Sometimes it is hard to define if an agent is being unethical.  In the real estate business there are many ways an agent can be unethical without another agent even knowing  A Realtor can get burned by an unethical Realtor and never have the knowledge to find out the truth.
 
The question I am addressing today is:
 
 * Should the listing go into MLS the day the sign is put into the yard? *   
 
 My answer is  -it better and it definitely should!!!  To be fair to all agents that are in the real estate business it is only right!!

Forclosure 2


When this issue occurred with me - it actually benefited me in the end but it was a very frustrating situation. 
 
Let me start with describing the neighborhood this occurred in.
This is a very desirable neighborhood to live in. The builders that build the homes are excellent builders - the streets and sidewalks are kept up very nicely.  Lots of great people live there ranging from a young age to retired.  It is just overall a great place to live. 

Great Place to Live
 
A friend of mine who very kindly uses me as her and her husbands Realtor gave me a call one Saturday morning.  She told me her friend who lives in this particular neighborhood told her that a sign went up in a yard down the street from her later in the evening on Friday.  The house she was talking about was a foreclosure home - everyone knew it would come on the market someday - it had been empty for quite sometime.  The price was even posted on the front door.  It was a HECK of a deal - a real steal.  It was going to be a HOT item!
 
My friend called me and said she would like to go see the house that day if she could.  Her and her husband were very interested in it.  First thing I did was look it up on MLS to get the coop number to make an appt.  I couldn't find it anywhere in MLS.  I ended up calling the number on the sign.  The person who answered the phone said she would page the listing agent and the agent would give me call back.  I expected a call pretty quick but as the afternoon went on I didn't get a call.  I called again and got the same response.  No call for a couple hours again. I finally decided to look her number up on MLS to see if there happened to be a cell number on the information page about her.  There indeed was and I got a hold of her.  She asked my buyers name and wanted to see if it happened to be the same person of interest that called her earlier that day to see it.  The person who had called her was wanting to see it that evening as well.  I mentioned my buyers names and it was not.  She then gave me the code.  I told her I tried to look it up on MLS and couldn't find it on there.  She said she was planning on getting it on there later that evening.  She had been too busy to do it. 

Foreclosure Sign
 
My buyers and I went to look at it that very evening.  They both fell in love with it.  They wanted it very badly.  They wanted to move forward right away.  I called her and told her we would be writing up an offer.  She told me that the people that she had shown it to were also interested and were planning to write up an offer as well but had to wait until Monday when they could get pre approved with a lender.  Since this was a foreclosure home she wasn't able to submit any offers until Monday morning when the bank was opened again.  I then proceeded to write up the offer.  When it came time to write the earnest deposit check I looked it up on MLS to see who to write the check to.  I could not find it again.  I then had to call the agent to find that information out.  She said she hadn't gotten chance to put in in MLS yet - she would do it soon and gave me the info. I needed.  At this point I began to wonder why in the world she was putting it off for so long.   My buyers and I got the offer written up and I emailed it to her right a way.  They were excited and I was excited for them.  We had made a pretty darn good offer. - full price with a very limited inspection period.
 
She said she was going to wait to submit the offers until she had written up her buyers offer - she said she was going to give them until noon on Monday.  I didn't get a hold of her the rest of that day.  On Tuesday, I did finally get in contact with her.  She said she had submitted the offers and hadn't heard.  Did she submit my buyers offer Monday soon after the noon hour or did she wait until Tuesday morning to submit both?  I will never know how long she held off on submitting my buyers offer. 
On Wed. afternoon I got an email that was also addressed to another Realtor that said the bank is wanting our very best offer.  I then knew there was another Realtor involved because the email was sent to her as well. I asked the listing agent if her buyers were still involved and they weren't.   They just backed out or couldn't compete - not sure. 
By this time, I am very frustrated as well as my buyers.  What if our offer had reached the bank first thing Monday morning?  Would we have an an acceptance earlier in the week? I think so. If this would have occurred we wouldn't have been dealing with other offers coming in the middle of the week.  
Now it is Wed. afternoon and her buyers aren't even involved anymore - they were the reason everything was held up - not to their fault by any means but their Realtors.  We now have another Realtor involved that has two buyers interested.  Now we were competing against two others.  This was a very unfair situation that I had no control over. 
  
Fortunately, my buyers have a great relationship with their lender.  He was able to give a loan commitment with no contingencies.  In our best offer we were three thousand dollars above listing price, no financing contingency and no inspection contingency.  We had a very strong offer but I was still afraid of what the other buyers were offering.  I knew my buyers wanted the house very badly but the others might have wanted it just as badly.  It was then Friday afternoon and we hadn't heard anything.  We had to then wait until Monday. What a long weekend it was for my buyers.  On Monday, I finally received an email that the seller had accepted my buyers offer.  Whhheeeewww!!!  What a  frustrating stressful 10 days they had just gone through.  
So, why did she not have it in MLS until Tuesday?  The sign sat in this very desirable neighborhood - in a very desirable yard - at a very desirable price for about 4 days before going into MLS.  Was she wanting to get all the calls herself?  Was she wanting to wait long enough to end up having both the buyer and seller for this home?  Was she being unethical?  I will never know if she did what she did intentionally or not. 
I think myself and my buyers benefited greatly from her unethical decision although I highly disagree with what happened.  If she would have put the listing in MLS the day she put the sign in the yard then by Monday or Tuesday there probably would have been a mad rush of offers from several Realtors and their buyers.  Fortunately, we only had a few to compete with.  She didn't get what she wanted from her plan if that was indeed her plan.  My buyers and I ended up the winning outcome instead!

Sold
 
What seemed to happen in this situation was very unfair and very unethical.  Unfair to myself, my buyers, and unfair to the other buyers out there looking for a great deal and unfair to other Realtors who missed out on being able to tell their buyers about the great deal and give them a chance at it.

Thanks for listening,

Lisa





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6 Comments on What is ethical and what is unethical?

APR
30
2009
994,644 Points 4 Featured Posts

I will have to re read this again, but on the surface I disagree. When I was a large firm with many agents it was not uncommon for it to take a week. As agents the company policy was we could enter our own listings. I never understood that till I became a broker. An agent enter data can make even the littlest mistake and it cost his broker big time.
3:16pm • #1
116,512 Points Outside Blog Hit Router

That would definitely be against my boards ethics, and my office policy.  I think we do not report these things often enough and we are too lax in enforcing our policies.  I know that would have been a fine for the agent in my board.

My broker always reminds me that the test for whether something is ethical is to think whether you would take that action in a transaction dealing with your mother.  It always works for me. Kind of the Golden Rule. 
3:20pm • #2
466,662 Points 2 Featured Posts

What an exasperating sale! I kept reading quickly to see if you got the offer and thank goodness you did.

We have to get our listings on the MLS within 72 hours of signing the contract unless the seller specifically asks for it not to go in.

Your situation reflects poorly on the listing agent's professionalism to say the least. Who would want to work with them again.
3:23pm • #3
1,523,917 Points 163 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

I like to call these "pocket listings" where the agent puts the sign in the yard and doesn't put it in the MLS until they have their own buyer.  Sometimes listings do get delayed and sometimes with REO properties the bank delays getting a final price or paperwork to the agent.  Sounds like this agent gave herself a lot more work by not going ahead and getting it in the MLS right away.
3:30pm • #4
279,226 Points 2 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

What a timely post for me! I am having a problem with a client that signed an exclusive with me but wants out of their signed contract because the local C21 office "seems" to have listings before they go on the MLS. Gee I wonder why that is.

Bob
4:07pm • #5
406,245 Points 25 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Lisa,

My listings are put in the day I get them, even the pictures (a minimum of 6 as that is Coldwell Bankers minimum).  There was no excuse for that.  I agree with Cindy.  I just had a similar situation occur where there was a long delay in presenting my offer...and we had cash.
4:07pm • #6

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