When Agents End Up Working With Crazy Buyers

Working with crazy buyers is part of Sacramento real estate.

I have to be careful when I am facetious. My humor leans toward dry. Because my general nature tends to present itself as a nice person, sometimes people don’t realize when I am insulting them. I suppose that could be interpreted as a good thing. I could say I feel sorry for an agent, and another would think I truly felt empathy — when what I meant was I’m sorry the agent is such an idiot. In that event, the other side of the street is a better place for that agent to walk upon than to chance an encounter with me.

Some agents are forced to work with crazy buyers; I get it. The market is tough on many agents. The limited inventory in the Sacramento real estate market makes some agents desperate for business. But if an agent chooses to work with a crazy client, that agent owes it to the rest of us to rein in that person. You don’t give a loopy dude 10 shots of bourbon and turn him loose with a six shooter unless you’re a sucker for punishment.

When an agent knows her client is a loose cannon, she doesn’t send her client unauthorized correspondence just to stir the water further. Because that end result is no transaction for her. Like the Soup Nazi. No soup for you. The seller doesn’t want to be in escrow with a nut job. Neither does the listing agent. There is also that problem of guilt by association.

Over the years of being a Sacramento Realtor and dealing with Sacramento real estate, I have come to be highly selective. I select the sellers I work with. I work only with people I like. If I can’t find something to like about a person, I don’t work with them. Further, I am especially critical of purchase offers. I scrutinize. My job is to make sure the seller closes escrow. That means going into escrow with a person who is likely to close.

One thing I do is ask buyers to do before looking at homes is to sign an agency disclosure. It’s required by California Civil Code prior to showing any real estate. Yet many agents never present an agency disclosure until weeks of showings have passed. If buyers struggle with signing that document, which is just a disclosure, that could be a red flag. It needs to be addressed.

Not every buyer is a serious buyer. Not every buyer today is committed to closing. We have crazy buyers in the market. For a million different reasons, buyers sign offers and never move forward. Agents should be able to pick out these types of clients and correct that behavior before they ever get to the offer stage.

The agents who can’t, well, they lose credibility. Not to mention, sales. Because they spend way too much time working with clients who are not really clients.