You're bullsitting me, right?!

Wanda,

Good you did not go along with that one.  Someone from NYC tried that with us, and even called the owner, who told him to go to hell...Some of these people just don't get it.  A

Wanda, here it's becoming unusual for the listing agent to double-side a transaction, so I would have just shown her my listing and treated her brother like my new best friend to get the place sold.  Do I approve of what the brother is doing?  Absolutely not, but my first concern is my own clients' interest. 

I'm with you... I would show the property.  My duty is to get the house sold.... not to put up barriers to a possible sale.

You did the right thing.

But, yes, this is crazy stupid.  How is the sister benefitting?  She is getting a representative who doesn't know how to represent her - doesn't know the market nor prices nor input on any potential issues about the house, or those that may come up during inspection, etc.  It's not like she is paying less for the house as the commission would still be there, regardless of whether it was granted to brother or not.

Haha, I bet he thinks he is pretty slick.  It definitely sounds like her brother should be fired as her agent.

There are no limits to the BS we are seeing in this career field right now.  I thought it would get better with a stronger economy and it seems to be getting worse.  Glad you showed it.  Shows class.  Mark

Our listing contracts give us the opportunity to pay ZERO commission to agents outside our MLS (not sure that was the case in your example). I would have told the buyer that it didn't matter if her brother wrote up the offer because he wasn't going to get paid. Then I would have asked if she still wanted to see the house given that scenario. I suspect not. 

Offer a 25% referral fee to the brother and move on with life. Never know how or when that money will be recouped. 

Good morning Wanda.  In the end your goal is to sell your clients home.  I wonder if the lazy agent would give you a referral fee for doing his work?

Strangely enough Barbara Todaro  and  Wanda Kubat-Nerdin  we know of a case tht was very similar told to us without names o course by an officer of our local association.  The "board of his/her peers" voted that he/she ws not acting in the public's best interest...and fined the agent thousands of dollars and required additional education courses as well.  Now there's a blog...and one where the listing agent, according to that BOard would ne wrong no matter what they did !

Hard to fix this sort of incompetence! Imagine going into escrow with this agent/brother.

It's really unfair when Realtors advise their friends and family to use the listing agents this way. It's a one-shot, pop-tart kind of deal and not the way we do business. I had calls very similar to yours and didn't discover until the "client" showed up that her ex-mother-in-law was the Realtor of record... smh

Wanda, I have to say you were very polite about the whole experience.

When I clearly explain I am working for my client the seller and it would not be in her best interest or her agents, I usually hear that they would rather wait. I will work for my seller even if it means I am showing for another agent if they want to go ahead and I have the time.

I am working with an agent that is similar to that currently.  He held up his client's contract for over 3 weeks to make sure he would get his commission as he is not in the system

Wanda

We get far to many of those calls. I would call the other Realtor and ask for him to sign a referral agreement. If he doesn't it would be next.

Good luck and success.

Lou Ludwig

Wanda - I came here as a result of Barbara Todaro 's post.  Yes, you are right about this.  The client comes first.

I appreciate that you shared this story. You not only showed readers what a bad buyer's agent looked like, you exposed a real problem: professionals taking advantage of their families. I absolutely think that most real estate professionals would love to help their family find the best home at the best price. But this guy just wants a check, I doubt he had any real intention of performing his fiduciary duties. People need to think before their automatically trust family (unfortunately).

Hi Wanda --- I'm glad Barbara Todaro posted her thoughts that brought me here today.  Although rare, I have also experienced this type of behavior -- the buyers are not being represented fairly but when it's my listing -- that's not my concern. My duty is to represent my sellers and get the home sold.  The behavior of the other "agent" doesn't help with the repuation of our industry.  

Wanda Kubat-Nerdin - happens once in a while where they do not want to 'bother' their agents...