Is Our Realtor The Right Choice?

Question

We are in the market for a vacation rental in Western NC.  Got a very good recommendation for a realtor there.  Started working with him last fall.  After some initial activity and one round of viewings, we've not heard anything from him at all in well over 2 months.  I get his automated emails showing new listings every day and review those every day.  Not alot of properties have been hitting the market during that time.  However, we've gotten zero communication from our realtor during that entire time.

I am wondering whether our purchase size is too small for him (maybe he's only interested in dealing with high 6 figure and 7 figure properties.  Anyway, I'm looking for some guidance as to whether this is normal behavior or should I look for another realtor that is going to do a little bit more work.

Tyler Gibson · Answer

@Mike Lattier I wonder what work you are expecting him to do? Honestly wondering what the expectation is? what was he doing in the beginning that he isn't doing now? When was the last time you asked for more info on a property? It could be that after the round of viewings and not finding anything he thought you would let him know when you wanted to see something new that came on the market. I know that when I work with investors the very beginning is busy with communication. They are looking at all of the inventory at one time which is a lot to process and they might have 3-6 or more properties they want to check out. But once that is done and they don't find something they like there can be a lag for many reasons but typically because there is not much inventory being placed on the market. If you get 1-2 new properties a day and you are at all interested in them then as a realtor there is little for me to do. I can't produce more inventory all on my own. I would be willing to bet if you contacted him and said hey I see 3 properties I want to look at or even just one he would be johnny on the spot.

Cassi Justiz · Answer

This isn't the best answer, but I can tell you that at least 50% of the people that I talk to and set up on searches never end up actually doing anything.

Chances are, he has a decent client base and is working with quite a few people at the same time. Should he be calling you and giving you regular updates? Yes. But most of the time that's not going to happen.  Communication goes two directions. I set most of my buyers up on super specific searches and hand pick the properties that go out to them. So if I send properties daily and someone hasn't given me any feedback in a few months, I assume they are not seriously considering it anymore.

I would reach back out to him. Let him know that you are interested in purchasing ASAP (or whatever your timeline is) and set up some communication expectations. If you ask for a weekly call or email and don't get that, then start looking for a new agent. You can also ask if there is anything he can help do to get you a property in your price point. If not many properties are going on the market, then he may need to do something more creative to help you find that property.

Mike Lattier · Answer

@Cassi Justiz  Thanks Cassi.  That's really helpful advice.  I'll give that a go.  One other question:  do realtors generally stick with the MLS for their leads?  Would it be unreasonable to expect that a realtor would have contacts that might know of off market properties that might be suitable for a potential investor?

Mike Lattier · Answer

@Tyler Gibson  Thanks Tyler.  I guess at a minimum I was thinking he might just touch base to see what I've been looking at; whether I had any questions; etc.  There was one property that came up a couple weeks back that was in our sweet spot.  I had not seen that email for a couple days.  By the time I saw it, a few days later, it already had a contract on it.  I was thinking he might have notified me about that immediately, but maybe that's unrealistic.  He does know that we are looking to invest though.