There Are Many Challenges In Trying to See a Property
Scheduling Showings
Expectations
Setting up the showings can be challenging depending on who the listing agent is and what is going on in Puerto Rico. If you are used to buying property in the States, you are familiar with having all the listings I one place, on the MLS, and having all the information about the property as well as the contact information of the listing agents. In Puerto Rico, the real estate agents are not required to put all the listings in the MLS. So, we must search many other sources, and, in some cases, the listings are either outdated, there is missing information including contact information, or the property isn’t what it seems to be.
Challenges
Combine the underutilization of the MLS with the fact that some agents do not like to involve other agents, they do not like to call you back or if they do its days sometimes weeks later, and some of the local agents just do not want to deal with the language barrier (which is understandable) it can be challenging to schedule showings in a timely manner.
The other challenge is that Lock Boxes are not utilized like they maybe should be. Without the lock boxes you are at the mercy of the listing agents schedule and that can make it challenging to set up an appointment in which we have to coordinate your schedule, the listing agents schedule and sometimes the sellers schedule. In Puerto Rico, it’s not uncommon to view the home with your buyer agent, the listing agent, and the seller all together.
What You Need to Schedule a Showing
Another important item to remember is that before we can schedule showings you will need to provide a prequalification letter from a lender that is approved to do lending in Puerto Rico. If you are from the States, most of the banks in the states will not do home lending in Puerto Rico. If you are planning on paying cash, you will need to provide proof of funds. That can be a bank statement, retirement account, investment account, etc. Most agents will require either item prior to even scheduling a showing.
If you are off island and cannot come to see the home, we do have a solution for you. After you have provided proof that you are qualified for financing or have the cash to pay for the home, we can set up a showing in which we can do a video conference via, FaceTime, FaceBook, WhatsApp, etc. and do a walk through. This has been a very successful process for our buyers. If our schedules do not allow us to be on a video call at the same time, I will go to the home and do a video walk through of everything in the home, the good, bad, and ugly. Then we will send it to you for your review via WhatsApp.
We continue to do this until we find the home you want to make an offer on and start the negotiation process.
I am sure there are other questions you may have, please contact us so we can give you the answers to those questions.
