One of the services I offer my Sacramento sellers is, upon receipt of an offer, I always check MLS to find out if the buyer's agent had accessed the lockbox. We can tell if the agent opened the box. If we have 10 offers on a home, and 9 of the agents showed it and one did not, the agent who did not show the home is at a severe disadvantage. Because we will tell the seller that her buyer has not seen the home. A buyer must see the home.
Having said that, I did buy a house in Hawaii that my husband did not see. It's not because he didn't have a chance to view it, it's that he wasn't in Hawaii and wasn't about to fly over to the island to isnpect a property that his Realtor wife had already viewed. But most buyer's spouses are not like that. Typically there are two decision makers.
Now, I have asked agents directly if they showed the house and they will say, "yes, the wife saw it." So then I have to ask: did you go inside? Because I've had agents "clarify" when pressed that the wife had driven by. Which is different from what I asked.
Because spouses will use each other as excuses. Ever try to pin down a guy to an appointment time and he'll say, "Let me check with my wife?" That means you'll never hear from him again.
You can read more in our personal blog today on this topic at this link: Dangers of Home Buying Sight Unseen.
Elizabeth Weintraub is co-partner of Weintraub & Wallace Team of Top Producing Realtors, an author, home buying expert at The Balance, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, Carmichael and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put our combined 80 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold. DRE License # 00697006.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Gold. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
