I'm house hunting, and I signed up (too early on) with one real estate agent. He sent me four house listings two weeks ago, but nothing since. He's only been in touch to confirm that a house I was seriously looking at has gone under contract. I reached out to him yesterday, and he said he's been checking the listings daily but found nothing that meets my criteria. He went on to encourage me to continue looking through Zillow listings (which I've been doing for a long time), to let him know if there are any places I'm really interested in, and to keep him updated on any open houses I go to.
My question: does this seem like reasonable effort on his part? I hadn't heard from him at all within 7 days, hence me following up. He keeps reiterating that the the winter market is tough. I do have a signed document with him, and to cancel, it would need to be a written notice. Am I expecting too much from my agent? I thought he'd be sharing some potential places – in my own searches, I came up with a list of ten houses just today.
should i change real estate agents?
byu/Actual-Pop-265 inRealEstate
Posted by Actual-Pop-265
8 Comments
honestly sounds like your agent is being pretty lazy tbh. if you found ten houses in one day and he hasnt sent anything for weeks thats not a good sign
most good agents will at least send you listings regularly even if market is slow. winter market being tough doesnt mean he should just tell you to do all work yourself – thats literally what you pay him for. maybe worth having serious conversation with him about expectations before you decide to cancel the contract
So send him the list of houses you want to see.
Most buyers do their own searches. The ones you found might be outside the criteria you told him.
And yes, it’s super slow now. Most of the US has been under snow for two weeks. You think folks are launching their properties now?
You say you signed with the RE agent too early….does that mean you weren’t ready to start putting in offers? This would be a reasonable amount of contact if you were just looking to get a feel for the market, but ready to bid then this would be pretty passive(unless you have some unique requirements of course).
Honestly, idk.
If youre using zillow or other realtor apps, you’re basically seeing all the houses he is. If he knows youre actively on them and one pops up youre interested in, you’ll contact him.
Realtors tend to put in effort based on the customers circumstance, too. If youre rushed to move vs casually looking, as well as price range. (Which is NOT right, but true)
If you want a new realtor, get one!! No harm no foul!
Communicate your expectations.
What do you want him to do? I can find houses yourself the same way he does
your list of 10, do they fit ALL the criteria that you gave him?
what was the length of time between “seriously looking at” and “went under contract”? Did you sign the agreement with him 2 weeks ago, or much earlier but indicated you wouldn’t be looking until late January or closing until end of March?
He should really be working with you to refine your search if nothing is coming on. Unless you want something very specific and you’re not concerned about timeline. That being said, I don’t think 7 days is excessively long. If you want more communication, just let him know.