(clicky poll) Would you hire a Realtor that...

Bookworm75 · June 2009

couldn't be there for you on weekends or eveings BUT their other team members could?

So for "open houses" or showings on weekends if you are buying, you'd work w/another agent on the team, not me.

There are several RE teams in Austin that do this (ie the Goldwasser team) where each agent has an individual job duty. I'm trying to think of ways to remain a Realtor and thought I'd poll you ladies and see what your thoughts were on this.

[Poll]

Spanishbeauty · June 2009

I think personally, I would want the same person helping me the majority of the time. If it's a one/two time thing because they have an errand or child to attend to, no problem, people have lives and obligations. I just feel "safer" with one person.

This might be the result of the way my house buying process went. Therefore, I'm looking for a similar process in the future.

ETA I voted Maybe because if I personally and previously KNEW the realtor and they were not showing me houses, then I would be OK with it. If it was someone I just looked up, then I would want that person to be the one with me throughout the process.

MrsBeckO · June 2009

I voted no.?

I married into a family of real estate agents and brokers, and they are all about "developing relationships" with their clients.. I would not feel like I would really be able to get to know or trust my realtor if they were not the one I dealt with day in and day out during our selling/buying process.

Also, DH works full time during the week so we would *need* a realtor who was available on those off-hours.

I hope you can find a solution that works for you and your family, though. ?

balihaigirl · June 2009

I wouldn't have - only because DH and I work FT and that was our only time to look for houses.

kiarox2002 · June 2009

If I was selling a house, probably. ?If I was buying a house, I don't know. ?I wouldn't be able to go and look except on the weekends and evenings. ?Would you do research and then recommend houses for us to look at? ?When we bought our current house, our realtor kind of sucked and we ended up finding our house on our own so that might be coloring my opinions... ?I think that I would be open to it, but I would want more info. ?:)

angelaggie · June 2009

Personally, I like to keep things simple, and working with multiple realtors is kind of a hassle. I'd want to be sure the person I was working with knew everything we'd looked at, what we like, etc, and if they can't be with us at all of the showings, then things can get lost in the process.

Also the only time we'd have to look at anything would be evenings and weekends.

AustinBride06 · June 2009

Spanishbeauty:
I think personally, I would want the same person helping me the majority of the time. If it's a one/two time thing because they have an errand or child to attend to, no problem, people have lives and obligations. I just feel "safer" with one person.
This might be the result of the way my house buying process went. Therefore, I'm looking for a similar process in the future.
ETA I voted Maybe because if I personally and previously KNEW the realtor and they were not showing me houses, then I would be OK with it. If it was someone I just looked up, then I would want that person to be the one with me throughout the process.

This. And if I were selling, I'd want MY realtor available on evenings/weekends to meet with me as necessary and to do the open houses herself unless I really really trust the team member. What about calls, making bids, meeting new clients, etc? I would think you would need some weekend/evening availability for that.

FireChiefsBride · June 2009

I wouldn't mind someone else showing my house as long as I knew my agent had a good relationship with them. As far as looking at new homes, I would need an agent available occasionally on evenings/ weekends to show me other homes since I work 40-hr weeks.

And I don't think I'd be comfortable with a team like Goldwasser for personal reasons.

Kristen0709 · June 2009

At first I was going to say no. I ended up putting maybe. Honestly, after working with you I wouldn't want anyone but you to help us. I trust you whole heartedly and couldn't see myself getting comfortable with someone else doing the stuff on the weekend when that's when I would most likely be available. But I do understand that these things may happen and to work with you specifically I would definitely consider it if it still meant I got to work with you on some level. I hope that helps a little but not sure that it does!

Cristina<3 Whit · June 2009

balihaigirl:
I wouldn't have - only because DH and I work FT and that was our only time to look for houses.

Ditto- the only times DH and I really got out there to look physically at neighborhoods and open houses was on our Sunday drives, or after work hours, usually past 6pm. We liked that our realtor was available to us during those hours and would not have hired someone who wouldnt have been available or sent in a sub realtor.

After you develop that relationship with your realtor and seeing various houses together our realtor start learning our home buying personality. It would have been hard to change that up.

rssnlvr · June 2009

Cristina<3 Whit:
balihaigirl:
I wouldn't have - only because DH and I work FT and that was our only time to look for houses.

Ditto- the only times DH and I really got out there to look physically at neighborhoods and open houses was on our Sunday drives, or after work hours, usually past 6pm. We liked that our realtor was available to us during those hours and would not have hired someone who wouldnt have been available or sent in a sub realtor.

After you develop that relationship with your realtor and seeing various houses together our realtor start learning our home buying personality. It would have been hard to change that up.

This x 2.

flymansWife · June 2009

Cristina<3 Whit:
balihaigirl:
I wouldn't have - only because DH and I work FT and that was our only time to look for houses.

Ditto- the only times DH and I really got out there to look physically at neighborhoods and open houses was on our Sunday drives, or after work hours, usually past 6pm. We liked that our realtor was available to us during those hours and would not have hired someone who wouldnt have been available or sent in a sub realtor.

After you develop that relationship with your realtor and seeing various houses together our realtor start learning our home buying personality. It would have been hard to change that up.

ditto.

Bookworm75 · June 2009

You girls aren't saying anything that I wasn't expecting. I am not shocked by the results of the poll either. That's why this is so hard. I feel that I am really good at what I do and work very hard to develop relationships w/my clients and I want to be there for them 24/7, but how can I do that w/2 young babies that are in my care 24/7 (for the most part)?

I've been trying to do both for a while now and it's been very stressful and no matter which I choose to give 100% to, someone looses and it's not fair to anyone, least of all my children.

I hate to throw away all my time and money invested into this career, but I can't see a way to make it work.

FireChiefsBride · June 2009

I know it isn't what you're looking for, but is it worth it to join another team as a backup? That way you'd only commit to what you were available. Or- I don't know if this is even realistic- maybe you could team up with one close person and one of you do week work while the other does nights/ weekends. It seems like if you were a close team, a seller would be more comfortable with the idea than having a big team where you didn't know anyone really well.

Bookworm75 · June 2009

FCB- I'm trying to make that work as we speak. My team consists of 3 of us; me, April and James Godina - the Godina Group. So April and I talked today about how they could provide evening and weekend coverage to my clients for me and adjust my split with them to compensate them for that. I'm hoping we can make it work.

I'm very close with all my clients, for the most part and feel we get off to a trusting relationship fairly quickly, so I'm hoping people I met with for new business would be ok with it since we are such a small, intimate team of only 3 people.

If this doesn't work, then I also had an idea today to maybe getting into appraisals/inspections. It's still in the Real Estate umbrella, but would no doubt require seperate licensing/training, but isn't much of a stretch either.

borah22 · June 2009

If they were still accessible by phone or email then I would not has as much of an issue. It really depends too--if a realtor has a good track record and was super responsive and I could tell that they were working hard--then it is easier to overlook lack of availability.

cookie1and2 · June 2009

Of all of the professions out there, it seems like realtors are the ones that leave a bad taste in my mouth. Sorry to say, but swiching back and forth for someone's convenience would be irritating for me, so why would I hire you? In fact, we are considering taking our house off the market just so that we won't have to deal with our current realtor anymore. Can I ask why you have your kids in full time daycare? I think I remember reading that. If I were you, I would use a drop in daycare that is open on the weekend and late at night. We use wanna play by Lakeline mall and have been very happy with it. There ARE options to working 24/7 as you call it.

SaraLouiseBride08 · June 2009

I said Yes, because ... I'm kind of a control freak and didn't rely on my agent for as many things as some people did. I learned and read and researched everything to death. I knew what neighborhood, what zip code, whta price, what features we wanted. I loved my real estate agent, and she was VERY helpful in answering my million + questions, but as far as who actually showed us the house, that's not what mattered.

I would want one agent working with us once the offer has been made, one agent doing the bargaining and paperwork.

As far as selling a house, it would be important to me that I knew in advance any agents that would be showing my house. To make sure we were all on the same page, basically.

However, if I knew and trusted my agent, I would have no problem with her team members working with me as well Smile

Bookworm75 · June 2009

borah22:
If they were still accessible by phone or email then I would not has as much of an issue. It really depends too--if a realtor has a good track record and was super responsive and I could tell that they were working hard--then it is easier to overlook lack of availability.

I'm available on phone or email nights or weekends, but you might hear one of my kids in the background and some clients don't care for that.

AustinBride06 · June 2009

How needy are your clients though? Is it the kind of thing where you really do have to be on-call 24/7? Or can you schedule things so that you're maybe only working a couple of evenings and part of a weekend per week?

Bookworm75 · June 2009

cookie1and2:
Of all of the professions out there, it seems like realtors are the ones that leave a bad taste in my mouth. Sorry to say, but swiching back and forth for someone's convenience would be irritating for me, so why would I hire you? In fact, we are considering taking our house off the market just so that we won't have to deal with our current realtor anymore. Can I ask why you have your kids in full time daycare? I think I remember reading that. If I were you, I would use a drop in daycare that is open on the weekend and late at night. We use wanna play by Lakeline mall and have been very happy with it. There ARE options to working 24/7 as you call it.

My son has been in preschool M-Th since he was 18mos and DD is at home w/me full time. He is there to gain social skills and to take some of the load off of mommy with the arrival of DD. I am enrolling DD into the same school next month in order to pursue getting back into the working world once again (aka for mental health reasons).

I had never heard of a daycare facility open nights and weekends! What are their hours? Why have we never talked about this??!

Bookworm75 · June 2009

Kristen0709:
At first I was going to say no. I ended up putting maybe. Honestly, after working with you I wouldn't want anyone but you to help us. I trust you whole heartedly and couldn't see myself getting comfortable with someone else doing the stuff on the weekend when that's when I would most likely be available. But I do understand that these things may happen and to work with you specifically I would definitely consider it if it still meant I got to work with you on some level. I hope that helps a little but not sure that it does!

Thanks for your kind words! And I would love to help you guys when you're ready!

Bookworm75 · June 2009

AustinBride06:
How needy are your clients though? Is it the kind of thing where you really do have to be on-call 24/7? Or can you schedule things so that you're maybe only working a couple of evenings and part of a weekend per week?

Every clients needs are different. Some are needier than others and you never really know which ones those are going to be until you get into it. Some want to talk/email multiple times every day, others are fine with a weekly update or status conversation.

I have done mostly listings since 2006, but with this economy, sellers are much more demanding than they used to be and want an open house every weekend.

PMBridetobe · June 2009

Tanya1975:
borah22:
If they were still accessible by phone or email then I would not has as much of an issue. It really depends too--if a realtor has a good track record and was super responsive and I could tell that they were working hard--then it is easier to overlook lack of availability.
I'm available on phone or email nights or weekends, but you might hear one of my kids in the background and some clients don't care for that.

As a former client and one who will use you to sell our current house when we move to the country. The thing that I liked most about you was your availability virtually. I knew that when I emailed you, you would be right back to me. I also am very busy so talking on the phone was not often possible but you were always responsive to my emails.

DH and I did not need someone to show us around. We liked looking at listings online and then narrowing them down. Due to a initial bad experience with another agent, you were very up front about your out of office time and that I would need to contact April about certain items during that time period. I though that April was wonderfully responsive and fulfilled the level of need that I had while you were out of the office.

Did we talk sometimes when Aidan was in the background, yeah, but oh, well, such is the life of a parent working at home. Quite honestly, there was nothing that we really had to talk about with the exception of the negotiating with the lovely buyers.

My next home buying experience is already happening as we are building on land we already own. But we will need to sell our house and DH says when we are talking about it, "Tanya will likely tell us to do X, Y & z."

If I did not know you, I would have to make that decision off of my gut feeling when I met you. If I felt trustful and in sync, then I would go with that.

Whatever you do or whatever decision you make, I am sure it will be the right one for you and your family!

ETA: We have used the drop in daycare before and loved it! It is a bit pricey but not as bad as MBF.

2H2L · June 2009

Spanishbeauty:

I think personally, I would want the same person helping me the majority of the time. If it's a one/two time thing because they have an errand or child to attend to, no problem, people have lives and obligations. I just feel "safer" with one person.

This might be the result of the way my house buying process went. Therefore, I'm looking for a similar process in the future.

ETA I voted Maybe because if I personally and previously KNEW the realtor and they were not showing me houses, then I would be OK with it. If it was someone I just looked up, then I would want that person to be the one with me throughout the process.

I think this is me, too. I would want the same main contact person to see us through. I definitely wouldn't mind hearing a kid in the background on the phone and stuff like that...you'll hear one in my background, lol (well, she's a baby right now, but same thing - noisy sometimes!)

libbyann · June 2009

Personally, no. Our Realtor was amazing and was the only reason that we got our offer in on our house on time. We called him at 6pm on a Friday night and we were viewing our (now owned) home at 7:00, putting an offer in on it at 7:30 and then negotiating our contract all day Saturday.

I loved working with him and I don't think I would've felt comfortable seeing an assistant. He fought hard for us to get our house and I think that made all the difference in our offer being accepted instead of the other offer.

Bookworm75 · June 2009

PMBridetobe:

Tanya1975:
borah22:
If they were still accessible by phone or email then I would not has as much of an issue. It really depends too--if a realtor has a good track record and was super responsive and I could tell that they were working hard--then it is easier to overlook lack of availability.
I'm available on phone or email nights or weekends, but you might hear one of my kids in the background and some clients don't care for that.

As a former client and one who will use you to sell our current house when we move to the country. The thing that I liked most about you was your availability virtually. I knew that when I emailed you, you would be right back to me. I also am very busy so talking on the phone was not often possible but you were always responsive to my emails.

DH and I did not need someone to show us around. We liked looking at listings online and then narrowing them down. Due to a initial bad experience with another agent, you were very up front about your out of office time and that I would need to contact April about certain items during that time period. I though that April was wonderfully responsive and fulfilled the level of need that I had while you were out of the office.

Did we talk sometimes when Aidan was in the background, yeah, but oh, well, such is the life of a parent working at home. Quite honestly, there was nothing that we really had to talk about with the exception of the negotiating with the lovely buyers.

My next home buying experience is already happening as we are building on land we already own. But we will need to sell our house and DH says when we are talking about it, "Tanya will likely tell us to do X, Y & z."

If I did not know you, I would have to make that decision off of my gut feeling when I met you. If I felt trustful and in sync, then I would go with that.

Whatever you do or whatever decision you make, I am sure it will be the right one for you and your family!

ETA: We have used the drop in daycare before and loved it! It is a bit pricey but not as bad as MBF.

Thank you K! I too am a busy person and love that you prefered email or texting most of the time. It's so much faster and can be done at each persons convenience and even during a mtg or closing w/o disrupting anyone else. Plus, I like having a paper trail of dialog. It has come in handy many times!

atlantic · June 2009

I do personally prefer to work with one agent - if they're FANTASTIC. But, most of the teams get to be teams because they're so good at what they do. Each person has their role and they've mastered it. With great teams, you are likely to get really great service because that person is completely focused on that part of the transaction. I haven't really heard much though about buyer's agents switching off clients - most of the ones I know on teams do maintain the same relationship throughout the showing process.

I have another, offline, question for you - email me at alexis and tim@gmail if you get a sec!

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