I'm appalled when buyers refuse to sign the buyers brokerage agreement, they always say the same thing "no other agent has asked me to sign one" so on, so on.....
Don't get me wrong, I have had buyers sign & closed with me, without a problem. I was speaking to another agent today that explained to me that in our market, Miami, this agreement does not work for us, that people don't understand the concept. I hate the fact that people just jump from one agent to another, it does not seem like a business. I'm getting my business together and I am trying to make changes, not be like the rest of the agents. This is my business and my time.
I guess if they don't sign they will not be a priority, I have to look up some scripts & explain it well.

You could do a showing agreement just for the properties they want to see, just tell them that this is just to ensure that you get paid for your time. Have them meet you at the office and explain it matter of factly not making a big deal out of it. Then, go out and show them the properties.

Once the relationship is established and they trust you, it's easier to move on to the next step which is the BB Agreement. Otherwise just keep updating the showing agreement for every property you show.

Ok, great idea.

Thanks,

It always bothers me too. Its like saying yes I am going to lie to you and use someone else by not signing.

I'd like to turn it around and say that buyers are skittish of signing an agreement that will lock them in to an agent who they have no idea is even competent. I don't automatically assume that they are out to screw me. I assume they are trying to protect themselves from being screwed by being tied to an idiot. It's my job to prove to them that I am not an idiot.

The only time I have been screwed like that by a buyer is when the listing agent, who also owned the house, went behind my back and offered the buyer a deal after she initially rejected our offer - she offered him a deal if he would drop me and buy from her. He had no loyalty, just dropped me like a hot potato w/ no notice or explanation; I learned of his duplicity when I saw the property transfer in the paper.

I have a non-exclusive buyer agency agreement that is just for that day, just for the properties we see, and is automatically extended by mutual consent when the buyer calls me for the next appointment. I don't force them to sign it but ask them too and when I explain it lightly and don't make a big deal out of it they have no problem signing it. I have only had one person refuse - an attorney of all things, who was actually mad that I was not the listing agent (he just assumed I was when he called me cause he saw the listing on my website.) There may have been one or two others who didn't sign but I don't remember.

I have never used a BB and have never had a problem until last week. I showed a client 38 homes over a period of a six weeks and they walked into an open house and bought the home. She e-mailed me to say they fell in love with the house and didn't mean to waste my time. These are past clients that I had a top notch working relationship with. They bought for 725K. I still believe most people are loyal and decent and hope that this is an exception and not a new rule.

I guess then she wasn't a "Client". She was just a "Customer".

I work full time in this gig and have never once heard an
agent refer to their charge as a customer, granted you are
right in your legal terminology. The term Customer sounds more
applicable to a retail outfit. The majority of the agents I
know don't use a BB, their average real estate trench time
would be 20 years.

Vermont, here, you do not need for there to be a Buyer agency agreement signed in order to be representing the buyer as a client.

Hunter, we deal with Customers all the time. Brokerages should be doing so in an attempt to avoid multiple representation when at all possible.

Do a good enough job that your clients will want to do business with you, and you won't have to force them into a contractual relationship. I don't say that to be pithy, but people are very wary of the "hi, nice to meet you, sign this contract please" approach. This implies that you don't trust them to be loyal to you--and people have a tendency to behave in the way you expect them to behave.

When I've done a BB agreement, I've only ever used a non-exclusive one, and only when the client broached the subject because *they* wanted some sort of reassurance that I was representing them.

In my mind, the best thing I can do to prevent my clients from "cheating" on me with another agent is to show that I trust them. Could I get burned? Sure...but even with a signed buyer-broker agreement, I could still get burned. (Plus, it's certainly questionable whether it's worth it for me to spend the time and energy--and damage to my reputation--to take a former client to court for a commission I felt I had should have earned.)

For me, the "work" doesn't even begin until we've reached the point of writing a purchase offer. Touring homes and talking to people about real estate is fun--it's something I do when I have downtime between clients anyway. At worst, I've lost a couple afternoons and got to see some listings I otherwise might not have seen. At best, I'll still actually get a sale or a referral out of the deal because the agent the buyers went with turned out to be a complete turkey (it's happened!).

You make a lot of good points and have a healthy perspective on this wonderful game. A client called me after this incident happened and wanted to look at homes in the same area, he is very impressed with my market knowledge which is a result of the previous customer/client. I have sold him homes in the past and will not ask him to sign a BB.

I do a lot of work for chartered accountants and many of them have terrible communications skills, the one in the above example was one of these, it was brutal trying to figure out were her thinking was at. All I can say is I did my best.

It's nice to hear from an agent that truly enjoys what they do.


MHT, you make a lot of sense, when a listing agent follows up on a showing
they want to know what you and your client think of their property, they
always refer to your buyer as the "client". I live my life by the "golden rule" and have no plans of changing this. Cause and Effect are the Chancellors of
god... Emmerson.

Hunter, that's amazing - I'll bet that agent that runs the open house won't say "Open houses don't work! Buyers at open houses never buy them!"

That said - maybe in the future for your buyers you could edjucamate them and tell them "Hey, I know you will probably want to drive around without me sometimes and go to open houses. If you do, that's great! Here are a few of my cards - give one to the open house agent so they know you are represented. If you fall in love anything, give me a call and we'll get to work on making it yours!"

Or something like that. A lot of buyers have no idea that they don't have to use the open house agent...and that's OUR fault, not theirs and not the open house agent's.

Unfortunately, the careless intermingling of the terms "Customer" and "Client" will unnecessarily lead to the accidental creation of an "Implied Agency" which can then carry with it most, if not all, of the responsibilities of Agency, including the care required when one bears a Fiduciary Responsibility.

I too have more than just a few decades of experience in this line of endeavor, and I have sat in on many Disciplinary Hearings where the complaining "Customers" thought some Licensed person was representing their best interests, and where they had come to confide in the Licensee as if they were truly "their Agent". Except in jurisdictions where permitted, it is always incumbent upon these Agents to immediately correct that mis-understanding to avoid the creation of an "Un-Disclosed Dual Agency".

Without actively correcting that mis-understanding, "Customers" do have a reasonable expectation to receive the care and protection that we afford our "Clients" . . . . and sooner or later, that will lead to problems. Like it or not, the terminology we use plays a role in fostering these expectations.

Perhaps the Canadians have not yet become quite as litigious as U.S. Citizens; but the financial swings in market values grow, and mistakes become increasingly serious, it will surely become an important aspect of your business as well. Take it or leave it.

I remember in one of my training classes when I first got into real estate, the trainer, an attorney, instructed us to use "customer" vs "client" for the same reasons you mentioned above regarding their expectations.

I remember the words of Bruce Aydt on "Implied Agency" when I took one of my GRI modules from him in my first year as a licensee..."If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck then it BETTER be a duck".
For those that don't know Bruce he has the Law and Ethics column in the NAR Realtor mag:
http://www.bruceaydt.com/