Peter C. Fyler

I once heard the late Louis Rukeyser say regarding investing, no matter what you do it might be considered wrong, but to do nothing is really wrong. Buyers second guess themselves and run around in circles calculating over and over again until they turn into butter, and miss the opportunity. I give my clients the best facts and information I can discover and then I tell them to offer what it is worth to them. We are not curing cancer here, but we are talking about something huge --- quality of life, and life is short.

I too am an exclusive buyer agent and I work in a niche market --- Martha’s Vineyard. I maintain an IDX and I am familiar with at least 95% of all listings available in my market. Matter of fact, I have the largest catalog of property photographs of any agency in my market. I make it my business to know the market and I make it my business to respond promptly to all consumer inquiries. But alas, there are too many who fit the description profiled in your survey. I believe the IDX tool is necessary and for those who cannot walk the talk, they will lose more than the cost of maintaining an IDX.

Hi Tara, With regard to seller disclosures, your comments on that aspect were puzzling to me. Massachusetts is a 'buyer beware' state and it is very rare in my experience that any seller will have filled out a home owner’s disclosure. Furthermore, some attorneys recommend to their clients that they do not fill out the form. As an exclusive buyer agent I use to present the form to the seller's agent asking them to have their client complete it. I have even put it into the Offer To Purchase that the seller shall disclose any known defects. Either way, the result was always the same --- no response. It is assumed that the burden lies upon the home inspector to make any discoveries. Therefore, I recommend a home inspector the seller agents refer to as ‘the deal breaker’.