Should I start looking for another buyer’s agent? I don’t know if my agent is doing a great, average, or poor job. I’m in health care, not real estate, so I don’t know if I have room to be judgmental. The banking company that I’ve been with for 25 years has a home buying service in which they appoint a real estate agent to the buyer (me).

I’ve been working with this agent for about 6 weeks and have viewed about 7 houses thus far. All of these houses are ones that I found through various web sites; although, she sends me automated emails of listings. Most of what she sends me does not interest me. Of the houses I find online, I forward the address to her and she lets me know whether or not it’s still available. Out of the 7 houses I’ve viewed with her, there’s one I like and I stated to her, “I’m ready to move on this house”. I asked if this bank owned house is negotiable since it has been on the market for 3 weeks and a similar house down the street sold for $30,000 less. She said she would check to see if there are any offers. I have not heard from her in 5 days now even though I’ve emailed her about it.

I have also been doing internet searches on sold houses in the area I’m looking and see desirable properties I would have bought if I had known about them. The selling prices of these houses are well within my mortgage range. I’ve been approved for a mortgage of up to $190,000 (standard 10% down loan and FHA); even though I prefer to keep it below $160,000. I have a 727 credit score, a hefty down payment, and have a steady job (pay is a little short).

I feel that I could be beneath the client she is accustomed to working with. I’m finding desirable houses (for my needs) in the area of $125,000 to $155,000. Perhaps a client of this value can be put on a back burner while she works with higher income clients and properties (she gets 3%..Yes?). If this is the situation, this is fine and perhaps I should be working with an agent who is new to real estate. On the other hand, my assumption may be completely wrong. It seems to me that in SE FLA, (an area hit hard by the real estate bust); I should not have too much trouble finding an average house. I’m assuming a house for sale goes up on the MLS and then in days or weeks it’s on web sites such as Realtor.com, Homepath.com, etc. So by the time I get to view a desirable property and price, perhaps it’s sold.

Could my thoughts be correct? Should I find another agent? Are we not compatible? Should I tactfully inform my agent of my thoughts and ask if she wants to part amicably? I want to be fair and I understand she has her personal life and family. Yet, I’m not seeing desirable results. I’m not that fussy. The most important thing to me is a 2-car garage (at least 20’x20’), an average size back yard, and not in drug infested neighborhoods.

I read the thread from “Grayhair” and I certainly would not expect an agent to show me 100 houses. This is an enormous amount of uncompensated time and gasoline.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Jim

If she's not being responsive to you or treating you like you are an important client, then I would look for someone else.

However. Have you signed a buyer's agency agreement with her? If so, was it exclusive or non-exclusive? You may run into a problem if you have signed an agreement to work with her for a specific period of time.

Hey Jim, sorry to hear you're having problems.

There could be reasons why you haven't heard back, REO agents are, in my experience, notoriously difficult to get ahold of. Its entirely possible a simple question like "Is this property available?" could take 5 days to get answered. Oftentimes I've found I've just had to submit offers for clients blind because I cannot get any feedback from the REO agent.

BUT, the fact that your agent has not responded to you is a big problem. She should at least respond to your emails with "I've been trying but haven't gotten any responses from the other agent" if thats indeed the case.

Do you have an agreement with her? I think you may need to find somebody else...

The "appointee" concept sounds very interesting.

What relationship does the Agent have with this Bank? There must be some form of incentive, kickback or preferential treatment that makes this worthwhile for these parties to be working together. Are these ONLY "bank owned" properties that are being shown to you? Owned by your bank? How did the Bank go about linking you up with this Agent?

I'd ask the Bank what the consequences are of asking for another "appointee", seeing as they don't seem to have done the compatibility tests on this first one.

You're on your way to becoming an educated consumer.

Our company has referral agreements in place with local employers, banks, credit unions, etc for these types of things. I'm set up to get referrals through them and have done a few.

Basically the agent pays a referral fee at closing for any deals that are referred through the program. Depending on the program its a lot or a little, our program doesn't pay anything to the bank or source of the referral, the buyer gets a little rebate and the company keeps some for managing the whole program. Agents are selected based on experience and customer satisfaction.

Pros for the agent and company: It brings in business

Pros for the buyer: They get a good agent without having to search, and they may or may not get a little rebate

Pros for the referring organization: Its a great benefit they provide their clients or employees with no cost to them.

Perky: Nothing has been signed.

SWRSDC: In my agent’s defense, she did say that it is difficult to get a response from this one particular bank owned property I’m interested in. This will be my 2nd house. My first house I bought was in Rockville, MD in 1998, a buyers’ market back then and easy to find houses. After 9/11, it all changed up there, Homeland Security seemed to create jobs and a housing shortage.

Vermont: I’m not exactly sure of the relationship between USAA and Coldwell Banker and how USAA decides or selects an agent for their customers. USAA did say they will assign another appointee if I so desire. But I want to be fair to the agent, become educated of what her job entails, what I should or should not expect, and not jump to conclusions. If I mortgage through USAA, I’ll receive a rebate of $600 to $1200.

SWRSDC: Your last thread sounds accurate of the bank and real estate broker relationship. Unfortunately, I think I’m doing all the searching.

I guess the bottom line is that I may have to give this agent some delicate hints that I need to find a property soon or I’ll have to find another agent. I really don’t want to do this. I’ll see how it goes for 2 more weeks. I’m paying $1250 for my 1 bedroom apt since I am now month to month; way too much.

You might want to shop for better interest rates and loans fees. USAA is notorious for overcharging on their loans. They lure you in with the rebate but you end up paying dearly for it.

The last I checked usaa charges the buyers agent 30% of their pay for the ability to work with you. This along with the brokerage fees the agent has to pay and you might be working with an agent who will be getting only half a paycheck. Not much motivation for successful agents

Small world! Yeah the market here has been very strong, one of the strongest in the country.

Good luck Jim, I hope it works out. Keep us posted.

WOW, unbelievable; this is quite a learning process.

After spending a couple hours researching the web, I now realize that the USAA Movers Advantage is not so great; even though USAA has been fantastic for other financial services and buying new vehicles.

From my research, the agent is required to surrender 30% to 35% of her/his commission to USAA. This is disgraceful and borderline criminal. I have read so many negative reviews and only a handful of positives. Naturally, this puts the USAA client at a lower priority. I can’t blame the agent one bit. This program might be ideal for someone fresh out of real estate school; not for the seasoned agent and my agent appears to know her real estate. The $1000 or whatever kick-back is not worth poor service.

It’s now time to begin again and get approved by another lender. Any suggestions for SE FLA are appreciated. Many of the posts I’ve read have worked with Bank of America.

This is a fantastic forum; all of you have been an enormous help, and I am so appreciative. How did we ever survive without the internet!

Jim

I would advise against Bank of America right now. They are having a lot of underwriting issues and have probably the strictest underwriting guidelines out there right now. I've got one closing right now being processed out of TX thats actually for a retired BofA executive, so you'd think they'd work harder, and its been a nightmare. The issue is that their guidelines are SO strict and the organization is run in such a beurocratic fashion, they're not compatible with the current market climate where it takes a little creativity to make deals work.

My advice would be to find a good, local correspondent lender that has in house control over underwriting and closing and go from there. Oftentimes you'll get better terms, better fees, and your loan officer and subsequently your agent will have much greater control over the loan process from start to finish.

But, at least for right now...we're no longer doing business with Bank of America...

Glad we could help!

Now is the time to see if your agent really knows the business. Ask them for the contact info for a couple of good local lenders.

Do not use an internet lender, always borrow local.

Hi Jim~ Regardless of the type of sale, REO, Short Sale, conventional, your agent should keep you up to date, even if there is no news, you should not feel abandoned.

I would start by revamping your communication skills with your agent. If there are listings you aren't being provided and information you are not receiving, it sounds like a communication error. Express your dissatisfaction with this element of your relationship and if things don't improve, move on.

Acually USAA (movers advantage program) costs the the agent receiving the referral 37.5 percent. The agent also is not allowed to speak about this to buyer or anyone.
My company does these. Even they were our client before they were refered into the USAA (movers advantage program)we have to forfeit 37.5 of our commission...pretty unethical! They(Movers advantage) has become very agreesive also so if someone they are trying to put into the program says they have agent they are working with already(agent not in the program)they tell them to dump the agent. Our broker likes the program...I would like out of it.

If you do not like the agent I would call your contact who refered you to them (If you still want to stay in the program)they will find someone else or make sure this agent does her job
I always try to give good service. It is in your mind however that big brother is taking 37.5 off the top! Then the big name brokers take around 45% after that you are left with around 27% - your expenses.
But still if this agent is taking these she should be giving you the kind of service that she normally would!

I do alot of USAA - I'd lose my contract if I told you how I really feel about them.
Jimmy - you would be wise to tell your agent you need to see property on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (or whatever days work for you) and ask her if she's available. Tell her you are ready to move now and expect to see 3-4 houses (or whatever you have time for) each of those days. Tell her you want to write up something each day. If she doesn't respond to that - she's not interested, move on.
Here in my town, a Buyer/Broker agreement means nothing. <<Really Agents - how do you enforce that?>>
You as a Buyer want someone that wants to help you purchase a house. That person will most likely be busy because success breeds success - but I can always find time for a motivated buyer. The cost of the house is secondary.

Wish I was closer!

If after you told your agent that you want to move forward, she hasn't contacted you for 5 days and has ignored your emails, you should find another agent immediately. It doesn't matter that she has to pay a referral fee. If she doesn't want the business, she shouldn't take it on.

Get another agent.

I’ve learned so much here, thanks to all for your input.

Jimmy

Just as some Agents will record their Listing Agreements attached to the properties of Sellers who try to sell behind their backs . . . . some "exclusive" Buyer Agents will track down what was eventually purchased by their Clients, and attach that Buyer Broker Agreement to the acquisition.

Some will say that's not a valid lien; but then most will want to remove the "Cloud on the Title" anyway; and they do it long before trying to dispose of the new home. And true, it's more difficult than simply attaching the known Listing property, as it requires stalking out where the Buyers eventual roost; but it has a way of getting attention.

No one requiring immediate gratification ever succeeds in Real Estate. Our's is a business of patience and deferred gratification. And to perform either of the above steps either requires that you be sensitive enough to realize when "something fishy's going on!"