or topics you would like us to post on. Thanks again until next time.
Ross Quintana
Team Quintana Real Estate - MJ McAdams Realty
509-362-1966