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Why the frustration? A buddy of mine, John, is a real estate agent working on a shortsale right now with a referral that he had sent to an agent by the name of Sally. After several months of listing it on the market, Sally informed him a few days ago that they have an offer. She faxed it over to John so that he could forward it to the seller for signatures. John got the signature and sent it back to the agent for submittal to the bank. He even gave Sally the fax number of where to send it to as there are many departments in the bank and it has to go to the appropriate party in charge. Asking John for help too? The agent faxed it off and asked if John could contact the bank to follow up on whether the bank had received the faxed offer. John and Sally are both authorized to speak to the bank, so Sally naturally thought that John could help out. Sally's reasoning was that if they both call, the bank would receive more calls on this short sale, and as a result, the response time would be better. John thought otherwise since he felt the bank may get annoyed by so many calls. In addition, Sally also indicated to John that there were several buyers who needed to be shown the house. Sally, however, was too busy and did not have time to show the place. She wanted John to assist as well in that even though the property location is hundreds of miles from John’s locality. Why should John help? Remember, John is referring this listing to Sally to take care of and yet John is being asked to get into it? There was something wrong with this picture. John didn’t have the time to do the work and the property was located at a remote location—the two reasons why John had referred it out to another agent in the first place and agreed that she would take the bulk of the commission. There oughta be some kinda medal for this Well, being the good person that John is, he called the bank to check on the status. He didn't want the deal to fall through and so he has been following up with the banks the past few days for this agent. In all his transactions, he does what it takes to get the deal done. It is his duty to the client and he holds himself accountable for getting the job done...even when he is not even supposed to be involved, as is the case with this referral. Life is a blessing if you work with the right types of agents. In reviewing John’s case, there are several lessons you can take away from it. First, before you sign the referral agreement with another agent, even though it should be understood that the agent accepting the referral is doing the bulk of the work, make sure that you outline what the responsibilities are for the agent so that all parties are aware of the requirements. By stating these items from the outset, there will be no misunderstandings later on. To also protect yourself from having to work with an agent who is not doing the job, make a point to sign up shorter timeframes for the listing referral. It is better to sign up a shorter time period of two or three months so that within that timeframe, if you find the agent is not making progress and moving the deal along, then you have the option to switch to a more effective agent. It is surprising the things that some agents do and you just need to set yourself up so you don’t end up with a lazy agent.
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