Honestly, you can be indignant if you want but you have contacted this poor guy and asked him to work the day after he told you he had the flu. Work that he probably knows will not benefit him since you have been looking for 6 months and you are still 70% sure these homes will not work for you. If I were your realtor you would be no where near my top priority while I was so sick.
Hannah, you have to admit this is a valid point. You've been looking for ages; the chances of this one weekend making or breaking your house search are slim. Your agent knows what kind of properties you've rejected in the past; he probably knows without even you seeing these two houses whether or not you'll want them. Plus he probably feels like a bus hit him and probably doesn't care if he ever leaves his house again, let alone whether or not you see houses #1001 and #1002. lol.
That said, it would be smart of him to coordinate with a few colleagues so they can take each others' clients when emergencies arise. All he would have to do is set an out of office reply with the alternate names and numbers or email addresses, and he would be free to recuperate in peace. Did you specifically ask him to set you up with a colleague? Because it didn't sound in your OP like that's what you wanted, so maybe it didn't sound that way to him either, especially through the distraction of feeling like death.
If I were in your situation, I would probably call the Remax office, explain the situation, say you don't want to bother your agent when he has the flu, but you were wondering if these two properties are having open houses, and if not, is there someone else who can arrange a showing even though you're in contract with your agent. I'm sure they'll have someone who can accommodate you.
I haven't read all the replies so sorry if this was posted but I would expect he would have lined up another person to show you the house once he was diagnosed with the flu. If you are in a fast selling market, he would know that you don't have time to wait until he's better. I would call him and find out who is covering for his clients while he's out.
What about the internest..why in the world would you not look up on mls if it is open? That is how we have found all of our open houses. You also don't need an agent to go to an open house. You can sign in. The sign in sheets always ask if you are working with an agent and who it is. (put in sickie-poo's name).. In today's society you need to be self sufficient. It doesn't appear that you are being the least bit self sufficient.
No, it doesn't mean you're signing on with them; it's just a marketing tool. It does give them the ability to contact you, but we don't list our phone numbers, just an email address so we can block them if they bug us too much.
I think it's an unspoken rule amongst realtors that if someone comes to an open house without having a realtor that the selling agent has first dibs on them as a client. Both our lender (a retired realtor) and our agent told us that we should never sign in when we go to an open house unless our realtor was with us.
when we were house hunting in MA, the open house sign in sheets would always have a spot that asked if you were already working with a realtor. we went to many open houses ourselves, and just put yet in that box. no biggie. even if that slot isn't there, what's the worst that could happen, the selling agent calls you, you play dumb and apologize saying "oh i'm sorry, we already had an agent at the time we went to said open house, i didn't think that would be an issue" they can't force you to use them, can they?
When we went to open houses unaccompanied with either handed the agent our RE's card or wrote her contact info down when we signed in. You should make it clear that you're already represented.
Meh, I don't think you are cold hearted. Even with the flu, he is obviously checking emails if he has responded twice. He should have set up something with another agent or coworker to cover his appointments and clients and then put an out of office message on with the new info.
To add, I can see why he wouldn't set you up with a coworker.... It'll cost him a lot of money (he'll have to pay a referral to the other agent, probably whether or not you buy this weekend) and he's already invested a lot of time in you.
No, it doesn't mean you're signing on with them; it's just a marketing tool. It does give them the ability to contact you, but we don't list our phone numbers, just an email address so we can block them if they bug us too much.
I think it's an unspoken rule amongst realtors that if someone comes to an open house without having a realtor that the selling agent has first dibs on them as a client. Both our lender (a retired realtor) and our agent told us that we should never sign in when we go to an open house unless our realtor was with us.
Sorry, I did a drive by post. Yes, I have been told by multiple REAs never to sign in to open houses, especially if you think it is something you may put an offer on.
actually, it is about who represents the buyer. If you don't make it clear to the REA hosting the open house, they could claim procuring cause if you later buy the house. There is usually a spot to put down your buyers agent. Redfin has a good description of it. My handwriting is illegible, so that's what I usually do. www.redfin.com/home-buying-guide/viewing-homes-open-house
Of course, we are all arguing US rules for open houses. No idea if Canada has the same procuring cause rules.
And apparently, quoting on the app doesn't work right yet. That explains the weird quotes I've been seeing. Sorry. The previous post was in response to the earlier discussion of signing in at open houses and what it means.
I just meant that surely you know the flu is, like, serious. Have you ever had the flu? You spend the first few days wishing for death.
4 seconds and google the words "toronto open house" and you have a clickable map of open houses. Go nuts.
Hanna - open houses are also listed on realtor.ca. Just search for the listings you are interested in and if there is an open house it should state it on the listing.
It's not that easy for a realtor to set you up with another agent on short notice. Other agents have their own clients, and just because he works for remax doesn't mean he has a secretary. His office may have a receptionist but that is a shared service. Also if he hooks you up with another agent he likely has to compensate that other agent. Also if you do attend open houses you must be clear with the listing agent that you already have buyers representation.
In most states, dual representation by an agent can't occur without express consent & a specific agreement. This whole signing in = now the seller represents you is silly.
Starlilly - true, but if buyers' agent does something dumb like not take the buyer back through the house then seller's agent could claim to have procured the cause of sale and fight buyers' agent's for commission. At least in SC. Though its all solved as long as buyer is clear that she is represented.
If you`ve narrowed down neighborhoods or know where these houses are, you could just drive into them and follow signs. Not the most efficient but you`ll see something.
People who came to our open houses just came in and said their realtor had sent them out to view open houses for the weekend to help them narrow down what they were looking for. That will get you around the signing in. Walk in and say `we already have a realtor, we`re just looking on our own today`
It`s hard to say if you`re being cold hearted or what he should do, maybe he suddenly got worse and wasn`t able to get out of bed. He probably isn`t thinking clearly so what a realtor should do in these situations doesn`t really count. But on a weekend it`s likely his colleagues already have appointments made to take someone around or maybe half of them are sick too. So I`d log on MLS, see if any listings have open house hours on them, drive around and hope for the best.
I'm going to agree w/ Steph. Obviously this poster has a history that is skewing responses but I have no idea who this is so I'll just answer based on the info.
I didn't think for a second that Hanna wanted her realtor to show the homes himself. I figured she wanted to be shown the house by a warm body. I know when I was house hunting and serious about buying, I would not have wanted to risk losing a house because my agent was sick. I would have gladly went and looked by myself but no way would I have waited another week for someone to recover from the flu. I wouldn't expect and agent to show me a house sick. Hell, I woudln't want him to. BUT I wouldn't want to be held back by my agent either.
And this is why after buying 3 homes over the past 12 years I decided that buyer's agents can be as much of an anchor as they are a help.
this "To add, I can see why he wouldn't set you up with a coworker.... It'll cost him a lot of money (he'll have to pay a referral to the other agent, probably whether or not you buy this weekend) and he's already invested a lot of time in you." is very true. And it's the reason I avoided working with a buyer's agent as long as possible while I was looking. They are looking out for their commission, not your needs. It's just how the job works.
And it is true that if you sign in at a open house, and you don't have a contract with a buyer's agent, and then later went back and made an offer, you could be bound to the agent selling the house. At least when I lived in Connecticut that is what our realtor explained to me. He said not to sign in anywhere because even though I had a contract with him, the seller's agent could get some of his commission since they "sold" me on the house. Basically it can get sticky. So go to an open house either with your agent, or go alone and don't sign anything.......at least this is what I was told.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking buyer's agents. They are a world of value if you are buying in an area you aren't familiar with and they do work hard for their money. But I made it clear to my agent before I signed with him that if he couldn't show me a house for some reason that was cool, but I'd go see the house myself and I'd be sure not to sign anything. I was signed with him so he'd get full commission if I made an offer. He was fine with that. Being a realtor was his second job and he had a lot going on so he wasn't always available, especially on weekends.
OP if you are a looky-loo buyer still, just wait another week or two for your agent to recover. If you really think this house could be the one, I'd be honest with him and tell him you want to see the house yourself. If you have a contract with him, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't get his commission on the house should you make an offer.
Starlilly - true, but if buyers' agent does something dumb like not take the buyer back through the house then seller's agent could claim to have procured the cause of sale and fight buyers' agent's for commission. At least in SC. Though its all solved as long as buyer is clear that she is represented.
This is my understanding as well. We have a realtor and we've been looking longer than hannah (gasp) but we've only actually seen about 5 houses with our realtor. We've done drive bys of open houses but we've never gone to one alone. I've been told countless times by my realtor that if we want to see a model home (new construction) or an open house, we need to go with him or someone from his office. If we show up to an open house/model home and eventually buy, our realtor will likely lose out on the commission because he wasn't there as our agent at the first showing.
ETA: I don't even think that telling the seller we have an agent is sufficient. If the agent doesn't show up to that initial showing, he loses out on the commission.
Vegas - model homes are a whole other ball game. Many builders don't offer commission if you don't bring the client to them directly. Anything listed on the MLS offers a commission to the buyer's agent so long as she procured the sale and is a member of the MLS.
He should have sent you an email with the agent covering for his showings while he is sick. My BFF is an agent and had her DH get his license for just this reason.
This whole open house thing is very interesting. Why couldn't I just walk in and not tell them my name or write anything down? DH and I have a realtor that we plan to work with for our home search this summer, but no signed contract. I can't imagine why I wouldn't just refuse to provide information to ensure that his commission was not in jeopardy.
Maybe that's a rude thing to do, but I can totally see myself politely declining to provide information and letting the seller's agent know that we were just looking around at homes in the area.
Hanna, I'm glad your REA got in touch. Hopefully you'll like the houses!
I'm not pulling my answer out if thin air. We went to over 60 open houses, unrepresented for at least 20. After being represented, we still saw a ton of showings on our own. I guarantee you that there was no procure clause & jotting down my name and email did not crate an agency relationship with all those dozens of agents. Nor did our agent tell us not to sign in anywhere.
We ended up buying new construction, from the builder, so an agent ultimately became irrelevant.
I agree with you nhahn. Been there, done that, and.I still got all the info I needed easily, and without establishing a business relationship with the.selling agent.
My response wasn't to dispute yours, just to explain what some of the other "sign in and lose your agent" craziness was coming from. I assumed you knew what you were talking about, there's just so much bizarre info passed around here. Perhaps mine adds to the confusion.