Lake Sinclair Blog

I have a Georgia Broker's license from the real estate commission.  That gives me the legal right to sell and list property anywhere in the state, but that doesn't mean I do or that I should. If I were to go into the Atlanta, Macon, Savannah markets to show property I couldn't properly represent a client. 

This week I had a call from an agent out of area. They wanted to show some of my "listings" from my website. Well many of those "listings" from my site they wanted information and showing instructions were IDX listings on my site from other companies. And while I'm a very nice person, no I'm not going to take an hour out of my day to look up homes and give another agent the listing agent's phone number. Finally one they wanted to see was my listing so I made arrangements for that house to be open for the agent and the buyers. I owe my seller the duty to make sure their house gets shown to every potential buyer.  The agent went further to try to pick my brain about the types of ownership here and lease rates from Georgia power.  Sorry dude, call them yourself. I have other things to do.

To fully be able to help a buyer an agent needs to know the market, be a member of the MLS in that market in order to obtain access to homes via lockbox and pull comparable sales to help a buyer make an informed decision when making an offer.  So if I had a friend or family member that wanted to buy in another area of Georgia other than Lake Sinclair I would refer them to someone who was a local to that area expert.

That brings me to my next point, access. If you are not in the local MLS then you don't have a key that opens local electronic key boxes that are on almost all listings in my market. Every listing agent won't be as accommodating as I am to get the home opened up for you. I don't understand why an agent tries to work outside of their market and area of knowledge because it's certainly NOT putting the buyer's interests first. 

Why any agent would attempt to represent a buyer when they don't have access to the local MLS is beyond me. It sure isn't the right thing for the buyer. It seems more like it might be better for the agents bank account than for the buyer's interests. I would never do that to my buyer. Hey buyers is your agent looking out for YOU or are they looking after their commission and not referring you to the BEST agent to help you?

Before you hire an agent to represent you ... ask some basic questions about them having access to the LOCAL MLS (multiple listing service) and have a lockbox key to provide you access to available listings.  Before you make an offer you should be looking at comparables for the home that are recent sales. Don't hire your friend and think they will help you more if they are not local to the property you are buying.