Staci Garcia:
Welcome to the Real Estate Finder podcast. I’m Stacy Garcia, and I haven’t been here in a while, and I am gonna record a quick episode, kind of a surprise for Matthew because I, uh, been m i a lately, but I wanted, I have a topic and I wanted to discuss it and talk about a couple things. And, um, this is kind of a timeless topic, and it’s for also for agents, um, and also clients. And since I was, uh, had a couple moments to myself and I thought, I’m pretty pissed about it, I’m gonna rant in a podcast. So my topic is, um, how should if your client, should you have more than one agent working for you? And why not? I mean, um, and that’s kind of what I wanna talk about because I think that some people think that the more agents that are working for you, the better because they can find out more, especially if you’re a buyer.
Um, and I’m talking mainly for buyers. So, uh, a lot of times they’ll spread the word and have a bunch of agents searching for them, and whichever one finds it, that’s the one they end up working with. But all the other people are working for free and it doesn’t really work out for the people working for free. ’cause they’re not getting paid, they’re wasting their time. Um, so what I want to talk about is when is it okay to go out of the, um, traditional role? Like Matthew says, you’d never walk into a car dealership and work with anyone that walked up to you, and then the next time you walk in, you know, work with the next person, you’d stay with the same sales person. So, and they’re the ones that are, will continue to market to you and you will be their client and they will continue to sell cars to you.
And you, there’s some loyalty here. Well, in the real estate market, it’s the same things. And I think people think it’s not, we don’t get paid obviously to, to show you around. We’re not tour guides, and we’ve talked about that a lot recently. I’ve had a lot of things going on in my life, personal, and I haven’t worked at all. I took off, I did really well, <laugh>, it’s my best year yet. And I took off from May until now to deal with a personal situation. And I got a client that I, I helped a couple years ago and they contacted me and asked if it would be possible if I could find them a rental. And they only had a, a certain amount of time and they were in a rush. And I figured, you know what, it’ll only take a week. And I, I think I could handle it.
I’ll, I wasn’t planning on work, but I’ll, I’ll, I’ll work. I shouldn’t be so bad, you know, it shouldn’t, I’ll show ’em a couple places, we will see what happens. I showed, um, it was, uh, parents who live in California and a son who lives here. So I showed son a couple places on a couple different days. And then when his parents came, I showed them more places. So to, altogether it was six places and more, four days. And we ended up writing two contracts to lease a contract. A lease is when you tell the listing agent that you are interested in them giving you a lease so that you can sign it. Basically it’s like an offer to lease their place. And you, you write up a contract to lease with the terms that you want them to put on the lease. I mean, you’re hoping that they agree to them and then they present you with the lease and you sign it and there, then you go in and it’s a signed contract.
The contract to lease. Um, we wrote it on two different properties at two different times, but all within the, uh, period of about three days. And the first one was declined because, uh, the, the amount that they offered was too low. But the listing agent said if you come back higher, um, they’ll definitely consider a higher, you know, we were lower than the asking rental. And then the second one, uh, we had already negotiated before we wrote the contract to lease. So we came in at the price that we knew that they would accept my, um, my client was very intent on getting it. We wrote up a contract to lease, and on the last page of the contract to lease is a buyer tenant broker agreement, which everybody in my company is required to use if they’re smart and they like their broker. And I do, and I am.
So my clients signed it and it means that they’re working with me exclusively to buy or, or, um, rent. And in this case it’s to rent an apartment or a condo or, you know, a location for the certain amount of price in the contract to lease. And that’s what they want the lease to be written at. They signed it and we sent it to the listing agent. And the listing agent was like, cool, thank you. We’re gonna write the lease and we’re gonna send it to you. This happened in one day and the client that I was dealing, oh, now I’m dealing with the son and not the parents, but the parents are the client and the client is, um, signing the paperwork, but everything’s going with me through text, through, uh, the son and the son’s organizing it. And you know, I’m meeting the parents at the location and <inaudible>, I met them and I, we had a good time and everything was good.
Um, so we go through and the listing agent prepares the lease, then she delivers it to me, uh, by email and I text my client and say, the son. And I say, okay, I got the lease ready. And he says, uh, we found another place. And so now I’ve been kind of wasting the time of a listing agent. I’ve been under the guise that we’re gonna have a signed lease, you know, within the next half hour by both parties. And the son now throws in a last minute twist that he, he found somewhere else, you know, and I’m thinking, but he has an exclusive buyer tenant broker agreement signed with me and my broker, my broker and the my clients. And now I’m thinking at the time I was super pissed off and I’m like, what do you mean you found a place because you’re working with me?
And he didn’t never mention that he was working with anyone else. And then, um, he then he threatened the listing agent ’cause he had, um, gone around me and contacted the listing agent and tried to, uh, negotiate with the listing agent. And she said, this is a very unorthodox client. Why is your client contacting me? And I said, I don’t know. I don’t even know how they got your number. I mean, I’m guessing off of a listing. But, um, you know, he’s untraditional, he just doesn’t know how things work. And I get it when a, a client thinks, well, this is the way I think it should be done, I’m gonna go straight to the source. But he was, you know, him and I had a good relationship, we had great communication. We, there was no time where he couldn’t reach me. I am accessible 24 7 by text.
And as far as I know, I, and, and I knew he was texting the listing agent, which was fine. I wasn’t gonna say anything. I just, I figured, you know what, he’s the kind of person that goes and, you know, does extra work just to make sure he is part of the negotiation, whatever it is. But after he said to me that he found another place, then he was texting the listing agent, uh, that he was threatening to, um, to sue her. And so she would texted me and said, what’s up with your client? Because, uh, he was making threats because he believed that she told him something that was, um, not, not true. And either way he was backing out of the whole thing or his parents were. And, uh, anyway, long story short, so I’m, so I, I blew it off ’cause it was July 4th and I had a, a lot of stuff going on and now that I’m, you know, I’ve got some time and I’m focused on real estate this week, I, I wanted to come in and talk about it, how, how people think that it’s okay to, it’s like cheating on your real estate agent.
Now I don’t know if he actually has another place and found it. I have no idea where the location is. I have no clue. But I know that he’s not hard to find. People are pretty easy to find and his parents needed to move within this month. So I know it’s an urgent sort of thing and it shouldn’t be so difficult to figure out where he moved to. ’cause I know what’s available and the price point and everything he was looking for. So hypothetically, I, I know that since they signed the buyer, um, tenant broker agreement, my broker can bench actor who’s awesome by the way, at signature. He can, um, pursue my commission even though they didn’t end up working with me in the end because they’re essentially, they signed the contract that said they would work with me and I would get paid.
Normally I would say, okay, water under the bridge and I’m gonna move on and not worry about it. And, and especially in a rental situation where it’s only a couple thousand dollars that it represents to the agent me. But in this situation, uh, I don’t think I’m gonna let it go. And normally I would, I’m non-confrontational. I just think things happen for a reason. Everything happens in the right time and there’s much bigger problems in my life than dealing with this guy. But I’m deciding as I think about it, you know what, no, I’m not gonna let this guy go because he knew what was going on in my life and at the same time decided to screw me, which is completely wrong. So, um, so I’m gonna find the, the parents and find out where they rented and then I’m gonna ask my broker to pursue this to get my commission and I’m gonna make them pay for it.
And it’s not that his parents are bad people, actually, I think they have no clue about how, um, um, what’s the word? Underhanded or under, you know, I, I think that the sun is just, um, he’s a loose cannon. So I have no, um, I have no qualms about exposing this person. He doesn’t, in the beginning, I, I’m such a person that it connects people. That’s how I make my business work. I don’t market to people. I don’t send out stuff anymore. All I do is connect people and then, um, I expect people to connect people with me. And that’s how I have my clients. I am a word of mouth person. So, um, I am gonna make sure that this guy doesn’t, uh, get connected to any of the people that I originally, when I met him, said, oh, I’m gonna introduce you to this person and I’m gonna introduce you to that person.
’cause he, he was looking for a job as, as a teacher and I gave him way too much information and now he’s probably gonna get a job because I gave him the right people to talk to. So aside from, um, pursuing my broker, tenant broker, uh, my buyer tenant broker agreement, I’m also going to make sure that he doesn’t get hired at the places where I told him to talk to the people that I told him to talk to. And I think that, um, I’m gonna make it part of my goal this year to make sure that I don’t get treated the way he treated me. And especially on behalf of the listing agent as well, because I kind of brought her into this not knowing. And now she’s miserable too because she’s like, what is up with your client? So not only does it make me frustrated and pissed off and I lose money, I also look like it.
I didn’t, um, check the background of my client. I didn’t, you know, vet them to see if they’re good people. And believe it or not, this guy and I have been working together for uh, I wanna say three years. So I’m completely shocked that, that it went down like this. Um, I’m not, I don’t have Matthew here to bounce it off of him, but I’m sure he would agree that if someone’s gonna waste your time then and they should pay for it and time is money. And I know he would agree with that. So I wanted to make sure that people knew first thing that when they sign anything with me, it includes a broker tenant, uh, agreement as a buyer or a buyer broker. Um, I’m sorry, it is a renter but also a buyer broker if you’re buying and that I’m not showing you property ’cause it’s fun.
I’m showing you property ’cause I’m gonna get paid when you buy it and I’m not gonna get paid by you. And I wanna explain this because I had to, I did explain it to my renter, um, son person, you don’t pay me for the time. I’m gonna get paid through the commission that, this, that, that the landlord is gonna pay their agent. But I don’t think, I think that he thought, oh, well since we don’t have to pay, then we don’t have to worry about paying you, then we can talk to everybody ’cause it’s free. So, um, in a way, if there’s any restructuring in the future, which I think there might be one day, it’ll be paying for people to show your property, you know, whether you buy or not, because time is money and I know it, it sounds pretty, um, greedy, but no other business would give you their time and expertise and take you around and show you No, we’re not tour guides.
Show you property and tell you everything you need to know and do the paperwork and help you and not get paid for it. So, um, I wanted to come here and explain it to other agents. Make sure they, that your clients sign the buyer tenant broker agreement if they’re potential renters. And make sure they sign the buyer broker if they’re potential buyers. And if you have to explain it to them in advance to get them to sign it, then do that. I’ve had it cost me a couple, uh, clients, but I understand that if it, if it’s not explained to them, they need to understand it. ’cause when they read it, they’re saying, Hey, what does it, where does it say I’m paying you? Why, why am I paying you? You know? And, um, you can explain it in a way that says, I’m not working for free.
I’m really not getting paid from you. I’m getting paid from the listing agents part of the commission. They’re splitting it with me, but in the event that I don’t get paid from there, then you’re paying me. So, and if it scares them away, I guess it scares them away. I wasn’t a fond person, I wasn’t a big believer of this until it blows up in your face and you end up using it to go after the people that just wasted your time. So now I am gonna do that. And I do wanna say to buyers to respect the people’s time that you’re using and especially when you know that they have a life and children and things going on in their life and they’re making, um, I made a huge exception to go show property to this guy. And you know, at the end he just said, I found a property with someone else.
And I was like, oh my God, this job sucks. And in a way, you know what, the week before I was thinking, this job’s great. You know why I haven’t worked in months and I’m fine. I’m not freaking out. I mean, I’m temporarily freaking out over stuff. But I’m, I worked so hard last year and at the beginning of this year that I worked enough to pay for the whole year in my bills up until May. And then I, I, I had planned on breaking the records and doing some crazy stuff and making it my best year and doing awesome stuff, but something personal happened and I can’t work. So then I figured I’ll just make one exception and do this one rental. I have one week and this is what happened. So I wanted to get that out there, um, to, not a bitch session, but more information.
And then I’m gonna go after this guy and I’m gonna make it known that, uh, he did the wrong thing by me. And I hope that it turns out I’ll let you know how it goes. Um, but I wanted to come in and talk about it ’cause it is super frustrating. Uh, another thing I wanted to mention, and this is not related to what I just talked about, is real estate right now. And I mean people are still buying, selling real estate, but it’s kind of temporarily back to the way it was, um, a couple years ago before covid. And things aren’t really moving. And so prices are coming down and there’s more on the market. So I have sellers that I’ve told them to wait and not sell right now because everyone’s busy. And it’s not like Covid where people were stuck in their houses for the summer and they couldn’t travel.
Now they’re actually in Europe and they’re, uh, in the Hamptons and they’re not here. So putting a new house on the market in July was never a great idea to begin with in Florida because no one was ever here. But during Covid it was a good idea and we were slammed for the summer. And now I think it’s more, uh, there are tons of people out of town, kids are at camp, parents are enjoying the fact that they don’t have their kids at home and traveling and they’re not looking to buy a house. And the people that are coming down here for, to move down here from New York and other places, California, wherever they wanna come, before school starts. And I don’t think a lot of them realize that our school starts down here, um, in Boca on August 10th. So what I think they’re gonna happen, and it, what happens often is that they don’t come down here until August buying a house because they think school starts in September, but then they’re a month late.
But, um, I am telling my clients not to even consider selling until September because that’s when people are gonna get serious again and people will be back in town and school will have started and everyone will be back in business. So as far as the state of the market, um, it’s kind of on hold for me and I’m happy about it, but, and business is still going on and people are still buying and selling and things are still coming on the market. Um, it’s not, and there’s very few for foreclosures. There’s very few bank owned properties, there’s very few, um, fix or uppers or flippers or anything, um, that needs to be renovated wholesale. Uh, but there are tons of properties on the market that are overpriced and sitting for a long time because no one wants to reduce their price. And since no one’s here, they’re just accruing days and not buyers.
Um, so I definitely don’t advise trying to sell right now, but if you are considering selling in the future, you can contact Matthew and me and I’m just gonna wrap it up because I really wanted to get out my, my buyer tenant broker rant and make sure that you agents have it signed and use it because of what happened to me. And I’m sure eventually it’ll happen to you and we need to make it a point to be a united front and not get abused by the client. Um, that’s all I have to say. Have an awesome day. Uh, you can reach me at Stacy Garcia. Stacy Lynn Garcia on Facebook, Stacy’s mail on Twitter, Instagram and every other platform. And um, and you can text me 5 6 1 2 3 9 1 4 4 9. If you have a property that needs to be completely redone, renovated or flipped, you know, to be sold or you think it’s not sellable, definitely contact me ’cause I have buyers for it. Cash buyers, thank you. I have a great day.
Speaker 3:
The future looks bright and the storms pass by the sky’s dark blue when it’s almost that time. Light shows cameras flash when I pass living in the moment, forget about the pass. They save the best for last. Matthew Mania. We about to make a splash. Life is a marathon full of sharp turns. Gotta keep pace while the hands on five. Run a show you life real.
Speaker 4:
You know it, you know it, you know what, you know, know it on. You know what, what, you know what time Its, you know what, what? You know what time it,
Speaker 3:
You know what time. You know time. You know what time it’s, you know whose time it’s, you know what time. It’s shook bad.
