Showing feedback is generally requested of buyers agents that bring their buyers to your home. But is it useful or of any value, or is it even accurate? Should buyers agents even respond to the requests?
There is often a difference of opinion between Realtors as to whether it should be asked or answered. FYI…Feedback is a carry over from several decades ago at a time where all agents represented the seller. That hasn’t been the case since the mid 1990’s. Sellers have their agent, buyers have theirs. Agents can work for both buyers and sellers at the same time, it’s legal in Illinois, but IMHO very dicey.
My opinion is that buyers agents have no business giving showing feedback when they are representing a buyer client. I’ve been in this business long enough to know that a buyer can change their mind about a home and any clue given in feedback can have a detrimental effect if we move to making an offer.
Think about it, a buyer loves a home and the agent lets the listing agent know. Then they make an offer and the seller decides to squeeze those extra dollars because he already knows the buyers want it.
By sharing any feedback you give away your client’s bargaining position. There have been lawsuits buy home buyers brought against their buyers agents that have succeeded on this point. That is a fact that has been upheld by courts!
What about giving more general feedback? Well Ok we could do that but really what can we say that’s going to be of any use to a seller. I hope nothing because your seller’s agent should already have done this with you when you listed the home. The reality is you, the property seller, just want to know if the buyer is going to make an offer.
Accuracy of Showing Feedback
First let’s be honest here. 99% of the requests for showing feedback come to the buyers agents by email. It’s a questionnaire. 99% of the email requests have the same or very similar questions. How have we ended up in this repetitive and somewhat useless situation? The answer is that many agents don’t want to give feedback so never responded to phone call requests. So some bright spark came up with the idea of sending out email questions. It is possible to vary the questions but few bother.
The Questions:
- Is your client interested in this home? (This is the only one a seller really wants to know and any buyer’s agent that says yes is not being true to their agency representation.)
- What was your overall showing experience? (Pretty pointless question.)
- You and your clients opinion of price? (Chances are this will not be answered or will come back as over-priced. It may not be, but the buyer does not want to pay the asking so moves on.)
- Rate this listing compared to others you’ve seen? (Of no use unless you know the homes they are looking at.)
- Do you recommend any changes to the property or have any comments? (Remove wallpaper! Like your agent did not tell you that!)
Or very similar.
Is There Any Showing Feedback
Some buyers keep their thoughts to themselves. There literally may not be anything they have to say. They may want to keep their thoughts to themselves, especially if it’s a first time out with a new Realtor. We have to spend time earning a client’s trust, it’s never instant.
As you can see sometimes the showing agent may have no information to provide. Maybe the responses to that email will be made up just to stop it coming again and again. (Typically the same email is sent 3 or 4 times).
Showing Feedback Is Your Decision
- As a seller you have the right to ask your agent to at least ask for it, then you can do with any information provided what you want. Just do not expect it from every showing, that’s unrealistic.
- As a buyer you should know that I do not provide feedback. Luckily in our MLS system I can turn it off so those emails never reach me! If an agent calls me, they get the answer, “nothing really to share at this time”.
- For dual agency the issue gets very dicey. You want feedback but the buyers agent, who is also yours, should not really give it. Another reason I refuse to double side deals.
