Proper Real Estate Buyer Etiquette
If you are a home buyer and are wondering about proper real estate etiquette, I have compiled a buyers guide to real estate etiquette for you. Most of these items are common sense or just plain courtesy but you would be amazed at how often these items are not followed by buyers.
Be Prepared
Any strong offer on a home will include a mortgage pre-approval. Be prepared and have one done before you start your home search. A pre-approval shows the seller your seriousness and strength as a potential buyer. Not only is it a must when making an offer it also will allow you to know exactly how much home you can afford.
You don’t need a pre-approval when you first contact a REALTOR®, but make sure you have one before you start looking at homes.
For an in-depth breakdown of the home buying process please visit my Real Estate Buyers Guide page.
Be Open and Honest with Your REALTOR®
You would think this should be obvious, I'm sorry to say it is not. Remember, your REALTOR® is your advocate. If you are not fully open and honest with them there is no way they can do the best possible job for you!
- If you don’t like a house tell them why. This will help them narrow down a search for you.
- If you are unsure about something, tell them. They may have seen the situation before and can help.
- Tell them exactly how much money you want to spend on a home. This may not be less than the amount you were pre-approved for. This will help narrow down a search to exactly the properties you are looking for.
Be On Time!
This is simple, right? Just be on time! Okay we all know that things happen. From getting out of work late to getting stuck in traffic. There are things out of our control can make us late. However, there are items you can control. Please try your best to be on time and if for some reason you are going to be late or need to reschedule an appointment, call or text your REALTOR® as soon as possible to let them know. It is common courtesy but there is much more involved than that.
- Preparing to show a home requires a lot of coordination and timing. Sellers may need to make child-care arrangements or make sure the dog is out of the house. They may also have to adjust their schedule to make a showing possible.
- Sellers will typically leave the home for the period of time the showing is scheduled for.
- Your REALTOR® may have a number of showing appointments scheduled for you that are on a specific time schedule.
- Time is the one thing in life that you cannot get back! Be respectful of everyone’s time.
Be Considerate
- Sitting on a bed, lounging on a couch and using the bathroom are all generally frowned up while viewing a home.
- It’s okay to check the closets and cabinets to ensure the home has enough storage space to meet your needs, but please don’t go through someones private belongings.
- In most cases the home you are viewing is a sellers private residence so before you start taking pictures or a video please ask for permission.
Stay Together
Please remember that you may be viewing the sellers private residence. Here are a couple of quick tips to help your REALTOR®, the seller and ultimately yourself.
- Keep the crowd to a minimum. Try to limit the people viewing the home to just the decision makers.
- When viewing the home please don’t scatter in different directions. You should view the home as a group where the REALTOR® can be there to answer questions and keep an eye on everything.
- Please watch your children! It is really bad etiquette to have the kids running all over the house. Not only it is a safety issue but something can easily get broken.
Don’t Be a Home Stalker
Your REALTOR® is your go between for communication between you, the seller and the listing agent. You will certainly have questions about a home you are interested in. Please ask all of those questions to your agent rather than trying to contact the listing agent or the seller directly. Once under contract please do not just show up at the house unannounced. If you want to see the home schedule an appointment with you REALTOR®.
Interaction With Your REALTOR®
Remember that real estate is a business and there is a process to purchasing a home.
- Once you hire a REALTOR® to assist you with the buyer process, that agent should be your go to agent for this transaction. It is their job to find you a home and to negotiate your sale.
- If you want to go out on a Sunday morning and look at open houses, contact your agent first. When at the open house let the REALTOR® working the open house know you have an agent.
- Do not visit any new home builders without your REALTOR®. If you do you could lose the opportunity to have them represent you. See the Can I Use a REALTOR® If I Am Purchasing New Construction page for additional information.
- While driving around if you see a home that catches your eye, write down the address and call your REALTOR®. They will schedule a showing for you. Do not call the agent on the sign or knock on the door.
- How many homes should you see? Good question! On a single day try to limit the showings to 5 or 6 tops. Any more than that and it starts to get real confusing. Ultimately seeing 25 homes is not very good buyer etiquette. It shows your REALTOR® that you really do not know what you are looking for in a home. On average most buyers view between 8 – 10 homes before making a decision.
- It is generally acceptable to request a showing between 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM anything other than that is not looked upon favorably. Use your discretion, it’s understandable that your schedule may be tight, your REALTOR® and the seller will do everything possible to accommodate you, just be reasonable.
- Keep in mind that sellers may not always be able to accommodate an immediate appointment. Good buyer etiquette would be to give a seller 24 hour notice when requesting a showing. Once again all parties involved will do their best to accommodate showings with less notice.
- If your REALTOR® is going on vacation do not call the listing agent to see a listing. Before your REALTOR® goes on vacation they should make plans for their absence. Typically they will have you call another agent they trust and that knows the area you are looking in well.
- Do not ever attempt to contact the seller directly. You should always go through your REALTOR®. You will look pushy, and it may upset the seller. It will certainly upset your agent.
- Last but not least if you are not a serious buyer and just want to visit homes, don’t waste a REALTORS® time. Instead, you are better off attending open houses or something like a Parade of Homes. Once you feel you are ready to purchase call an agent and start the process.
Home buying etiquette is for the most part common sense. Having respect for sellers and the real estate agents involved in the process will go a long way to helping you buy the home of your dreams! I hope this was a little helpful and good luck with your home search!
Buyer Related Real Estate Articles
- Tips For Purchasing New Construction
- New Credit Report Deal Is A Huge Victory For Home Buyers
- 15 Great REALTOR® Interview Questions
- 7 Steps To Home Ownership
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About the author
The above new construction article “Proper Real Estate Buyer Etiquette” was written by Jeff Gould.
Jeff is a top selling, nationally recognized Florida REALTOR® and local FishHawk Ranch real estate expert. You will find him selling homes in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. That area includes FishHawk, Lithia, Riverview, Valrico, Apollo Beach, Brandon and Tampa.
If you are looking to sell or buy a Tampa Bay area home, including buying new construction, Jeff is your local and trusted professional. You can contact Jeff here.
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© 2015, Jeff Gould. All rights reserved.
