Bad Realtor, Bad Deal

There is a plus side to the housing market being in a decline, and that would be the limited amount of bad agents out there. This is a great benefit if you are in the market to buy or sell a home, because chances are you will find a more reliable, up-to-date realtor. In the past a lot of agents did a lot of their work from their offices, but now they really do need to be out in the field in order to be successful. With that information though, you do still need to be careful in choosing your agent.

There are still people out there looking to make an extra buck, and are only part time agents. The clerk at the gas station may take on a client or two for some extra money. Even the utility worker can claim he is a full time agent, when he's not. When this type of deception is going on, it is not beneficial for the buyer or seller at all.

The market has undergone a massive upheaval and you can not do business the same way as five years ago. In Big Bear, bank owned properties make up 10% of the inventory and 40% of the sales. If your realtor is not proficient in dealing with REO's, Short Sales, etc, you are asking for trouble.

I have an example from my last escrow to share with you. My clients put in an offer on a bank owned property listed by an office from out of our area. We did everything we were supposed to do and were just waiting for escrow to open. I have sold around 20 bank owned properties in the last year or so and there is almost always a delay in the bank opening escrow.

With this deal, I felt cool as a cucumber at first, but then I started to sour when I hadn't heard back from the bank in quite a while. Weeks later they confessed to having filed the deal with the wrong office. Then they suggested we may have to pay delay fees. I couldn't believe how ridiculous these people were. Needless to say, I was not having it and we got the deal squared away. But it was quite a lesson in the nerve of some people.

If I had not had any experience with this sort of scenario, I might not have caught the mix up in time. Someone who works in the industry part-time can cost their client a lot of money in these situations. Be sure you enlist the services of someone who has worked in their field for quite some time and can offer you added protection in your home-buying.

Author B. Cole is a professional realtor and well-trained in luxury realty. He is in fact one of the top realtors in his service area.