Carrie12345 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 I can’t tell whether I’m not communicating properly, if people just don’t want to work with me, or what. I’m 100% open to critique because I need to get some sort of ball rolling. We were working with a real estate agent. Had a specific property targeted. Saw it pretty quickly, put in an offer same day, adjusted offer either that night or the next day, and got outbid. That’s okay. We talked about meeting with builders and continuing our search in the meantime. She specified (to me and in comments to others on FB) that she works with new construction. Then she started going longer and longer in between contacting us and didn’t answer even half the questions I had emailed, didn’t follow up on resources she said she’d send, and eventually completely ghosted us. She still posts on FB looking for buyers and sellers, and posting pictures of families at closing. Sometimes even likes my posts. 🤷♀️ I called a different place, specifically asking for an agent who worked with both existing homes and new builds. An agent immediately got us into houses and mentioned builders she has relationships with. We haven’t found the right existing home. I’ve never worked with an agent for building, so I emailed her. “When we looked into new construction (and then backed out) 15+ years ago, we did so without an agent, and I’m not really sure how it works with one. Since there are so many options, should we go ahead and meet with some to narrow them down and then set up a formal meeting for hammering out details? Or should we be going through you from the get go? I’m comfortable either way, I just hate to think about eating up an overwhelming amount of you time feeling out various companies, especially if we decide to just stick it out looking for existing homes” She replied ”I am here to help you find what suits your familys needs, even if my service is not necessarily needed entirely. if you go to a builder it can be straight forward, and if you have any questions I can do my best to help you, I just want you to know I was thinking of you and I am hoping the best for you and your family. If I can be of further assistance please let me know, I will be happy to help.” And then she linked two builders. To me, that says “Go do your thing; I’m not really going to represent you in a building negotiation or contract.” But I specifically asked for someone who worked with new building. Do I take a swing at a third agent? Or do I just get real intense about researching all the details to potentially build without one? I am pretty organized and detail oriented when it comes to an important project. But I did want to have someone watching my back, and for them to be paid accordingly. Having two people back out of that has me feeling like it isn’t going to happen though. My husband is pretty straightforward with me when I’ve been uncomfortably socially awkward, overly aggressive, or any of the other weird things I’m capable of being around people, and he doesn’t really think I’ve done anything off putting, so I’m inclined to think it isn’t me. But two people? Just, like, “no, thanks.”? If we *were to try a third agent, is there a different approach I should take? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 The second agent doesn’t hate you. You asked her to justify using an agent to build, she did just that and left it up to you if you want to work with her. The first one probably flaked, which isn’t great but isn’t uncommon in jobs that require a lot of work & are 100% commission. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 17 minutes ago, Katy said: The second agent doesn’t hate you. You asked her to justify using an agent to build, she did just that and left it up to you if you want to work with her. The first one probably flaked, which isn’t great but isn’t uncommon in jobs that require a lot of work & are 100% commission. So, you think I’m just misinterpreting her response? If we get busy narrowing things down to one or two builders, I can expect her to help us through the sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 I think I’m with @Katy on this. She’s letting you know that she will help you, but you may not need her help. Either way, she’s good with that. I’d either try to meet with her in person (or phone) so you can tell her your exact needs, or maybe try a third just to see if you get a better ‘feel’ for the person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Did you sign a buyers agency contract when you put your offer in? If so, you will need to get out of that before another agent will with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Some builders will not work with realtors. Period. A few around here will give a 'referral credit' to buyer's realtor. We have built 2 homes without realtors. There was no issue with the 'sale' that a realtor could have/would have helped us with-- it was very straight forward-- we were the ones selecting the upgrades and doing the negotiating (one builder held firm the other gave us a 'deal'). On both homes we had a price contract BEFORE the build started-- so there were no surprises later as long as we did not change any specs. We had a real estate lawyer draw up the papers... We briefly considered a new build for our latest purchase. Our realtor spoke with several builders that we were considering but did not find one where having a realtor would be better than not having one-- nothing he could help us with (nothing that he could earn money off of). When you purchase a pre-owned home there are different hoops to jump through. Our latest purchase (this past December) was pre-owned. Our realtor (different one than above because we purchased out of his area) helped us by letting us know what was reasonable as far as negotiating price and repairs to be made before closing. She also worked as the 'go between' so we had zero contact with the sellers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 30 minutes ago, school17777 said: Did you sign a buyers agency contract when you put your offer in? If so, you will need to get out of that before another agent will with you. Nope. Thank goodness, lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Don't assume it's you. I think many, maybe most, people aren't very good at their jobs. The first one definitely sounds flaky. I think the second one didn't make her point clearly enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 1 minute ago, Carrie12345 said: Nope. Thank goodness, lol. Thank goodness for sure! For new construction, I don’t know what the benefit would be to use an agent unless they would be with you during the whole process and helping you make selections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 3 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said: Nope. Thank goodness, lol. That's probably why she flaked. How was she representing you when she showed you houses- as the seller's agent? Did either of them ever ask you to sign a contract? Being military, we've moved often and typically have to sign a buyers' agent contract before they show us houses. They've taken us to new construction homes and didn't act like it was weird, but maybe it depends on the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 45 minutes ago, school17777 said: Thank goodness for sure! For new construction, I don’t know what the benefit would be to use an agent unless they would be with you during the whole process and helping you make selections. Sometimes the agent works a deal with the developer to bring in a certain number of buyers, and the buyers get a better price than they would have if buying alone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 If you didn't have a contract with the first agent, then she wasn't actually "your" agent. It sounds like the second agent interpreted your email as suggesting that you might prefer to work directly with builders instead of using her, so suggested some for you to contact directly. When I was house hunting in my previous state, I also looked at both preowned houses and lots for a new build, and I signed a buyer's contract with an agent that did both. She showed us 7 or 8 houses and 3 or 4 lots, and we decided on a new build. Our situation was a bit complicated because we were purchasing 2 acres from one parcel and 1 acre from another parcel and then combining them, so we needed a surveyor and there were various legal hoops to jump through, and the realtor handled all that for us. She didn't have anything to do with the build itself, because I was very hands-on with that and we didn't need any help dealing with the builder, but if we had had problems with him then she would have stepped in to mediate. If you build a house using a buyer's agent, that agent will generally get 3% commission on the total price, just as if they had sold you an already built house. In our case, I felt bad for the realtor who worked directly for the builder, because she did do a ton of work related to the build and she had to split her commission with someone who did nothing beyond helping with the land issues. If I were doing a new build now, I would probably just work directly with a builder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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