Real estate by text

[snappylt]

Coley,

I noticed that it has been almost one month since your original post.  Has your real estate agent's communication improved since then?

[figee]

An old topic but my 2c.  We recently bought a house (and are moving today and tomorrow).  We communicated with the seller's agent via text, email and phone calls.  He was fantastic with all three mediums, and was especially helpful even with questions about process, expectations and negotiating access and so on.  So I'd echo the others - this is not about texting vs other mediums of communication.  This is about someone not doing their job.

[MamaMootz]

A note on the use of technology from a former real estate agent..... it may be that he is not comfortable with the tech. I was astounded at how many of my real estate colleagues did not understand how to use e-mail, would refuse to check e-mail, and one actually asked me why her laptop stopped working (she didn't plug it in to recharge the battery - she believed that the battery was a self-contained powerhouse that never stopped powering the computer).

Or his communication style is different than yours. Some people are phone people. Some people are e-mail people. I hate the phone, and I prefer e-mails because I have documentation of the conversation - but there are people I work with that I have to call because they are phone people and if I wait for a response, i'll be waiting for a long time. It sounds like John is phone people.

Call him. And see if that works better for you.

[Coley]

Coley,

I noticed that it has been almost one month since your original post.  Has your real estate agent's communication improved since then?

Yes and no. He has been better about responding to us, but he still isn't as proactive as we'd like. We still feel as if we're having to light a fire under him.

We have a contract on the house right now. It just went through inspection last Thursday. John did a better job this time around of making sure we understood what was happening with the inspections. As of today, we still don't have the full inspection report or the buyers' response to it. John told us yesterday he was going to find out if the inspection report has been issued. We haven't heard back from him yet. (He's out of town right now, but he said he'd be checking e-mail.) The contract allows the buyers 18 days to complete the inspection and respond. They're on day 14 today, I think, so they still have a few days left in the inspection period. Of course, we're feeling anxious that we're two weeks into the inspection period and haven't heard anything yet!

We're trying to temper our anxiety with the knowledge that they are still allowed a few days to respond.

[Coley]

A note on the use of technology from a former real estate agent..... it may be that he is not comfortable with the tech. I was astounded at how many of my real estate colleagues did not understand how to use e-mail, would refuse to check e-mail, and one actually asked me why her laptop stopped working (she didn't plug it in to recharge the battery - she believed that the battery was a self-contained powerhouse that never stopped powering the computer).

Or his communication style is different than yours. Some people are phone people. Some people are e-mail people. I hate the phone, and I prefer e-mails because I have documentation of the conversation - but there are people I work with that I have to call because they are phone people and if I wait for a response, i'll be waiting for a long time. It sounds like John is phone people.

Call him. And see if that works better for you.

When we worked with him the first time a couple of years ago, he wanted to text us. He'd say, "I'll send you a text about [blah blah blah]." At that time, we didn't have smart phones, and texting was pretty cumbersome for us. We told him we'd prefer e-mail or phone. He was pretty accommodating. Now that we have smart phones and can text, it seems like he's harder to reach.

[Shoo]

Coley,

I noticed that it has been almost one month since your original post.  Has your real estate agent's communication improved since then?

Yes and no. He has been better about responding to us, but he still isn't as proactive as we'd like. We still feel as if we're having to light a fire under him.

We have a contract on the house right now. It just went through inspection last Thursday. John did a better job this time around of making sure we understood what was happening with the inspections. As of today, we still don't have the full inspection report or the buyers' response to it. John told us yesterday he was going to find out if the inspection report has been issued. We haven't heard back from him yet. (He's out of town right now, but he said he'd be checking e-mail.) The contract allows the buyers 18 days to complete the inspection and respond. They're on day 14 today, I think, so they still have a few days left in the inspection period. Of course, we're feeling anxious that we're two weeks into the inspection period and haven't heard anything yet!

We're trying to temper our anxiety with the knowledge that they are still allowed a few days to respond.

The inspection was 2 weeks ago and you *still* haven't seen the report?  We got ours within a few days.

[Coley]

Coley,

I noticed that it has been almost one month since your original post.  Has your real estate agent's communication improved since then?

Yes and no. He has been better about responding to us, but he still isn't as proactive as we'd like. We still feel as if we're having to light a fire under him.

We have a contract on the house right now. It just went through inspection last Thursday. John did a better job this time around of making sure we understood what was happening with the inspections. As of today, we still don't have the full inspection report or the buyers' response to it. John told us yesterday he was going to find out if the inspection report has been issued. We haven't heard back from him yet. (He's out of town right now, but he said he'd be checking e-mail.) The contract allows the buyers 18 days to complete the inspection and respond. They're on day 14 today, I think, so they still have a few days left in the inspection period. Of course, we're feeling anxious that we're two weeks into the inspection period and haven't heard anything yet!

We're trying to temper our anxiety with the knowledge that they are still allowed a few days to respond.

The inspection was 2 weeks ago and you *still* haven't seen the report?  We got ours within a few days.

I know what you mean. This feels strange to me given my past experiences with buying and selling homes. We're trying not to let our anxiety take over. I e-mailed John again yesterday and asked if he'd heard anything about the report yet. He called me and said he spoke to the buyers' agent. Apparently, their agent also has been out of town and hadn't had a chance yet to talk with the buyers about the inspection report. John's interpretation was that there may not be anything of significance in the inspection report that would cause the buyers to walk away immediately. He said we'd probably already know that by now. I hope his interpretation is correct!