How loyal do home buyers and investors need to be to their San Diego real estate agent?
Can you switch real estate agents for any reason? What liabilities could that incur? What if you are buying multiple properties in different areas; are you still bound to a single Realtor?
Loyalty is everything in the real estate industry. Yet, that doesn’t mean buyers and investors ought to lose out due to an unwarranted sense of loyalty. Sticking with a single San Diego Realtor could be either costly or more profitable depending on the specifics of the scenario. More importantly, when should you enlist the services of a San Diego real estate agent?
The 411 on Switching Realtors Mid-Stream
The exact ramifications of switching your San Diego real estate agent while house hunting can vary depending on what paperwork you’ve signed and where you are at in the home buying process.
In general, a Realtor is due their commission if they are the ‘procuring cause of the sale.’ How a judge rules on this could vary slightly. However, it essentially means which agent was key in making the deal happen. In other words, you can just ditch your agent to buy a home they have shown you direct from the seller to save on the commission. But if they are unable to get a deal worked out, or aren’t doing their jobs and another agent can make it happen for you, the new agent would be the procuring cause of the sale.
The quality of San Diego real estate agents varies widely from the truly awesome to the absolutely awful. This is true, even within different San Diego County real estate companies. Buying or selling a home, or several, is a big financial move with lots of dollars on the line. The agent you work with can make all the difference.
However, the decision to jump ship on a Realtor becomes even more confusing when home buyers and real estate investors consider shopping for properties in other areas of San Diego County, in other counties than they live in or when purchasing multiple properties.
Branching Out
San Diego real estate agents are licensed by the state, but Realtors are often only members of local associations. This means that, while they are legally able to help clients statewide, their ability to do so effectively is often limited.
Most agents work on specializing in a very small area. Thus, it’s not often they don’t want to get involved in out of area deals. If they do, it is normally through a referral agent. When branching out to new areas, it is reasonable to talk it over with an agent you already have a relationship with, but keep in mind how expertise and access to information can impact ability to get you the best deal.
There are many advantages to staying loyal to an agent, including: streamlining the process of future transactions, building trust and being able to negotiate sizable discounts on real estate commissions.
The high cost of ditching a loyal San Diego real estate agent isn’t just about whether the courts will side with you on having to pay commissions or not. Think about the value of your reputation.
With all this said, there is incredible power in diversity. When looking in different areas for property, in different niches, or even just looking for a larger flow of deals, it can pay to have multiple agents on the lookout for you. This provides more to choose from and enables building multiple relationships simultaneously. Let the best agent win.
