For me, working with buyers doesn’t happen very often. Over the course of my career 9 out of 10 transactions have been listings. The old saying in real estate is ‘list to last’, and it certainly has worked out for me these past 22 years. I did represent a buyer in the City this year, but even that was because she was a seller in Marin doing an exchange.
Currently I am working with a buyer couple who I also represented as sellers: 11 years ago! Since then, they have rented in Muir Beach and owned a condo in Hawaii and they are now moving back to Marin. It’s been a bit of a challenge working with them as they have been in Florida for the past few months and inventory has been light. The good listings have all been very competitive.
This week I sent them walk through videos of two properties they expressed interest in. One of them we made an offer on, but we got outbid. The other we are likely to make an offer on next week when they are back in town. It’s a little sketchy making offers on properties they’ve never set foot in. Reading disclosures, face time walk throughs and videos just aren’t the same as physically being present. So, in that regard I’m glad they are coming back soon and will have a chance to walk through the property they eventually purchase.
What’s even more sketchy about the process of purchasing these days is that buyers are often releasing all contingencies with their offers. To be competitive, not just to stand out in the crowd, buyers are making over asking offers with no contingencies. Even if a buyer needs a loan, they are waiving loan and appraisal contingencies. Getting insurance has been a challenge this year too, but that hasn’t stopped buyers from waiving that contingency as well.
I enjoy working with buyers, but it can be very time consuming. I remember when my first broker recommended that we work with 20 buyers at a time. While it’s true that not all buyers are ready to write offers or look at properties at the same time, offering a high level of service to that many buyers at the same time seems impossible. Plus, in the past I’ve had situations where more than one buyer has expressed interest in the same property, which was awkward. That’s not unusual when inventory is limited.
At this time, I’m literally only working with one active buyer couple. My sister might be interested in purchasing something, but she’s been saying that for the past four years. I can probably work with up to two more active buyers, but that’s my max. If history is any indication, the next active buyer I represent will likely be either be a seller I’m working with, or a seller I worked with in the past.