7 Reasons Why Home Buyers Shouldn’t Work with More than One Agent

Some home buyers think working with several real estate agents is a good strategy to make sure they don’t miss out on their dream home. But in reality, working with more than one agent can cause more problems than it solves.

Here are 7 reasons why you should choose one agent to help you throughout your search for the perfect home:

1) Didn’t we talk about that?

When you’re working with more than one agent, it’s easy to forget what you said (or didn’t say!) to each one. Agents rely on the ongoing dialogue and input you give them to help you hone in on the perfect fit for your wants and needs. If you drop some helpful insights on one agent, and another one isn’t in on it, you could start to feel like they’re not listening to you, when they were just never privy to the info to begin with.

2) It’s like deja vu all over again…

You’ve probably heard Albert Einstein’s famous line: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Well, that quote can easily apply to looking at houses with multiple agents, because every agent you work with is pretty much going to show you the same houses as the other ones. Agents have access to all the same inventory, so there’s a good chance you’ll end up having to say “Oh, I’ve already seen that house” every time one of them sends you a listing they think you’d like.

3) Who am I supposed to believe?

While every agent should be giving you objective advice, their personal experience and perspectives certainly impact the advice they’ll give you, so there’s a good chance you’ll get different (and possibly conflicting) advice from every agent you work with. You’re better off choosing to work with one agent you trust will give you the best advice.

4) They can’t unknow things…

Real estate agents don’t just represent buyers or sellers, so there’s a chance that you could end up falling in love with a house listed by one of the many agents you worked with as a buyer. Whether you had a formal agency relationship with them or not, it’s humanly impossible for them not to know certain things about your wants, needs, and motivation, which can hurt you in negotiations.

5) You could become low (or no!) priority to all of them…

If you aren’t loyal to them, why would they be to you? Agents don’t get paid unless they represent you on your purchase, and only one of them will end up doing that. So if they get a whiff of you working with more than one agent, they could all end up losing interest in helping you. When you need them in a pinch, they may not prioritize you over another client who is loyal to them.

6) Money could become an issue…

There’s a thing called “procuring cause” in real estate, where a buyer’s agent can claim they were the one who is owed the commission on the house you bought, even if another agent ended up writing the contract and negotiating for you. It’s basically a fight over who introduced you to the property first. While it’s usually more of an issue between agents, you could still end up having to get involved to some degree, or at least deal with the tension it creates.

7) It’s just wrong to waste their time…

As mentioned above, an agent doesn’t make a dime unless they represent you on your purchase, and only one of them will end up doing that. So you’re literally costing every other agent you work with time and money. It’s easy to say agents choose to work on commission and that’s just the way it goes sometimes, but it’s also easy to empathize with them and choose one agent to work with and be loyal to.