I ran across some buyers a while back that were telling me they weren’t happy with their buyer’s agent. They ended up firing their agent and hired me because they were “not pleased with the buyer’s agent attitude nor ability”. The odd thing is that the buyers asked me if I would be willing to give their previous agent a referral fee.
Being that I was a bit confused by that, I asked them why. They said that they “felt bad” because the agent had put in time and effort and “wouldn’t make any money for doing so”.
When I asked them for more detail on what the agent did for them, they said, “They sent us a few emails with listings and showed us two homes.”
Think about that for a second…
They think that sending a few emails and showing two homes warrants making a commission of (in this case) $3750.
Does that mean that they think that’s all we’re good for – emails and opening doors? By them asking my broker to pay the other agent’s broker $3750 for sending a few emails and opening two doors, the answer seems to be yes.
But consumers expect more from us, right? They sure say they do. And their actions usually back up what they say.. After all, these buyers fired their previous agent and chose someone they felt had the proper expertise and knowledge to represent them.
But in this situation (and other similar situations), the consumer is contradicting themselves. So which one is it?
Sometimes, the only answer I have is to scratch my head…
