| Daytona Beach Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!" |
Many of you who commented on my recent blog post about my dealings with an unethical real estate agent, had many questions which I attempted to answer by editing the post a couple of times, and by adding a few comments as well. (Sorry it's such a mess now.) As I said in that post, there were problems every single day of that transaction. That listing agent was the epitome of what most REALTORS® do not exemplify! That experience just solidified the reason I'm primarily a listing agent! In the 8 years that I've been a full-time REALTOR®, and the 14 total years that I've been selling homes, I've never encountered an agent who was so rude, condescending and practically useless. As I said in my previous post, he had never even been inside his own listing that had been on the market for 2 years! And the house was falling apart: I took photos of many of the areas of destruction since it was so hard to believe. But in the last post I wrote about this transaction, my final shock was when I went to pickup my commission check and found that it was not for the proper amount. The unethical agent had shorted my commission check.
Many of you were interested in knowing the outcome of that part of this drama.
Bear in mind, it was only last Thursday (5 days ago) that I discovered this final punch I had received from this listing agent. I knew that our MLS rules were in my favor on this, but I didn't have much hope that there would be any resolution this fast. But last night I decided to call my manager anyway, just in case she had any news yet. As it turns out, the broker of the other agency had called my manager over the weekend, to let her know they had already cut my check and it was ready for us.
It's good to know that our REALTOR® Code of Ethics is serving it's purpose, and although the other agent I had to work with was the biggest jerk I've ever met, (Sorry if that offends anyone. I'm just keeping it real.) it's nice to know that the broker of that agency was not only honest, but quick to take action. There's another lesson to be learned through that... Many times when a consumer works with an unethical or dishonest agent, the consumer tends to believe that agent's entire real estate brokerage to have the same ethics, or lack thereof. This is simply not the case. Since REALTORS® are independent contractors and not employees, we're all free to work with our clients in the manner in which we're most comfortable. (This is why many disagreements can be chalked up to simple personality differences.) But even if an individual agent is as dishonest as my recent encounter, that doesn't mean the entire brokerage is the same. This was just proven to be true by that real estate company's broker when he took quick, decisive action in righting a wrong.
I doubt he'll ever see this post, but if he does, I want to say "Thank You!"
For honest, ethical real estate representation, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa C. Hill for all your real estate needs.
For all the real estate information you need, visit my web site at www.LisaHillRealtor.com.
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