Realtor question

[Deleted]

We are going to look at houses with our two realtors tomorrow. We have appointments set up all day, so I know we will be stopping for lunch. Is it appropriate for us to buy their lunch?

[blondemoment123]

I'd think they would buy yours.


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[isabel]

Sure if you want to. I wouldn't be surprised if they offer to pay.

[blackcat]

The realtors we've worked with always paid for our meals.


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[eb777888]

I would not buy their lunches, no. Is that tacky? Oh well.

[emjacobs]

They should actually buy yours if anything. My agent still offers to buy my lunch and I bought my house 3 years ago.

[Deleted]

Ok I wasn't sure. We are riding with them all day, so I almost felt like I should buy their food to make up for all the gas.

[janegold]

No, you don't need to. Agree with the others that if anything, the realtor should pay for you.

[cinnamoncox]

They'll pay for yours and the food and gas is a write off don't give it a second thought.

Signed,
A realtor

[noodle]

We never ate lunch with our realtor, but he did take us to his favorite coffee shop in town and bought us coffee and pastries.  I offered to pay (wasn't sure of the etiquette in that situation), but he insisted.

Can I add another realtor question?  Our realtor has gone way above and beyond our expectations: arranged for an electrician and a contractor to check out the house and give estimates for work after we had our inspection (and he met them so we didn't need to make a trip), emailed us last week with contact info for all the basic utilities, emergency numbers, etc, has made a number of great recommendations for contractor, locksmith, electrician, and other work we want done.  We'd like to get him a gift to thank him for all his help.  Is that appropriate?  And any suggestions?  We don't know the area well yet, so not sure about restaurants (we were thinking gift card), and don't know if he drinks, so a good bottle of wine is out.  Thoughts?

[janegold]

Aug 23, 2014 9:16:12 GMT -5 noodle said:

We never ate lunch with our realtor, but he did take us to his favorite coffee shop in town and bought us coffee and pastries.  I offered to pay (wasn't sure of the etiquette in that situation), but he insisted.

Can I add another realtor question?  Our realtor has gone way above and beyond our expectations: arranged for an electrician and a contractor to check out the house and give estimates for work after we had our inspection (and he met them so we didn't need to make a trip), emailed us last week with contact info for all the basic utilities, emergency numbers, etc, has made a number of great recommendations for contractor, locksmith, electrician, and other work we want done.  We'd like to get him a gift to thank him for all his help.  Is that appropriate?  And any suggestions?  We don't know the area well yet, so not sure about restaurants (we were thinking gift card), and don't know if he drinks, so a good bottle of wine is out.  Thoughts?

We ended up giving our realtor and real estate attorney bottles of my favorite wine. Never occurred to me to verify if they drink or not; I tend to assume most people do, at least occasionally. Anyway, I asked the question about gift-giving here when we went through this, and most people said not to bother since they are pretty well compensated by commission, but it's just something I wanted to do to show a bit of appreciation.

[noodle]

Thanks janegold!  I've been less happy with our real estate attorney, so while I initially thought we would get a gift for him as well, I'm no longer inclined to do anything more than pay him his fees.  Maybe good bottle of wine is the way to go.

[littlemisssunshine]

Aug 23, 2014 9:16:12 GMT -5 noodle said:

We never ate lunch with our realtor, but he did take us to his favorite coffee shop in town and bought us coffee and pastries.  I offered to pay (wasn't sure of the etiquette in that situation), but he insisted.

Can I add another realtor question?  Our realtor has gone way above and beyond our expectations: arranged for an electrician and a contractor to check out the house and give estimates for work after we had our inspection (and he met them so we didn't need to make a trip), emailed us last week with contact info for all the basic utilities, emergency numbers, etc, has made a number of great recommendations for contractor, locksmith, electrician, and other work we want done.  We'd like to get him a gift to thank him for all his help.  Is that appropriate?  And any suggestions?  We don't know the area well yet, so not sure about restaurants (we were thinking gift card), and don't know if he drinks, so a good bottle of wine is out.  Thoughts?

As a realtor I would be much more appreciative if you let me know (even via email) that you were happy with my work and would be referring me to your friends and colleagues. I would also be appreciative of you posting a postive online review of me. Other than that, we are paid with a nice commission, so I wouldn't expect any other compensation. 

[isabel]

Aug 23, 2014 9:16:12 GMT -5 noodle said:

We never ate lunch with our realtor, but he did take us to his favorite coffee shop in town and bought us coffee and pastries.  I offered to pay (wasn't sure of the etiquette in that situation), but he insisted.

Can I add another realtor question?  Our realtor has gone way above and beyond our expectations: arranged for an electrician and a contractor to check out the house and give estimates for work after we had our inspection (and he met them so we didn't need to make a trip), emailed us last week with contact info for all the basic utilities, emergency numbers, etc, has made a number of great recommendations for contractor, locksmith, electrician, and other work we want done.  We'd like to get him a gift to thank him for all his help.  Is that appropriate?  And any suggestions?  We don't know the area well yet, so not sure about restaurants (we were thinking gift card), and don't know if he drinks, so a good bottle of wine is out.  Thoughts?

We gave our realtor a bottle of wine. We knew he drinks, but it wouldn't have occurred to me to check if I hadn't know. He was super appreciative.

[my3boyz]

As pp said, the best gift you can give the Realtor is a positive review in writing. Leave it on sites like google+, trulia or their Facebook page. And referrals. I promise one referral is better than any other gift!