As a Buyer, your real estate expert may serve as your introduction to our Bozeman community. According to the Prospera Business Network, Bozeman’s current population growth rate is nearly 20% a year. Our new construction housing has grown at a meager rate of 11% a year (2010-2016); a 9% annual compounding deficiency in our housing demand. Further, our housing market is roughly 60% owner-occupied, 40% renter-occupied; and owners don’t move often here. 79% of Bozeman residents lived in the same house last year as this year.[1] All these intertwined factors result in a tense and competitive market, demanding a full-time real estate Broker for you to have the best chance of successfully procuring your perfect Southwest Montana home.
This powerful tool was stigmatized by some Bozeman agents when it was first released to our market, as it asks the showing (Buyer’s) agent to provide written feedback through the app after the showing. And I’ll be perfectly honest, the default setting for showing feedback was perhaps a bit insistent. This minor inconvenience is far outweighed by the multi-faceted nature of this tool as it not only facilitates Seller-directed showings but also allows the Listing Agent to disclose Buyer Agent showing feedback directly to the Seller without the Listing Agent's interpretation… for better or for worse.
When I list a property, I nearly exclusively utilize showing time to schedule the property’s viewings. Inevitably I will get at least one direct call from a Buyer’s agent, dismissing the Showing Time standard and reaching out to me to arrange their showing of the property. On the surface, this is an immaterial operational choice by the Buyer’s agent.
But is it?
If the Seller (or their agent) has directed the property to be shown in a certain way, and a showing agent disregards that request, does that Buyer enter negotiations with the Seller on solid ground in a likely multiple-offer situation?
Remember, as Listing Agents, we have very limited information about a Buyer to share with a Seller when presenting offers. The Listing Agent will help the Seller evaluate each offer by contributing our institutional knowledge regarding the terms of that offer.
What does that mean? We will share our past experiences regarding each lender, and whether they have historically closed on time, or at all, in our previous transactions. We will share our experiences with each agent and whether they have historically been honest in their dealings and whether they were successful in guiding the transaction all the way to closing.
We do not have a crystal ball to help us discern the strength of an individual offer. We instead, can only help our Seller weigh each offer to evaluate whether it should be the top consideration by conveying our institutional knowledge of the players involved with each transaction. Remember – Buyer Love Letters to Seller(s) are a fair-housing no-no[3], and can’t be used as a consideration by the Seller.
How we, as advocate professionals, interact with our clients and our peers arranges the framework for your transaction; and our reputation builds the foundation.
At HōM 406 we ensure that every Buyer and Seller are on solid footing. In our 2022 Bozeman real estate market we know we won’t get every offer under contract (darn it!) but what we do know is that our operational standards won’t be the reason you miss out. We are here to serve our clients and guide you to your next adventure!
