I have a love-hate relationship with Trulia and so do my AG compatriots. Any time you have a group of people – any group of any people – the quality of that group will drop to the lowest denominator. On Trulia you have the best of the best and the worst of the worst. Some of the questions make me shake my head and so do the answers.
The other day one came up that I thought was interesting enough to talk about a little more. I guess Trulia did too because they quoted me on their blog.
Here’s the question: Why don’t agents like to get call from buyers directly?
Guy has a problem that he’s willing to admit. The problem is that his problem becomes my problem pretty quickly. One of the first questions I ask a caller is whether or not they are represented by a Realtor.
When you’re represented by a Realtor, not only does that Realtor have professional and legal responsibilities to you, so do I. I could be dragged through the mud for interfering with a relationship that has already been created between you and your representative. I could also deal with a lot worse: I could be sued. BY YOU. But I’m not your agent – oh, yes I am.
Here’s the situation:
You call me. We have a conversation about a particular house. I tell you that based on the location of the house your child will attend Vallemar School. You buy the house. You then find out that your child won’t attend Vallemar School. Attendance at Pacifica schools are not determined by the location of the house. Who are you going to sue? Me, of course.
I wasn’t involved in the purchase. I didn’t get paid. I’m still legally responsible for the information that I gave you.
Many people would like to think I’m just rude; I just don’t want to spend the time to talk to a buyer who already has an agent. Well, in some ways they’re right. I don’t know your circumstances and I’m not going to find out in a five minute conversation. I don’t want to get sued. I don’t want to ruin my reputation by speaking to somebody else’s client.
So when you go on Trulia to ask what you think is an innocuous question, think again. I could get sued for answering that question wrong; now it’s in black and white for the whole world to see for eternity.
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