<p>DH and I are considering buying some property in an area about 350 miles from home. He has been up to view some properties, working with a local agent. She had said she would send him some materials about some other properties that they did not get to see, but we haven’t gotten the flyers. About 10 days ago he e-mailed her a couple of questions that came up as we were discussing what to do - we haven’t heard anything. It has been about 3 weeks total since he made his visit.
How long do we wait, how many more calls before we start looking for another agent? There was one house he couldn’t see, because the listing agent wanted to be exclusive - we are interested in seeing that house, although I’m not inclined to swutch to an agent that doesn’t want to participate in the usual sharing of showings.
Our problem is that it is hard for me to get away from work, and I need a fair amount of notice to plan when to return to look at houses - I expected agents to be more interested in selling right now.</p>
<p>I’m a real estate agent as my second career, so I feel I can answer :). Customer/client loyalty is something we value greatly, so I appreciate your concern about whether to abandon this agent and move on.</p>
<p>My reaction is that it is time to move on - that amount of time for a response is far too long, imo. You could make one more phone call if you feel that this particular agent is especially qualified, and thus valuable to you, were she to be more responsive. But her non-responsiveness is a bad sign, and I would not expect a customer or client to stick with me if I treated their queries in this way.</p>
<p>The listing agent who will not cooperate with other agents is an issue of a different type. I agree with your perspective; further, it appears you would not have representation of your own interests if you went to see the property through her.</p>
<p>My advice would be to find a top performing agent in the area where you’re searching, from a strong company. In our area, and many areas, you would want this agent to be representing you as your Buyer’s Agent. But I don’t know how agency relationships work in your area. Once you have found that agent, ask him/her about the property you wish to see whose listing agent only wants to show it herself. S/he should know how to handle that and may have a relationship with that agent which will break through this particular barrier.</p>
<p>A great way to find an agent in another area is to ask a trusted agent you know to make a referral for you. This does not always pan out, but a good agent in one area either already knows a good agent in the other area or has ways to identify the better agents in any area of the country (or world, I guess).</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me.</p>