Who finds homes: agents or clients?
The Wheel Estate Cam: Episode 20
By Frank Borges LLosa, Friday, April 16, 2010.
Episode 20: Is it still the role of agents to find the right homes for their clients?
Frank LLosa, of Frankly Realty in Virginia, says agents typically play a far lesser role in home-finding these days -- a result of improved online search tools for consumers.
"That role of having to wake up in the morning and having a list of three or four customers, and doing manual searches for each of them and sending them off -- that's not the way I work."
He adds, "People don't want me to send them what I think is a pretty house because I have completely different tastes than most other people. To constantly be sending them stuff just doesn't seem efficient."
Comment below to share your thoughts.
Watch past episodes of the Wheel Estate Cam.
Frank Borges LLosa is the broker, founder and owner of FranklyRealty.com, a real estate brokerage in Falls Church, Va. He is the creator of the Trust Me I'm a Realtor blog and multiple listing service wiki site FranklyMLS.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @franklyrealty.
***
What's your opinion? Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor.
All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.
You must login or register to post a comment.
Submitted by Holly Schwartz on April 16, 2010 - 9:12am.
I like Frank's take on the manual searches. A lot of searches are automated however agents spend a lot of time and energy devoted to seeing properties and that allows them to find property fits for more than one client at the same time. Real estate involves putting your attention in MANY different areas because you are helping your clients with what is most likely the largest purchase they have to make and it encompasses more than just the home they buy, it involves their entire life. Costa Mesa, CA
www.torellirealty.com
Submitted by Frederic Guitton on April 16, 2010 - 2:00pm.
It is all about helping the search! I think the value of a good Realtor is in their ability to ask the right question to help you clients' search. When looking at home with them note their comments and ask them about these comments later. Home buyers make statements on the fly and if you can capture those and assist them in discevering their needs then you are a great value!
Frederic Guitton
Live Chat|Live Web Solutions
www.activSalesAgent.com
(800) 945-5551 x 7717
fguitton@activSalesAgent.com
Submitted by Anonymous on April 16, 2010 - 2:03pm.
And this is just another example of why Realtors are very quickly going to be extinct, just like the Hairy Mammoth and other prehistoric creatures, who failed to adapt to their ever changing environment!
Submitted by Glenn Weilbacher on April 16, 2010 - 2:22pm.
Frank,
I don't know about your IDX or MLS but I offer the customers subscribed into my IDX a personalized search wherein I utilize my MLS members only search to create a search that employs crieria not available to the public via the IDX. This allows me to offer a personalized service that helps me to connect with the customer. I offer this via my e-mail mailings and it often results in customer contacts I would not otherwise have.
Submitted by Alexis Eldorrado on April 16, 2010 - 4:01pm.
Eldorrado Chicago Real Estate LLC
www.Eldorrado.com
I am with Frank.
However, the real deal is the Agent that knows their MLS Input requirements well enough to do a full search without missing out on any listings. In the Chicago real estate market we have a 4 page input form. Some fields are mandatory and some are not. The key is to only use search criteria for fields that are mandatory. Otherwise you are “short-changing” your client.
A perfect example is square footage. If someone in Chicago wants a house with square footage from 3500 – 4000 square feet, and you enter that as a search requirement, you are going to miss a lot of homes in your results. Why? Because square footage is not a mandatory input field on our MLS input sheet. You may have 20 homes that fit all of their search criteria, but because you coded for square footage, and it is not a mandatory mls input field, those 20 homes will not show up in your clients search results.
This would be applicable nationwide based on your own mls input rules.
Alexis Eldorrado
Managing Broker
150 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2800
Chicago, IL 60601
773-588-7777
Alexis@Eldorrado.com
www.Eldorrado.com
Submitted by Ken Lampton on April 16, 2010 - 6:07pm.
For the most part, the idea that buyer's agents earn their money by picking out homes to visit is obsolete in this day and time. It's a quaint and old-fashioned concept that needs to be enshrined in the Smithsonian and erased from the minds of buyers and agents alike.
Here's my experience: No matter how brilliant a job I might do in picking out the homes my buyers ought to visit, they still go out to the internet, pick out other homes, and insist (mostly politely) on visiting those homes too. Many of these home visits don't contribute much to the home selection process.
I almost always set up an automated web feed to help my buyers see all the homes that are most likely to interest them. Most of them are very happy to take control of the process of selecting homes to visit.
This brings up an interesting question: Why does everyone claim the internet makes the homebuying process quicker and more efficient? Instead, I find the internet often functions as the perfect tool to help the buyer put off making a decision. It's easier to choose another home to visit than it is to commit to writing a contract.
Oh, now that I think about it, maybe agents are actually paid for helping the buyer decide which home to choose, not for helping him decide which homes to visit. Now there's a provocative thought.
--------------------------------
Ken Lampton
RE/MAX About Dallas
www.m-street-dallas.com
Submitted by Linda Aaron on April 17, 2010 - 8:55am.
I am going to have to disagree with you Frank. With all of the information now available from all manner of websites/feeds etc. my belief is that the most accurate information still comes from the agent's ability to search directly from the MLS.
Our NWMLS has a feature which allows our agents to setup a search based on the criteria for a client and the agent receives an email whenever anything new is listed matching the criteria. Most agents have smart phones with email capability so the agent will have the information before the next feed to many websites. Not only will the agent have the information first but it will be the most accurate.
How many times have clients pulled up listings from websites only to have the agent discover that the listing is no longer on the market? Unfortunately not all websites provide accurate feeds.
In my opinion if an agent is working primarily as a buyer's agent then they know their market/inventory and what is available. You can search the Internet all day long and you still won't know about a property until you either preview or take the client on a tour. A picture might be worth a thousand words but can also hide many faults.
No substitute for going right to the source.
Linda Aaron
Training and Development Manager
Coldwell Banker Bain
Submitted by Loren Sanders on April 18, 2010 - 9:21am.
I could not disagree more. When I meet a new client I stive to ask enough questions to get a good idea of what their perfect home would look like. Then we search. The clients search online and get online updates of new listings and I am still searching as well. I have screens for each client that send me homes that meet the genreal criteria and then I weed them down to ones worth seeing.
A big part of my job is to study homes and prices daily. See all the inventory I can, then I can offer advice and insight that helps clients get the best possible property for their situation.
Submitted by Joe Shoemaker on April 18, 2010 - 10:30am.
Big deal. Any half-witted chimpanzee with a laptop sitting in a Starbucks can find a house. My 10-year-old cousin can search the MLS. I doubt any sane person would want her or the chimp assisting them in the purchase of a house, however.
I'm not a house finder, a cab driver, a dog walker or a lawn mower. That's hot what I sell, and not why my clients hire me.
Submitted by Andrew Snow on April 20, 2010 - 11:46am.
Frank,
I would have to agree with points made by Loren and Linda. Engagement with the customer in determining what aspects of a house they value and then assisting them in the search of properties to meet this criteria is so important today. Agents' experience and knowledge of their markets is of value and must be delivered, otherwise the role of the agent may whittle down to a contracts/proposal one.
Customers don't want you to pick a house for them, they want help in finding a home that is meaningful to them. Of course, they can search themselves but the information available to the public is well shy of that available to agents via their MLS systems and other tools and knowledge in possession of the agent.
Perhaps, if the agent's search is limited to the standard exclusionary methods (3bd, 2 1/2 ba, pool, zipcode), then the customer may be just as suited to perform this function as the agent. What is needed is a means of determining what a customer values in a home as this delivers insight into how to pursue meeting their needs.