Something happened to me today that I wanted to share, share so we can either learn what not to do, or share to show how desperate some agents are right now. Either way, here's the story.
I received a telephone call from a real estate agent wanting to show one of our listings in five minutes. I happened to be close by, in between appointments, the house is vacant and told her I could definitely show her the property. She arrived with her customer, looked at the house in detail, including the back yard, asked very intelligent questions about the area and the condition of the home and left.
About 10 minutes later I received a call from the same agent wanting to "register" her client. I very politely told her that I did not understand her request. She explained that her client was working with several real estate agents, was not loyal to anyone and would like to send me a fax "registering him." (I don't know if this a norm in other parts of the county, but here in Miami, it's a bit STRANGE).
So I asked the agent, "let me get this straight, you are registering your customer because you are afraid that he will go behind your back and call me directly?", she responded with a simple "YES."
So here is a man that does not want to sign an agency agreement, and has several agents working for him at the same time... whose fault is that?
I can tell you that if this gentleman were to call me directly, I would get the other agent involved, I would NEVER cut her out of the deal, it's the way we are, it's the way we do business. Do unto others as you want done unto you (forgive me if I butchered the saying).
I can also tell you that by accepting to work with people in those terms, you are only making it difficult for yourself and may be wasting a lot of time. I always tell my buyers, if you want 100% of me, I need 100% of you and that includes loyalty......sign here.
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