Oh, no thanks; I don't want to be paid.....

A lady came to my office yesterday to tell me she was interested in purchasing a home in North Carolina. She currently lives in the Tarpon Springs area and saw on our website that we can assist people with home purchases anywhere. She told me about her home in the area, and that she would have to sell that home before purchasing the other. Here's the conversation:

Me: Well, let me tell you a little about our seller services and then...

Her: Oh, I'm selling my house By Owner. There is no way I'm using a realtor. I need all the money I can get out of the house.

Me: I see. Do you work full-time?

Her: Yes. I travel a lot for work.

Me: So your house is literally off the market when you leave home. If you had someone working for you to sell your house...

Her: I am TOTALLY not using a realtor. I wanted to ask you if you had a buyer for my house and I wanted to see if you could show me any homes in North Carolina on MLS.

Me: But you'd pay a commission if I brought a buyer to you?

Her: Oh no! I can handle everything. I just wondered if you had any buyers who might be interested in my house. You could just tell them about it and I'll handle selling it myself.

Me: So you came here just to get a buyer?

Her: Yes.

Me: Ma'am, I sell my own listings first and if I happened to have a buyer interested in your home, I would expect to be paid a commission since I would be representing the buyers in the transaction.

Her: Well, I'm not interested in that. Anyway, maybe you can show me some homes in North Carolina.

Me: I'd be happy to refer you to a colleague in that area and they can...

Her: An agent at XXXXXXX in Tarpon Springs already referred me to an agent up there. I just wanted to see a few things on MLS.

Me: So, you've talked to another agent in the area, they have referred you to an agent in North Carolina and you came here to look at houses in North Carolina?

Her: Yeah. See, if you send a buyer to me and I sell my house, I might let you get me an agent in North Carolina.

Me: But you said you already had an agent up there.

Her: Oh I do. But I want to get a few so I have some choices.

As much as I enjoy helping people and providing information, is it really fair for the public to expect that we should work for free? It may have been her ignorance of the real estate business, but she was adamant that she was not paying any realtor ANYTHING -she just wanted our information. And apparently she had asked the other agent in Tarpon for the necessary form to sell a home. I don't mind providing assistance, but our services have VALUE and more people than not appreciate that.