Buyers lose out when agent sends an assistant to present offer

Know someone who is thinking of moving? Realtor Pat Kapowich provides turnkey services including relocation, staging, market analysis and strategic planning. 408-245-7700 or Pat@ SiliconValleyBroker. com. Broker License 00979413 Q: Yesterday, we received three offers on our townhouse. Our listing agent was uncomfortable with a loan officer presenting the purchase offer for the buyer’s agent. She made a big deal about it. My partner and I did not care who submitted the proposal, as it was the best of the three offers. We have not heard back regarding the counterproposal we generated last night for the loan officer acting on behalf of the agent. Our agent is unhappy we went with the loan officer’s buyers. Are we in a precarious position

A: Not according to one real estate attorney I consulted. However, many other real estate attorneys might disagree during a lawsuit. Seasoned agents for decades have been taken aback when a buyer’s agent sends an underling to present a purchase offer. It’s happened to me on several occasions. Buyers hire a buyer’s agent to secure a property by way of offer, acceptance and ratification. Shifting the groundwork of buying a home during the most pivotal moments to an unlicensed assistant is nothing less than stunning. It’s important to note that brokering real estate in today’s fast-paced world is commonly over email servers. Emailing a purchase offer is even more counterproductive than sending an apprentice to present in front of sellers and listing agents. On the other hand, a minority of agents still requests the buyer’s agent to submit their buyer’s purchase offer in-person. A purchase offer presentation is also a “job interview.” The sellers and listing agents need competent licensees who can perform the all-important critical duties of a buyer’s agent. Regardless, investigate loan officers at the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) via http://www. nmlsconsumeraccess. org. And always make sure a real estate agent is also an upstanding licensee at the Department of Real Estate (DRE) via http://www. dre.ca.gov/consumers. Home sales are the most critical transactions in people’s lives and should not be brokered with smartphones and tablets.