Episode 66: Should You Let The Listing Agent Show The House?

In this episode of the Toe-2-Toe Podcast, hosts Jenn Murtland and Monica Weakley throw metaphorical fists over this question: should you let the listing agent show your buyer the house? As usual, this one is fiery!

Episode Highlights: 

• As a listing agent herself, Jenn doesn’t mind, though she thinks it depends on the circumstances.
• Monica thinks that you are not properly representing your client if you allow the listing agent to show the house.
• If you can’t go to the showing, Monica believes you should send another agent that you trust.
• Jenn believes that you must first determine if someone is a buyer or just a lead.
• Showing the house gives you the opportunity to hear about the buyer’s financial situation.
• The listing agents probably wouldn’t sell the house if they knew everything that was going on behind the scenes.
• There are a plethora of options for replacements to show the house and Monica believes the listing agent should not be first on the list.
• While Jenn wants an experienced agent, Monica thinks they can be inexperienced but still be able to do the job.
• Depending on the market, listing agents might actually be present at all the showings.
• Listing agents should take initiative to call the buyer’s agent to see what the buyer wants to see.
• There are a plethora of factors that go into this situation that need to be considered.
• This week’s tiebreaker, Joe McQuillan, has over 35 years of real estate experience and believes that there are 2 sides to this coin.
• While every situation is different, Joe believes as a general rule you should not allow the listing agent to show the house.

3 Key Points:

1. Just because someone is looking at a house doesn’t mean that they are a buyer. You must separate the buyers from the leads.
2. Allowing the listing agent to show the house should not be your first go-to, rather, you should reach out to another agent that you trust.
3. If agents do decide to have the listing agent show the house, they need to prepare the buyer and the listing agent to make sure there’s no funny business and the agent can focus on what the buyer wants to see.

Resources Mentioned:

• Jenn Murtland (website, LinkedIn, Facebook)
• Call Jenn at (513) 400-1691 to discuss transitioning to eXp Realty
• Monica Weakley (website, LinkedIn, Facebook)
• Joe McQuillan (website, (516) 808-6363)