It's Getting Greedy Out There

Wow, have I been doing it wrong all this time.  I didn't know we were supposed to PUSH buyers into their decisions.  I thought, apparently naively, that this decision was ultimately the buyers' to make.

Talking about commissions to another agent on what they get, etc. I was told is an ethics violation in Florida, check with your state board.

Talking about commissions to another agent on what they get, etc. I was told is an ethics violation in Florida, check with your state board.

And Real Estate Agents have a bad reputations because?!?

The agent does sound a bit unethical, to say the least. I would have said you would talk it over with your seller, your broker, and what the heck, his broker as well. Might as well get the opinion of everyone involved!

As much as it repulses me, I would have to think about my seller and how bad they needed to sell.  If they were desperate, I may give in and see what I could do to get the home sold.  Of course, after it was over, I would march directly down to the agents office and give them a piece of my mind.  Whether or not it would help, probably not, but it would at least make me feel better.  I can't wait to hear how you handled it

I did not have this situation before, so I would  be interested to see how you have handled it.

From the way you have stated this information...If this agent is putting his interest ahead of the client, it could be a possible violation of Article 1 of the Code Of Ethics. I have taken an agent to task on violating this Article in the past...they lost!

Article 1
When representing a buyer, seller, landlord, tenant, or other client as an agent, REALTORS^® pledge themselves to protect and promote the interests of their client. This obligation to the client is primary, but it does not relieve REALTORS^® of their obligation to treat all parties honestly. When serving a buyer, seller, landlord, tenant or other party in a non-agency capacity, REALTORS^® remain obligated to treat all parties honestly. (Amended 1/01)

Agents should NOT be looking to see what listing is going to pay them more so that they can "sell" their buyer a property. The client's interest is to always be primary...period! The agent who puts their interest ahead of a client is going to wind up in trouble at some point.

I'll be interested in knowing how it was handled.

I'm with Cris. Doesn't sound like what they were doing was for the best interest of the client. Besides you're not to talk about commission numbers here either. ~Rita

I dont his client going to make offer on three properties most likely he want offer your listing.You should loyal with your customer.Agent just want if he can get some more commession out of your.

I would definitely report something like that to my Board of Realtors.

I think your question is how we would handle situation being you. Yes, agent didn't act right. It actually happened to me as the listing agent back in the times when market was great. So I know exactly what I would do and what I did. I went to my seller and told my seller what happened . And you know what my seller did? He raised commission. And going back to the other agent: how do you know , buyer wasn't agent's friend , family.....and actually knew whole situation. And why would it be unethical to talk about how much you are going to get paid. It is different than talking to other Real Estate practitioners about fixing commissions on all the listings. Again....I wouldn't do anything like that ever, ever( what buyer's agent did ). but not representing and not knowing buyer I would just talk to my seller.

So, how does story ends  ?

Okay, so I get everybody's drift here.  I agree the agent call was at the margin.

But I'm not sure it is an ethics violation.

Are we saying here that the amount of the BAC doesn't matter?  How about 1% instead of 2.5%?  How would you feel about his call then?

Do you never give the seller some guidance about how much the BAC should be?  Filling out the BAC box on the listing form is part of the negotiated listing agreement.  Do you just fill in 3% without any discussion?

Have you never told a seller that 3% may get his property more attention than 2.5%?  Maybe you should hae done so.  Now, who is failing their client?

Have you given the seller good advice on how much that BAC should be?  What proportion of listings in your multiple are at each level of BAC?

Does your MLS allow an agent to include the per cent of BAC as a search parameter?  Would it be ethical to simply decide you were not going to suggest any property that had a BAC under 3%  How about saying, "Heck no, I won't go ...at 2%"?

Maybe the agent calling simply has different feelings about the value of his time than you do about your own.

Have I ever made such a call? No.  Have I ever searched for BAC? No.

Am I going to get up on my horse about an agent who does?  No.

How do you know his buyer does not agree with him about the value of his service?  Or has not approved his tactic with the expectation that the BAC will not really matter in the end--just while you are getting the BAC increased? 

Maybe he (must be a he) has a buyer agency agreement for 3% and is merely trying to conserve his buyers' limited funds at closing.

SO HOW DID THIS END ANYWAY? 

My guess:  a hundred AR members subscribed to the poster's blog.

Whaddayubet?

I would call your state board and ask them how they feel about what this guy is doing, because we all know the answer to what they would think. These are the kinds of agents that are giving you good agents a bad name and they need to be out of the business.

WOW - he called is a business dilema, huh?  What bullsh!t that was!  Plase let us know what happened with this clown.  I read Jim's comment above - it comes down to the other agent "pushing" one house over another because of what he would get paid.  Pathetic.

Melanie, I think that the Buyer already likes your listing better, at the lower commission. This guy's trying to get a better commission before he brings you the offer.

Melanie,

"the REC was quite interested in the actions of this agent which leads me to believe that they too believe that this violates the Realtor Code of Ethics".

REC has nothing to do with Code of Ethics. If agents are not members of NAR, they are not subscribe to COE, but are still covered by the laws enforced by REC.

And here how I would have handled this. I would never suggest to the Seller to file a complaint. If I would think that it is in the best interest of my Seller, and I have failed to set the commission to the level that it would attract top producers (whihc very much can be the case here, Jim might be correct), I would offer the other agent 0.5% and take it of my share of commission. This would not hurt your client, which you show as the main concern, and it would award an effective agent.

Ok Melanie, Let's analize this> first it is possible that the Buyer and his agent are working under a Buyer;s Broker Agreement where the agent is guaranteed a minimum amount of commission. If this is the case then the amount of the co-broke would certainly make a difference to the Buyer since he would have to make up the short fall.

Also, it is NOT unethical for the BA to ask for an increase in the co-broke. And in fact the only time he can do it is prior to accepting the offer of compensation by submiting a puchase offer. So in order to work within our CoE he would have to ask prior to presenting the offer for his Buyer.

So this situation is not as cut and dry as it seems.

Melanie:

I agree with Bryant (or vice versa). 

How I view this would depend on knowing the facts of the case better than you have detailed them so far...especially as to whether the buyer knew of the agent's tactic and especially as to whether a buyer agency agreement was in place.

I find categorizing this buyer agent's tactic as extortion to be an extreme over reaction on your part.

That is like saying that every 3% BAC listing out there across the fruited plain is 5 parts okay and 1 part extortion.

That will not wash with most RE licensees.

But it might be agreed to by a lot of other folks.

And, by the way, I would never suggest that a client file a complaint with the regulatory agency or even the local REALTOR association.  If I thought one was justified, I'd file it myself.

Please let us all know what happens on the complaint in this case.