The Other Agent
Most residential transactions involve two agents – one for the seller and one for the buyer. Unlike other industries, real estate agents are competitors with the same agents who bring buyers to their listings or listings to their buyers. If you remain in business for more than one or two years, you will probably have repeat transactions with them. You will rely on your competitors to happily bring buyers to your listings or make sure you are aware of their new listings that appeal to your own buyers. Given that, you need to protect your future clients’ interests by not being known as difficult or unpleasant.
Make the other agent understand how grateful you are to them, without overdoing it. Make their job easier. Have the pre-approval or proof of funds attached to your offer. Double-check that all of the forms are signed properly at the outset. Let them know how you can be contacted.
Be punctual with deadlines. Don’t ask for an inspection response extension fifteen minutes before it is set to expire. Remind the other agent if a deadline is approaching – they may have misunderstood the time or may have forgotten, as humans sometimes do.
Go off-topic. Be pleasant and ask how they are doing. What are their plans for the weekend? What is going on in their life that is interesting? Is there a problem the other agent has with another transaction? Perhaps you might be able to share a helpful tip from a similar experience. Most agents want to know that their counterpart is human and not the evil representative of the opposing side. We should do our best to make things as pleasant as possible for all parties in the transaction.
When a problem arises, view the situation not as an Us vs. Them confrontation. Be more detached way. Think of yourself as an observer of what is occurring. Take note of the personality types of the participants as well as the severity of the problem. Rather than saying, “We won’t go for that!” consider saying, “ My client has said he won’t do that. What do you suggest?” Then be quiet. While it puts the onus on the other agent, it avoids browbeating and allows him or her to suggest an approach that might work.
GB Landrigan