Ever bought a house on the MLS and never met the listing agent?

Question

For those that goes through the MLS to buy properties and, have you ever bought one and never met the listing agent face to face?  Assuming you are not an agent yourself?

I have one property I am in the process of buying, all contingencies met and now waiting to close and I never met the agent.

I saw the listing and called about the property, asked a few questions and requested to see it.  She said she's tied up but she said here is the lockbox code help yourself.

I went to see it - actually twice - and after crunching some numbers I decided to send in an offer.  I prepared the offer myself using standard state contracts with fillable PDFs and did electronic signatures, and sent it to her.

We went back and forth she did her offer submittals on here end - it's an REO - and bank rejected, I resubmit, it went back and forth, all negotiation via text messages, then finally we made a deal.

Then come time to inspect we had issues, water and electric not activated, shutdown due to non-payment.  Agent said no bank would not turn on I said no inspection with electric and water no deal, so they yielded and paid off the accounts and reactivated.  I asked to make sure we actually have water and electric before I schedule an inspection and agent said she would go double check but she's busy so I offered to head over to check.  I went over with the key from the lock box, and flip the breakers and got lights and AC running, but no water.  Found the two main valves one for each of the unit turned them on, no water.  Finally had to turn the valve on at the meter.  Didn't expect to have to be on my knees scooping out dirt to expose the valve handle under the dirt so I was on nice clothes hahaha.  Got water on and of course a few leaks inside due to unterminated stubouts and or broken drains.  That I was prepared for and had a dozen PVC caps and Sharkbite end stops so I put those to use.  Now, the bank owes me money right?  They have my stuff inside their house that is stopping leaks from happening.

Inspection day, listing agent is tied up but said I can go in and do my inspection with the same code.

Looks like no need for a physical closing will be just via wiring and I get my keys from that same lock box.

I probably will never met the agent face to face.  Is this typical?

Sam Leon · Answer

I do have a buyer agent that assists me in some cases.

However, last year 2013, the whole year I failed to ;land ANY property, pursued many deals, but failed.  Those are mostly short sale or REOs.

After many months of failed attempts, I looked at all my submitted offers and researched them.  To my surprise, a significant number of them (NOT ALL) but significant number of them the sold price was either below my price, or $100, $500 above my price.  My offers are always clean, cash with hardly any contingencies.  That lead me to believe the offers were being manipulated by the listing agent.  Either they were excluded from being presented because they had their own pocket buyers, or they had clued in their buyers as to the number they need to just beat the others...or they had better terms.  My agent advised me that it is very likely we are running up against many agents who wants to double end the commission, but one thing I could try is to waive the inspection contingency.  I started to take a long and hard look when I initially view the properties and waived the inspection, still no improvement.  Even my buyer agent seems to think I am losing out because the listing agents already have someone lined up.  We are talking about Miami here...so.

This year I started to contact LA directly and I noticed I get better results.  I am no longer getting the "they can't find the keys", "they said owner can't show house until back from vacation in two weeks", "they said they have contract pending before listing on MLS"...those types of responses.

Now if I have a buyer agent that brings me deals, that's different.  In my case I am simply monitoring the MLS, looking for what may work, do some preliminary research, and narrow things down then call my buyer agent to arrange the viewing.  After that I prepare my own contracts and submit the offers via the buyer agent.  I pretty much do most of the work.  The buyer agent is more a "coordinator".  On non-distressed properties I still use a buyer agent.

Sam Leon · Answer

I would never list anything with her.

Someone who would not take the time to present a listing, and someone who would not even make sure water and electric is ready for inspection and rely on a potential buyer to look out for leaks inside the house etc.

Sam Leon · Answer

Yes, she gets full commission.

and No, I have never met her.  I just called her up and asked to see the property.  I could have been a thief or burglar, and this home has some high end appliances and fixtures.  In fact, when she gave me the lock box code she didn't even know my name, all she had was a cell phone number.

Recently I have seen two cases, where the listing agents actually put the lock box code right in the MLS PUBLIC descriptions.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

Kristine Marie Poe

we call that limited representation listings works nice in a brisk market.

rarely do I meet the other agent in person unless we are doing a pre sale on new construction then its every week :(

Walt Payne · Answer

@Sam Leon I got the same suggestion from my buyer agent, for the same reason. A lot of deals missed by as little as $1, and in a one  case they had an inspection contingency and a financing contingency with closing 90 days out. I had no contingencies and closing in 10 days. The agent came back a month later and asked if I was still interested. I offered 20% less. Still awaiting an answer, but I would rather lose that one than pay my original offer after that sleazy dealing.

I have rarely met listing agents, but then I have usually had a buyer agent on my end.

Michael Jobe · Answer

@Sam Leon She could get in pretty big trouble for giving out a lock box code & allowing you to access the property without you being a fellow agent.

Account Closed · Answer

IMO it should be against CAR rules. In markets where the average commission is $60K, there are too many dollars on the table for agents to always remember who they are representing. Sell it for $1M as a pocket listing to a known buyer, or list it in a hot market on the MLS for $1.2M? $60K versus $36K commission.  Which would you choose?  Seller doesn't know or understand that the $200K is at stake and doesn't know that the property was never offered in the open market.  They paid and relied on a licensed professional with supposedly expert knowledge. Happens every day.

Account Closed · Answer

I doubt agents get permission from the seller to put the lockbox code on the public mls, or to give the code to unknown, unrepresented buyers. Just bad form IMO.  Knowing what you know now, I suggest you don't list anything with her.

Andy Collins · Answer

I've meet two listing agents, and it was to get keys after close, and I've bought several houses that my agent has never seen,,, she is the one that puts things together with the sellers agent,,, and I doubt she has seen or knows most of these (REO's)

Account Closed · Answer

I've been using flat fee listings to sell for the past couple of years.  So even though I'm not licensed and it's really FSBO, I'm listed as the agent that you have to contact to see the property. Half the buyers have had buyer's agents.   The other half didn't.  I didn't meet any of the buyers without agents.  I gave them the lock box code, they made offers and then they closed.  No need to meet me.

As a seller, I'd be concerned about a listing agent giving out a lockbox code to unrepresented buyers (who aren't agents). Unless you know the agent well, she's giving entry information to a stranger.  She's getting paid to supervise showings when the buyer doesn't have an agent. Did she end up getting full commission and representing you as well?

Ever bought a house on the MLS and never met the listing agent?

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