I've posted this reply to another agents concern about a potential commission dispute because the comment thread is for members only but felt like the reply was suited for the entire public.

Dear X,

I'm intrigued by you post partly because I do quite a lot of short sales in and around Denver but also because it seems to shine a light on some common mistakes that reflect poorly on our industry. 

 Of course we all know that the commission is negotiated between Seller and Listing broker.  It may even be that you are not authorized to negotiate your commission only your managing broker is. 

 Any of us who have sold homes for years has run into those who believe we get paid too much for limited effort.  You know what?  That may be true.  It certainly may be true for someone who e-mails a blank contract off to some one and lets them fill in the blanks.  You indicated that you "read" this couple so well that you decided not to follow up with them.  I've heard about this "reading" before and to me it sounds more like you qualified them and they didn't fit the parameters of someone who you were willing to invest time with.  I can certainly appreciate that.  In fact I strongly urge my agents to qualify their prospects before spending time with them.

However, I wonder if you think you would have had a better experience if you invited the husband and his wife to join you at your office to go through the purchase process.  Perhaps teach them how you and the Seller came up with the listed price, discussed the various required documents and the state approved form for writing an offer, explain at length what occurs during the short-sale negotiation and lay the foundation for a long and challenging escrow.  A planned presentation goes a long way to overcome the most common objections and in building your image as a trusted advisor.

Even a know-it-all buyer deserves to have best-in-class service and/or representation since they may be the most susceptible to being duped.   Or, as may have happened in this case, they may have erred in the completion of the form or at a minimum omitted some customary approaches to the various blanks.  If the couple refused to come to your office I think a better approach would have been to seek out other alternatives such as other times for the meeting or perhaps meeting at their house.   I am assuming you signed the offer at some point acknowledging that you were the agent who wrote it.  Certainly this approach marginalized your credibility, and probably voided your e/o insurance.  It most likely is a violation of your office policy manual.  If nothing else it perpetuated the Buyers' belief that you as an agent did very little if anything to earn a commission.

 The variety of replies with a slant toward preserving the commission, in my humble opinion, is misdirected.  We as an association need to remember the value that we bring to the public.  Concern about the public being too smart or that the commission is non of their concern, or worse, Sara Homan's position that maybe you only have to present the offer if it comes from a REALTOR® is mind boggling.  We are paid to protect the public through our education, our processes and our skill.  Furthermore, to pretend that there is some secret formula that occurs behind the scenes that the uneducated public doesn't know anything about but should respect paying a fat commission for is dangerous.  With technology advancing and adding much needed transparency to our industry we need to continue striving to add value in our representation.  It should not be up to the public to guess whether we add value or not-we should prove it each and every time we have an opportunity to earn some business.  Frankly, that's what the public expects and if we don't do it we get paid what we deserve.

Bob Maiocco

www.MyHomeBuyingResource.com