Happy Friday

We've made it to another weekend and it looks like the weather may be pretty nice.

I'd like to wish everyone participating in the Peter Assimack Fishing Tournament this weekend Good Luck! Also remember that the Art and Craft festivals are picking up again around this time of year, and it really is a great way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Many realtors will be holding open houses this weekend, usually on Sunday and I thought I'd take an opportunity to talk to prospective buyers about attending open houses. At an open house, the realtor may ask you if you are working with any realtors and your first inclination is to say no. You might say no because you feel the realtor is asking to represent you. Or you may say no because you don't want to answer probing questions - you just want to look at the house.

If you ARE working with a realtor in your home search, and you are just out on your own looking for open houses, please tell the realtor holding the open house that you ARE working with a realtor. You see, if you happen to like the house, and you call your realtor and say "Hey, we saw this great house on Sunday and we're interested in making an offer. Would you write up a contract?", and you've told the realtor at the open house that you're NOT working with another agent, then the open house realtor upon receiving an offer in your name may try to file an ethics complaint based on "Procuring Cause". What's that?

Procuring Cause outlines which agent brought a ready, willing and able buyer to the transaction and is probably the biggest complaint seen by ethics committees around the nation. In essence, agents are fighting over commission because either the buyer didn't understand the real estate transaction process, or the agent didn't clearly state that they were representing the buyer. It's a complicated mess but it all boils down to who gets paid.

Be loyal to your agent. Buyers agents work for YOU and you don't have to pay them a dime! The seller pays the buyers agent commission and your agent may have spent many hours showing your homes, advising you and helping you through the transaction on the slim chance that they are going to get paid down the road at closing. Not many people work because they WANT to, and realtors are no different.

Have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the weather!