[Music]
Hello everyone and Welcome once again to
another episode of Selling Greenville I
am your host as always Stan McCune realtor
right here in Greenville South Carolina
you can find all of my contact
information in the show notes and please
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we're going to be talking about how
realtors kind of size up each other or
or how the dynamic goes from from
realtor to realtor because the way it
works in this market is you have
different real estate offices and those
offices are run by a broker and those
Brokers then have underneath them the
Realtors now Realtors are independent
contractors we're not employ
employees of the real estate firm or
at least that's that's not normally the
way it works usually we're independent
contractors for the broker that we work
under but we basically represent the
broker and so this is why you know a
dual agent
situation in in Greenville or or a
what we would call in this area
designated agency
situation is when you have two
realtors that are under the same
broker
but you have all these different offices
all these different Brokers and then
underneath them all these different
realtors and so at the end of the day
different offices get different rep
reputations among Realtors and I'll be
honest when I get a text message from
some real estate from from some realtors
that are with certain real estate firms
I don't want to say I roll my eyes
but it's just kind of like oh boy what's
going to happen now because there are
those reputations and I I really do try
to keep an open mind at the end of
the day anything that my clients need to
know for instance if an offer comes from
a a realtor or a firm that I've not had
good experiences with I'm always going
to present that offer that's my legal
responsibility that's my fiduciary
responsibility to my seller clients
if a home comes on the market that is
listed by a realtor or a firm that I've
had bad experiences with I'm still going
to present that to my buyer client so we
need to parse here and and I'm not sure
every realtor does that I I can't say
that for sure but they're supposed to do
that but we need to parse here right at
the beginning what I'm saying and what
I'm not saying I'm not saying that I
show or or that it's widespread that
there is partiality from one realtor to
the next but what I am going to say and
the argument that I am going to make is
that that certain Realtors just based on
their name their presentation Etc and
the firm that they're with gives their
clients a leg up versus others and I I
think that that's pretty common sense
but I want to give an example from from
just
recently so that you guys fully
understand what the dynamic is here and
kind of pull back the curtain a little
bit so you can see a little bit behind
the
scenes so I had some clients that
were looking to buy a home and we
were in a situation
where they had a home sale contingency a
lot of uncertainty with that home sale
contingency but they really wanted to
make an offer on a house that they
really loved and so I wrote up the offer
the best I could really tried to
paint the picture for the listing agent
who is another I'm I'm with
Berkshire hathway Home Services cedan
Jord Realtors it was another agent same
firm as me and and one that I've
worked with before and really tried to
to paint the picture for her of you know
why my clients were a strong client
despite the fact that they had to sell a
home in this market which is a sell's
market needing to sell a home and having
a home sale contingency we've talked
about this in a recent episode as
well but that really puts you behind the
aall that makes it very difficult to buy
a home that being said we were
making some traction but we needed to
narrow the price Gap a little bit my
clients you know they they wanted to try
to get the price as low as possible
obviously and at the end of the
day it was a little bit too low for the
sellers so we were trying to narrow that
Gap a little bit well guess what
happened during the time that we
attempted to narrow that Gap another
when you know another offer came in this
always happens again this is a
difficult Market VI your buyer another
offer came in but we were in luck we
were in luck because this offer also had
a home sale contingency and so it if
they had not had another home sale
contingency I don't think I would be
doing this episode but but they did
and here's the thing I get a call at
like 1 p.m. from the listing agent and I
see her number come up on my phone and
it's like you know what it's 10:00 p.m.
I should be in bed probably right now
but I need to take this call and I
you know I've said before I'm not one of
those Realtors that's like you know what
at 6 o'clock I'm shutting off my phone
I've got a work phone and a personal
phone and I'm not going to be taking any
calls on my work phone man there's a lot
of out there that they they brag about
that which I think is kind of weird I
I don't do that if I if I have an
important call come in late at night and
I'm still awake and coherent I'm going
to take that call so I take the call
from this realtor and she's like
listen here's the situation and the
the long story short was we had to
nailed down a couple of other terms but
she told me that hey your clients at the
end of the day where we are right now
you know if they could come on come up
on their price a little bit that would
be great because the offer that we
currently have is is significantly
higher than than their offer even if
they come up to you know she gave me a
number you like even even if they came
up to that it still wouldn't be as high
as what what the current offer is and
and she clarified that her clients had
given her permission to to reveal that
information which is which is helpful
but she said even if you come up to
that number that that won't exceed the
the other offer that we have but as
high as you can come up the better
because I would much rather work with
you and I and I know how you operate
we're in the same company this I'm
confident that this would be a smooth
transaction versus this other agent
who is is with XYZ firm I won't say what
what firm the other agent was with
and did not present the offer her offer
very well actually she just if you if
you're on Twitter or some of these other
social media platforms you maybe heard
people talk about sliding into
sliding into someone's DMS and which
is another way of saying like if it's
someone that you don't know this happens
to women a lot in social media where
a mail that they don't know will just
send them a random message that's called
sliding into their DMS well we have
situation where Realtors will slide an
offer into your email box and all of
a sudden you open your email you didn't
get a text or call or anything and oh
there's an offer in there and it's kind
of nice but it's also kind of weird as a
realtor you should be getting
notified if an offer is coming in your
inbox and so this agent had had done
that and and the listing agent was
like you know
kind of off-put by that by the lack
of presentation by some other
unprofessional aspects of of that
agent and at the end of the day she
was like Hey I would rather work with
you guys and so the long story short is
we were able to we able to come up a
little bit on the price nail out some
other terms and whatnot that they needed
in order to work with us and even
though she revealed to me after the fact
the other offer was still higher than
what we ended up on we got our I got
my buyer client under contract for the
house that they wanted for a lower
price than the other offer and the agent
was very candid with me she was like it
was because of your presentation your
professionalism versus the other one and
I'm not trying to Pat myself on the back
here right obviously this is a this is a
story that that that makes me look
good but this is my podcast so you
know I'm going to tell whatever story I
want to tell but but the point
being that this is an important thing
realtor presentation and as a listing
agent I experience this when I'm selling
a home as well when I'm assessing an
offer and and I think this is the case
with any good realtor there there is a
human element to this right the offer
comes in on paper it's very black and
white but there's a human element we're
trying to assess more than just the
black and white just the paper and I
think that that's what why Realtors have
still been successful even in this
era with so much technology is because
we can navigate some of the human
aspects of a
transaction and one of the things
that I'm assessing is not just the offer
the terms of the offer the purchase
price and whatnot but the realtor that
sent it again I need to
clarify just so that nobody freaks out I
will always present an offer and I'm not
going to focus on the realtor on the
other side if if two offer if if there
are two offers and one of them is just
way better than the other I might say to
to my seller client
hey I got two offers one of them is is
way better than the other and that would
you know that one is probably the one
that we need to be focused on but the
agent with the other offer I have a good
relationship with them you should just
know that that but at the end of the day
you you're probably if we can't get
either party to budge you probably won't
accept the higher offer right because
it's a it's a significantly higher offer
but part of what we are assessing as
well with an offer is will this actually
get to closing it's not just the
purchase price it's no good you know if
someone comes in and they they offer you
double what you've got it listed for
that doesn't matter if they don't get it
to closing and so a lot of lot of
seller clients will accept a lower offer
if they are more assured that it will
get to closing and so those are the
little nuances that we as Realtors are
are trying to pick up when we're
talking to other realtors in the
marketplace and this is where the the
whole sliding an offer into your inbox
that's one of the worst things for
me as a listing agent when that happens
it's like really like you you didn't
take the time to check check in with me
to to see if we had other offers to to
see you know what the situation was to
inform me that you were sending me an
offer in in the case of this other
agent the listing agent for the house
that my buyers got under contract for
she said that there was even kind of an
an aggressive expiration date on the
offer so it was like she wasn't even
told that she was receiving an offer
she received it it came in at night and
the expiration was for like the next
morning like early in the morning and
so that's that's not a very good way of
presenting the offer but you know there
are a lot of Realtors out there that are
doing that I had a I had a realtor a
buyer's agent that came in not too
long ago and put an offer on one of
my listings and just I I could just tell
right away this was going to be a
difficult person to to deal with and at
the end of the day her offer was pretty
strong and I you know I was able to
negotiate some back and forth and my
seller client did accept a counter we
after multiple rounds of countering did
come to an agreement went under contract
but my gut the whole time was like and I
told him I was just like this realtor
is really making me concerned because
because she just doesn't really seem
to know what's going on she is acting
like an inspector going around and and
getting you know doing all these
different things that you would normally
have an inspector do even though she's
not licensed to do that and and
doesn't seem to really have an
understanding of the contract
language but it was the only offer we
had and it was a it was a pretty strong
offer so we got under contract and then
that buyer agent literally derailed that
transaction she ended up causing on
her own a lot of issues and of course
I'm not going to say who it was but she
caused a whole lot of issues that
were unnecessary just seed all these
seeds of doubt in her clients mind I
don't know if she was trying to you
know if she was concerned for liability
or if she was trying to protect them or
whatever the case may be but I walked
away from that thinking I don't want to
ever work with this realtor again if
I can avoid it because she I mean she
caused a lot of issues for my client she
ended up at one point leaving the AC on
like 50 on in a vacant home and it ran
for we didn't realize it for several
weeks that it was just left on 50° which
is awful you know my client found out
when he had a massive electric bill the
next month and so these these are
the types of things that we have to deal
with and these are the things you
know in
hindsight maybe I should have you
know been a little bit firmer with my
client of just being like Hey listen
my gut is screaming right now this is
going to be a difficult transaction I in
hindsight I've talked to my client
and he actually does wish that I had
been a little bit more forthcoming on
that I just we have to be careful right
because at the end of the day it's
not our job to judge other Realtors
that's more of an anecdotal part of the
part of the equation we we do want to
at the end of the day focus on the
cont contracts that we have and the
offers that we have and I've worked with
a lot of bad Realtors and we've been
able to make it work it's more work
for me but that's what I get paid to
do there's another way that you
know off the top of my head that that
we're assessing these other Realtors and
and assessing offers that they might
bring and whatnot and that's when you're
actually looking at at the the
paperwork what we call the the form 310
scr 310 the the more or less standard
contract that's used among Realtors here
in the Greenville area there are
all kinds of different fields and boxes
that have to be filled out and I can
literally look at the
offer look at the paperwork that's
sent to me and know if that
Realtor knows what he or she is doing
or not a lot of them you can look at
just the way they fill out the offer
that there are just little quirks here
and there things that are unconventional
we have you know very conventional ways
because it's a standardized form there's
very conventional ways of filling it out
you get a realtor that that fills
some things out differently than the
other 98% of Realtors out there it's
probably because it's one of the first
times that he or she is doing it or he
or she has not been trained in it or he
or she just you know doesn't exactly
hasn't been paying attention to the way
other people do it in the way it's
supposed to be done whatever the case
may be but when I'm looking at an offer
that's one of those things that I'm
looking at as well I'm not just looking
at the price point I'm not just looking
at you know how many closing costs are
there that they're asking for the
seller to pay how many you know days
is the inspection period etc etc there
are these little ways of reading in
between the lines that an offer can
be assessed and it is accessed in that
way and so when you have a buyer's agent
you need to make sure your buyer's agent
knows what he or she is doing it really
does make a difference I am not the only
realtor as as is obvious based on my
story I'm not the only realtor the
listing agent I referenced before is not
the only realtor that looks at more than
just the offer there is a lot that goes
into someone writing an offer there's
a ton of Realtors out there right now
and so because there are a ton of
Realtors out there and because there are
realtors as I already mentioned before
that will that are so bad that they will
actually derail a
transaction we as listing agents
have to assess the realtor as well we
have to we have to look at the at the
realtor what firm they're with these
different things and that might not be
the deciding factor but it could be a
tiebreaker you know you get if I get
two offers that are equal and I've got
one realtor that I that is very
professional has a good background a
good reputation works for works for a
professional firm and another realtor
that you know the offer is exactly the
same but there's a lot of
unprofessional aspects comes from an
office that I've had issues with in the
past you know at the end of the day I'm
going to at least let my clients know
that my seller client know that feel
like that is at least in terms of the
transaction a material fact that's
something I have to reveal hey I've
worked with these two parties and
they are not not co-equals in terms
of being Professionals in real
estate another thing that that we
run into is Realtors giving a lot of
background information telling a lot of
stories about their clients
there is a lot of debate over how much
storytelling should happen in a real
estate transaction and I tend to think
that less is more but there but there's
a fine line right so you know an example
of Storytelling that could backfire is
you know let's say that that you as a
realtor are trying to portray that your
buyer client is serious
and she really wants to to move into
this home she is not just you know
putting her toe in the water she's not
just you know trying to get a house
under contract and then going to back
out she's really serious and so you
start giving some background information
about how you know she's a single mom
she's been you know living with her
friend for a while and you know it it's
it's just been a tough time for her and
she's ready to get her own house she's
desperate to move she loves this house
this is the one for her she's got to get
this under
contract you might have a realtor
that that presents an offer in that way
and I would say that that that's
going to backfire a lot of the times
because what happens is so you know
let's say that that a realtor presents
an offer to me like that for a house
that I have
listed I am going to go back to my
client and just relay that information
and let the chips fall where they may a
lot of clients seller clients in that
situation will draw bad conclusions from
that story they'll create a narrative
that is the opposite of what the buyer's
agent was trying to create they'll come
up with they might come up with for
instance an idea that you know oh well
you know this is a single mom I mean you
know is her job secure I mean what you
know does she have a lot of stability I
mean will she you know are we going to
run into issues down the road with her
being able to you know actually
afford the down payment I mean people
will come up with I'm not saying that
that's the right thing and I don't
encourage my clients to come up with
those narratives but I promise you they
happen and what happens is the
narratives that people come up with are
almost always negative because people
come up with the narrative that they
want to believe
and often times just is I think it's
just human nature when you're trying to
buy or sell a home you're distrustful of
the of the other person and having a
narrative attached to that person can
you will basically if if if you get more
details on the person that you already
distrust then you just take those
details and you make them fit the
narrative that you have and I've seen
this happen so often had a client
recently that said you know that I
really needed to to to tell their story
to to the listing agent in order to
get their offer accepted and and I was
like first off I was like I I know how
to negotiate I know how to get an offer
accepted I didn't say that because that
would have come across the wrong way but
I was thinking that in my in my mind
I've done this before I know how to get
an offer accepted but more I was
think thinking man the story that
you're wanting me to tell that agent
would
completely most likely be distorted
by possibly by that agent and probably
by by the sellers and so I do give
personal details but I'm very careful
you know if if if the personal details
can help but you have to be very careful
and I am very careful that those
details can't be twisted and at the
end of the day it's it's hard it's hard
to do and that's why I say that less is
more a lot of Realtors give way too
much information and then you get you
know sometimes clients that will write
letters buyer clients that will write
letters to sellers saying I really love
this house you know this is my dream
home and again those usually help
if it's a great offer and if that letter
from the buyer to the seller you know
doesn't scream of
desperation I think it it could work
all El being equal like for instance
in a multiple offer situation you know
if that offer is comparable to the other
offers but they make a very compelling
case that they really want the house and
it's a and they have a lot of skin in
the game that could help but it could
offer also backfire I mean you know
you've got situations where some
people might write letters that are have
tons of of grammar and spelling issues
even with you know all the grammar
and spell checks that we have that's not
uncommon that doesn't come across
well again you you get a situation
where where someone starts creating the
narrative I get that letter from the
buyer's agent I'm going to pass that on
to my seller that's my responsibility
the seller can draw their own
conclusions if the letter has a ton of
spelling and grammar
errors I'm sorry but whether it's right
or wrong that seller is going to draw
some conclusions about the buyer that
aren't going to be positive and
you've got a situation
where where they again give too many
details on their family and on their
their personal situation you know they
say we've we've made multiple offers on
on multiple homes and and have been
outbid on all of them and we really you
know this home at the end of the day is
better than all of them we really feel
like this home was was put in our lap
that type of thing well then you know
I've I've had situations where seller
clients have been like why why have
they had multiple offers rejected like
are they doing something wrong like is
there something that we're missing here
and then they start asking those types
of questions and so again we have to
be very very careful very cautious
with with how we present an offer
your offer
presentation is extremely important and
at the end of the day as is the case
with the the story I told earlier
sometimes the offer presentation
can make or break a deal and sometimes
the offer
presentation is the deciding factor
between the seller accepting one offer
versus another and so it's very
important keep that in mind I I know a
lot of people that will just use a
realtor as their buyer agent because
they think you know this is going to be
straightforward what what could go wrong
there is a lot that could go wrong
don't just use a buyer's agent that's
just a friend that you just want to help
them out you need to find someone that's
professional that will represent you
that knows how to fill out a contract
in a way that won't raise eyebrows that
won't you know reveal too much
information that will paint a a
narrative in the seller's Minds that
will actually put you at a disadvantage
there's all sorts of things that could
go wrong here and on the flip side all
sorts of things that can go right a lot
of of different presentation tactics
I'll probably record that in another
podcast but a lot of different things
that a good buyer agent can do in order
to present an offer in the strongest way
possible well that's it for today's
episode if you need a buyer's agent to
present an offer in the strongest way
possible I am your guy my contact
information is in the show notes and
until we talk again next week I hope you
guys stay safe and have a great time
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