Admittedly, neither the role of Buyers Agent role nor the role of Listing Agent can be considered easy. Both have their challenges; both have their positive aspects. That said, I've been working both sides of the transaction for more than a decade now, and it's clear to me that the Listing Agent has the more difficult time. Here's why:

Buyers Agents find issues; Listing Agents have to solve them.
Buyers Agents want their buyers to have all the information about the house they are about to purchase. All the problems and defects need to be on the table, fully disclosed. For the Buyers Agent, the big questions are
1) What's wrong with this house; and
2) What will the Seller agree to fix? Those two questions have to be answered before the Buyer can make an informed decision. The Buyers Agent brings in the home inspector and the termite inspector -- and if they find anything suspicious, more inspections ensue.

The list of problems and issues generated by the various inspections is put together in the form of a Repair Request by the Buyers Agent, and it typically ends up in the Listing Agent's lap. You might think that the list goes to the Seller, since the Seller has to respond to it. Usually not. Usually the Seller looks helplessly at the Listing Agent. "What do I have to do?" he or she asks in confusion. The buck is passed.

Sellers are not necessarily unwilling to do repairs, but they want the job done without spending any more money than they have to. That's understandable. At the same time, the Listing Agent knows that the job needs to be done correctly. If the completed work is not satisfactory to the Buyer, bad things will happen.

You've probably heard the saying, "You can have it done quickly, cheaply, or correctly -- pick any two." There's a lot of truth to that saying, and doing the repairs for a sale is not the time to choose "cheaply." The work needs to be done on time (i.e., before closing) and it needs to be done correctly (or the Buyer may walk). Nevertheless, the Seller still wants to spend as little as possible. So it falls to the Listing Agent to produce one or more professionals who will do the repairs quickly and correctly, while still giving the Seller a good price.

Over time, agents collect the names of service providers they can trust -- contractors, plumbers, structural engineers, landscapers, chimney sweeps, painters, maid services, radon testing labs, concrete driveway repair companies, and so on.. and on.. and on. Access to the list, and the agent's relationship with the people on the list, comprise an important aspect of the Listing Agent's value to the Seller.

But having the list is usually not enough. Typically, the Seller is at work all day, and can't easily be home to meet with repair people. It falls to the Listing Agent to stand in for the Seller during the information gathering period. He or she will call the repair companies, set up appointments to meet them, then go to meet them, and collect the professional opinions and estimates to present to the Seller, along with his or her recommendations on the best course to follow. All this takes time. Once the Seller has agreed to have work done, if the workmen require access to the house, the Listing Agent may be called upon again to open the house to allow the repair people access. When a utility company is involved, this can require hours of waiting just for them to turn up.

Once the work is done, the Listing Agent contacts the Buyers Agent, so the Buyer can come by to check that the work has been properly done. Usually it's fine, because the service providers on the Listing Agent's list are dependable. Sometimes something gets overlooked, and then the Listing Agent has to scramble.

I remember a listing that I had a few years ago. The FHA appraiser didn't come to do the appraisal until a week before closing, and he told the seller that peeling paint on the soffits had to be scraped and repainted. He took the Seller around the house and showed him two areas that needed to be done. This was an FHA requirement, not an item on the Buyer's Repair Request List.

There was no time to waste, of course. I got my painter to leave the job he was on, to come back and take care of our soffits. Then ONE DAY before closing, the FHA appraiser came back to check that the work had been done. "You missed a spot," he told the Seller. "There were three areas to be fixed; you only did two."

My Seller was sure that only two places had been mentioned originally, and I believe him. He knew this issue would stop the closing and he was very, very focused on what the appraiser was saying that day. But, no point in arguing, I had to throw myself on the painter's mercy yet again, and beg him, "Please, you have to come TODAY!" And, God Bless him, he came.

This is an example of how the Listing Agent's relationship with his or her service providers makes a big difference. A Seller may hire a painter once every five or ten years, but a Listing Agent needs a painter many times a year. That gives the agent leverage when needed.

What is the Buyers Agent doing while the Listing Agent is dealing with contractors, gathering estimates, and micromanaging repairs? None of this burden falls on the Buyers Agent. He or she found the problems -- the Listing Agent has to get them fixed. The Buyers Agent can spend the weeks between contract and closing on vacation in Hawaii!, or out getting three more Buyers under contract.

Which role is harder? I'm pretty sure it's the one you can't do from Hawaii. ezinearticles