California Association of Realtors 9th Annual Buyer’s Survey, a few of the survey's key findings:

*88 percent of home buyers hire a real estate agent

*Prior to contacting a real estate agent, home buyers average 7.2 weeks researching and contemplating the home buying process and another 6.2 weeks investigating.

*The most common reasons for dissatisfaction of their agent include: "agent did not negotiate aggressively on my behalf" or "agent was slow to respond".

Natalie and I have noticed a recent trend from home buyers and their perception and expectations of today’s real estate market.  In case you haven’t been reading my blog: well priced homes continue to sell quickly and yes, sometimes for more than the initial asking price.  In the last two weeks we have had two interesting scenarios:

Scenario #1
A local Realtor previewed one of my listings and requested an appointment to show.  As it is a large home, it can take a bit to get it back in “show condition”; 24-48 hour notice is required.  I was unavailable for both preferred appointment times (one due to a prior appointment and the other requested time was the evening of my 20th anniversary). The client then called me and asked me ten minutes worth of questions.  I phoned the Realtor and informed her that her client called and we spoke. 

The next day, I received a call from a different Realtor, wanting to make the same appointments that I couldn’t commit to with Realtor #1.  Apparently this buyer had switched Realtors, interesting that he switched to a Realtor that hadn’t even seen the home…..

Scenario #2
A potential home buyer phoned this week regarding a different listing. She was shown the home by her Realtor (twice) but she didn’t want him to represent her because she felt that “he isn’t looking out for her best interests”.   I explained to her that because he had taken the time to show her the home, he expected to be paid if she bought the home (procuring cause).   I told her that I knew her agent, and would not represent her but that she could likely  find someone else who would. I then mulled the conversation over and phoned her agent; he was shocked.  He told me that she had wanted to write an offer of 20% less than the asking price. He had explained to his client that the home had only been on the market for ten days and that he thought it was very well priced. The potential buyer apparently doesn’t wish to comprehend our local market, and is going to shop Realtors until she finds one who agrees with her.

As an experienced Los Angeles real estate agent,  I counsel my clients.  I keep them apprised of our local market.  Realtors don’t control the market, we don’t control the fact that well priced listings sell in multiple offers and often for more than asking price.  If I go to the doctor and he informs me that I am ill, do I go from doctor to doctor until I find one to tell me what I want to hear?  To paraphrase, the market is what it is, not what we would like it to be.