Builders Update has released the results of a study that sheds light on the relationships between real estate agents and home builders. The study will be conducted and results released in several parts, the first of which took place last week. “We wanted to start out with broad questions and then probe deeper based on responses; we did not want to approach the study with a predetermined path,” said a Builders Update representative.

The initial segment of the study looked at three broad areas that are of concern to real estate agents; accessibility of new home inventory, how new home inventory is located, and business relationships with builders. Over 5,000 real estate agents with at least 1 year of experience responded to the survey and revealed what, according to the BU rep, is a fundamental disconnect between agents and builders.

Responses revealed that a majority of agents think accessibility, or locating, new home inventory is a challenge. 61.7% of the responding real estate agents said that new home inventory is more difficult to locate than resale inventory. The study also probed the tools that agents use to locate new home inventory, 91.2% of respondents stated they use either a laptop or a desktop computer as their primary search tool, while only 5.2% said that they use the flyers builders distribute to real estate offices as a tool for locating new home inventory. “After years of working with both agents and builders, it became apparent to us that there was a disconnect between the information builders were providing to agents, and the information agents need to sell new homes,” the BU rep stated, “however, the number that we feel is truly revealing is the number of agents that had a conflict with builders over a commission”. According to the study, 32.3% of participating real estate agents reported having a conflict with a builder over a commission.