SurveyOne, How may I help you?
"Yes I'm looking for a quote on a piece of property. the tax ID is...."
I look it up and its a bear, 118 acre remnant parcel has frontage on the NE cape fear river and also has frontage along a creek with one line being 4400 ft and all heavily wooded. I asked the gentleman if it had been logged, "partially" he says...2010 aerials show heavy pine forest which means very thick.
I then asked why he was needing the survey, and he indicated was for a sale. "The property lines are really already marked" he said which made me wonder by whom? I asked him if he was the owner, nope I am the realtor. Oh, ok. I need the clients name and number so I can discuss it with them. "Well I am just collecting the quotes and I will give them to him myself" So I tell him that I only deal directly with the actual client and that I dont want him to be the one signing a contract for an expensive survey that might not close. His response was that if I didnt want to do it, I should just say so and then he hung up. So much for realtor's appreciating it when you try to deal direct with the actual client. I am actually quite busy and dont need that headache anyways, he said closing was next friday. I am sure someone will do it.
> SurveyOne, How may I help you?
> "Yes I'm looking for a quote on a piece of property. the tax ID is...."
> I look it up and its a bear, 118 acre remnant parcel has frontage on the NE cape fear river and also has frontage along a creek with one line being 4400 ft and all heavily wooded. I asked the gentleman if it had been logged, "partially" he says...2010 aerials show heavy pine forest which means very thick.
> I then asked why he was needing the survey, and he indicated was for a sale. "The property lines are really already marked" he said which made me wonder by whom? I asked him if he was the owner, nope I am the realtor. Oh, ok. I need the clients name and number so I can discuss it with them. "Well I am just collecting the quotes and I will give them to him myself" So I tell him that I only deal directly with the actual client and that I dont want him to be the one signing a contract for an expensive survey that might not close. His response was that if I didnt want to do it, I should just say so and then he hung up. So much for realtor's appreciating it when you try to deal direct with the actual client. I am actually quite busy and dont need that headache anyways, he said closing was next friday. I am sure someone will do it.
I would find out who does it and make sure I Never JV or something similar with that firm.B-)
Never be upset when a realtor cannot close a deal. It's their job to be able to, but most are just selfish mimbos who do not care about real detail.
No problem, I will send my bill for this consultation directly to you, one hour minimum.
I don't get upset with realtors not closing, but I do not do "washout" surveys where you do not get paid if they do not close. I don't quote prices to realtors unless they own the property. I am no longer letting other professionals dictate what my fees are. We need to be smarter businessmen, talking directly to the client is the key to this. Do you quote Realtor fees? How about attorneys? Why not? because they position themselves directly with the client. from now on I think my tact will change, one of the first questions I will ask is do you own the property or are you buying the property? if Not then I will ask for the clients name and number, if I don't get it I will say I'm sorry we are too busy to work on this project, have a nice day!
Change your "tact" and your "tactic"
Changing your tactic:
> one of the first questions I will ask is do you own the property or are you buying the property? if Not then I will ask for the clients name and number, if I don't get it I will say I'm sorry we are too busy to work on this project,...
Changing your "tact":
> have a nice day!
😛 (Just ribbin' ya.)
Oh yeah...have a nice day.:-)
I think he means "Tack" - as in what a sail boat does...
I should be banned from the site for such poor use of a keyboard. Angel...ban me for at least 5 minutes...
My dad was a licensed surveyor too, passed away 5 years ago...but he passed along some great info to me in that time before I got licensed; "I f$c!*%g hate realtors" and "maybe we should charge our services like they do, by the value of the property and get a percentage"
"maybe we should charge our services like they do, by the value of the property and get a percentage"
-I've been saying that for 20+ years...never seems to get anywhere.
If I tried to stick to that ideal, I would be more hungry than I am now.
Yes, I will work for attorneys and realtors. I just completed a conceptual subdivision and site development plan for a realtor to pitch to the property owner so they can get the listing. The realtors' commission will be huge, so the fee worthwhile for both of us.
Last year, I worked for a realtor. He had a pending sale but the buyer wanted a porch that violated zoning. The realtor took the project to two attorneys who said the project could not be done. He brought it to me and I said it could not be done. Then I immediately called him back and told him I found a way it could be done. My fees were proper for the project. The realtor was so grateful, after the sale he gave me a very nice note and a $150 gift card for a nearby restaurant.
Yes, most realtors are awful. You just need to handle them as they should be handled...
I dislike dealing with price shoppers as much as the next guy, but isn't the whole idea behind the concept of "agency" based on the fact that the agent was hired in the first place because he wanted someone else to handle everything.
It seems kind of contradictory for me to have a principal/agent relationship with a client, but refuse to deal with another agent.
We work with two basic types of realtors. 2 pay for everythig out of their own pocket and pass the bill on to their client. 4 are pay at closing but if it doesn't close in 30 days then they pay out of their own pocket. We've worked with many real estate agents and give them a chance to do right. Slow pay and your done. We work with probably 6-7 who call and ask if I'll talk to the land owner then I deal directly with them.
Then we've got one who used to be an agent/developer who pays everytime he calls just to ask a question. He's retired but still buys a lot of ground for tax reasons and everytime he has a five minute question he sends $100 or so. I don't bill under 15 minutes but God bless his soul he knows all I sell is time and won't take any off it for nothing, even if I won't bill him. He's good to us and I'm good to him. It's a pretty good realationship. Develope realtionships with the right people and let the rest shop with the survey sluts. They'll be selling cars in a few years anyway.
I will deal with them on any matter, except my contract with the client. I require a direct contract. Too often we allow these agents to dictate our fees. Realtors are particularly guilty of quoting ridiculous prices for surveys. I once had an attorney who hired me for a lot survey, I got to the site and the parcel was actually 2 lots. I called the actual client and told them that the cost would be more than the quote, they agreed. I sent my survey and invoice in and immediately was called by the attorney about this "outrageous" invoice. I told him the bill should have been double and I actually gave the client a break but he wanted a bigger discount. In fact, he wanted me to do the extra work for free. I told him that I did not work for free and I did not appreciate him trying to set my fees. I asked him what his fee was for our client and he told me that wasn't my concern. I said exactly, and hung up. It has taken me a long time to come to the decision, but I believe that as long as we let others pressure us or bid our services, we lose. I think getting a contract with the actual client is the key to improving our client relationships.
> It has taken me a long time to come to the decision, but I believe that as long as we let others pressure us or bid our services, we lose. I think getting a contract with the actual client is the key to improving our client relationships.
Absolutely right. The obvious problem with realtors is that their interest is not the client's interest. Their interest is in collecting a commission without anyone being able to later sue them for some misrepresentation. The whole idea that realtors are an ethical profession is laughable.
Does it matter to them whether the survey is correct? No. Does it matter to them whether the survey will disclose a problem that kills the sale? Yes. So, what sort of survey is a realtor apt to "help" a buyer or seller to secure?
More often then not we deal with people that are not the owners of the property . My strategy is to get the project and then the buyer or owner signs the contract. I do not care who I talk to up front . When the responsible person signs the contract its a done deal for me. I have been in business 15 years and I cannot think of anytime we did not get paid except for a couple developers that went broke during the the great recession and some have come back to life with new work .
I find the Real estate agents are just doing the calling around because they know more than the people buying or selling the property . You can develop a good relationship with these people . I got Agents calling me all the time and some for the last 15 years . Trust me they are just doing thier job. Let the contract do your talking , dont send your work away .
If that guy would have called I would have said sure here is the fee I will do it for and then email him a contract to get signed , once signed its on .
Sorry. I hope I didn't offend with my tactless post.
not at all, my grammar can always use improvement.
> If that guy would have called I would have said sure here is the fee I will do it for and then email him a contract to get signed , once signed its on .
Well, for starters, if a realtor is price shopping, they are almost always going to be looking for a flat fee, not an hourly rate. That pretty much is always going to be a problem with an ethical dimension unless all one is doing are lot surveys in fairly straight-forward subdivisions that are quite predictable as to time required.
NOt to mention the fact that the buyer finds out they need a survey a week or two before closing and can back out of the deal. So, the way to resolve is lower the sale price by cost of the survey or half the cost. Hence, the realtor commission is usually lowered by an amount directly tied to the cost of the survey.
