We’ve all heard the phrase, “caveat emptor,” which means “buyer beware.”
But Joan Herlong with Herlong Sotheby’s International Realty says in real estate, “seller beware” is also a key concept.
A recent experience underscores her point.
“A man called me and politely asked several questions about one of my listings,” she says. “The more we spoke, the more I realized the man had already toured my client’s home.”
The man later confirmed that not only had he toured the home, but the buyer agent who met him there stayed outside.
“He said he’d just clicked a button on Zillow, and the buyer agent just met him at the house and let him in,” Herlong says. “And that’s the problem. As long as there are buyer agents out there willing to take a chance on a buyer being legit, then sellers run the risk of having buyers’ agents let people they don’t know, and haven’t vetted, into their homes.”
Enter buyer-agency agreement requirements.
“Sellers have the right to stipulate that an agent cannot show their house without a signed buyer-agency agreement, but few listing agents are probably going to mention that, because they want to maximize showing traffic,” she says.
“If something had gone wrong, as the listing agent I would’ve been blamed,” she says. “Therefore, it’s incumbent upon a listing agent to make sure their seller is being protected, because there are still a lot of buyer agents out there who even don’t know who their buyers are.”
