Seattle Bubble Forum Archive

Interesting. My realtor (we're selling our place in Seattle) is representing more sellers than buyers at the moment, which is a reversal from this agent's norm.

It's a tough market to be a realtor in. I really don't want to waste my time trying to list a property at the prices many sellers want (sometimes need) to get. I do better with buyers because I'm not under the delusion that the listing price is what the seller will actually accept and I'm fairly successful at positioning my buyers to make strong yet low offers. Unlike most agents I present my buyer's offer to the seller personally rather than rely on the listing agent to "sell" it on its merits. A good buyer's agent can go a long way toward mitigating any perceived loss of equity after the purchase by aggressively negotiating.

While selling my first house, the buyers agent stopped by one day to ask me some questions. My agent became very upset at this since if I were to agree to anything it would become binding. She instructed me not to talk to the buyer's agent and to let her do all communication and negotiation.

How do you by-pass the seller's agent? Have you run into the same issue I had?

I don't bypass the the listing agent. He/she has the right and responsibility to be there when the offer is presented. I *prefer* that their agent be there when I do the presentation so he can give his analysis of our offer. Traditionally the offer to purchase was always given by the buyer's agent, it's just that with the evolution of technology and a glut of incompetent lazy agents we've taken to doing it by fax. Your listing agent is right; never, ever speak to a buyers agent without him present and if you're the type who can't keep his mouth shut don't talk at all, just listen. I can parse a lot of a seller's position from the things they'll voluntarily blab to an agent.