The selection process most South Bay home buyers and sellers use is pretty straight forward when it comes to picking their real estate agent—they pick the first agent they meet, they pick the agent whose name they hear or see the most, or they'll pick the first agent they are referred to by a friend or trusted source. This group is a good ~70% of the people out there.
The other ~30% of home buyers and sellers approach their selection of an agent as a detailed project, carefully evaluating the market, deciphering Realtor speak, comparing notes with friends, and finally picking an agent with whom they feel they'll have the best repour.
For the 30% group, they'll interview at least 3 agents, if not many more. They'll also start to realize that many agents they meet will plunk themselves into a category called the buyers agent. Lets take a quick look at the positioning a conventional agent would use compared to a buyers agent.
Buyers Agent (why they think they are best suited to be your agent)
Okay, this is just one man's opinion, and I'm totally generalizing, but I believe Realtors who call themselves buyers agents either work for a leading agent as part of their team, or they are not particularly productive and are unable to capture quality listings. Every top agent I know has a solid mix of buyers and sellers. Think about it, if you're a Realtor, why would you arbitrarily tell half of your potential target audience that you only work with buyers?
If you meet with a buyers agent, here's what they might say:
- I only work with buyers like you, so I am more experienced than agents who dilute their focus between buyers and sellers.
- I'm a better negotiator because I'm focused on the buyers needs
- I'm part of a bigger team who can address all of your needs
Conventional Agent, AKA the sellers agent (why they think they are best suited to be your agent)
Listing agents don't normally discriminate between buyers and sellers, they just want your business. The exception here is based on the dollar value or "pain threshold" of your transaction. If you are looking for a $400,000 town home and the agent normally does $3,000,000 estate home sales, they might have you work with a dedicated "buyers agent" who is either their employee, or a member of their team. This is especially true for agents who do more than 1 or 2 transactions per month. For the South Bay, 12 to 24 transactions per year is huge. Agents with this level of productivity are top 100 ranked
With the exception of the last year, listings are always the name of the game because the listing agent has a contract with the seller and the agent is able to market the home to buyers, both those with and without an agent.
If you meet with a sellers agent, here's what they might say:
- I work with both buyers and sellers
- I have more knowledge because I work with both buyers and sellers
- Many buyers agents are junior to a lead agent in their organization, why would you choose to work with a junior agent?
I know that I'm kind of a broken record on this topic, but experience isn't based on what you call yourself, it's based on your agents current level of activity and knowledge within the local real estate community. For example, if you meet someone who tells you their exclusively a buyers agent and they complete 10 to 20 transactions per year, then their probably a great choice. But, I'd bet that most buyers agents are only completing a handful of transactions annually, if.
So what am I really saying?
Pick an agent who works with both buyers and sellers, who always has something in escrow or that is listed, and who really knows the market. Follow this simple path and you'll find yourself great, balanced representation.
Why am I writing about this?
Diana and I were recently interviewed by a family who is looking to buy a South Bay home. They asked us if were were more buyers agents or sellers agents, which got me thinking, and I'm a little dangerous when I think too much.
