Real estate blog entries tagged with ethics by Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time (Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)

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ethics: Do you trust your REALTOR®? Better think again. - 12/13/09 05:30 AM

OK before I get started let me say that I know from experience that most REALTORS® are good hardworking trustworthy folk. BUT…….not all.As in any profession there are wolves in sheep clothing. You may think they are looking out for you when the reality is they are just looking out for their wallet.Recently I have had agents on the other side of the transaction literally crying and begging for me to get an offer accepted because they needed money for Christmas. I would like to say I was shocked but I wasn’t. In my 15 years of being a REALTOR® not … (138 comments)

ethics: Increase Property Showings By Treating Your Peers With Respect. - 09/22/08 03:45 PM

Hi folks. Earlier this week I re-posted an article titled "Does that 50 cents have to be on the HUD?". That post contained a comment about another REALTOR(R) giving the code to my lock box to a buyer, so the buyer could do his own final walk through. Maybe I should have reported the REALTOR(R) to his Broker or filed an Ethics complaint. But I didn't. This post explains why.
First, I list homes for sale in Poinciana Florida. That's what I do. I rarely work with buyers. Therefore, my business depends on other REALTORS(R) showing and selling my listings. With that in mind, my … (88 comments)

ethics: I Will NEVER Show That REALTORS(R) Listings!!! - 09/13/08 12:43 AM

Hi folks. Have you ever had such a bad experience, working with another REALTOR(R), that you swore you would never work with them again? I know I have. It can be difficult but we must remember that our job is to help Buyers and Sellers achieve their objectives.
It's tempting to not show a REALTOR'S(R) listings or suggest to your Seller not to accept a deal from a particular REALTOR(R) who we have had a bad experience with. However, as difficult as it is, we must not hold the Buyer or Seller responsible for their REALTOR'S(R) incompetence.
The reality is, the Seller just wants … (61 comments)

ethics: Ethics Is As Ethics Does! - 08/24/08 10:54 AM

Have you ever been accused of being unethical? I have. In fact, I've been accused many times. In ALL cases they were wrong. Here are some of the practices where I have been accused of being unethical.

I received a larger check than the selling agent at closing. I actually had a Broker threaten to sue me over this!! A Seller, who was currently listed, called me and I met with them and took a post dated listing. I won't show a listing that has a less then adequate co-broke. AND...I'll tell my Buyer this. A Seller, … (93 comments)

ethics: The Ten Commandments of Real Estate - 08/14/08 09:22 AM

OK folks, In honor of My Lovely Wife's birthday today I am reposting her very first post. She was a guest author on my blog and I posted this for her on August 19, 2006. It was a featured post at the time and TLW decided to open up her own AR profile 5 days later. Anyway......here goes.
The Ten Commandments of Real EstateWritten by TLW on August 29,2006
Ok, so the lovely wife is bored today and decided to come up with the Ten Commandments of Real Estate. So if you like them or don't like them, please address all comments … (56 comments)

ethics: Working with Buyers on a wing and a prayer! - 06/05/08 04:26 AM

Hi folks. Today I want to talk a little bit about our responsibility to ask Buyers and Sellers if they are working with another REALTOR®. Is this something we are obligated to do by our CoE, or not? What do you think?
Here's an example: Last week, a Buyer contacted me by phone to get some information on a couple of my listings. I asked him if he was working with another REALTOR®. He said that he had gone out looking at properties with a REALTOR® the previous week. I then asked him if he had signed an agreement with them, … (97 comments)

ethics: Is syndicating our listings unethcial? Illegal? Or neither? - 04/21/08 06:24 PM

Yesterday, I read a very good post by Dan Homan titled "Ethics in Advertising". If you haven't read his post please take a minute to do so. Dan brought up an excellent point about the way our listings are distributed around the Internet.
It seems like some of the "listing" sites are not displaying our Brokerage information. Dan's questions are: Is this Ethical? Is this legal? And if not, are we unwillingly putting our licenses in jeopardy by allowing these sites to display our listings, either by syndications or IDX links.
According to our CoE:
Standard of Practice 12-5
REALTORS® shall not advertise … (50 comments)

ethics: Dear Pesky REALTOR(R)........... - 04/13/08 09:39 AM

Sometimes, you just got to do what you got to do.
Dear Pesky REALTOR(R),
I have just received ANOTHER call from one of my sellers mentioning your recent mailer. It seems this mailer has a little hand written note on the back mentioning their days on market. So it is obvious that this is not just a general mailer but one that is specifically directed at active listings. Anyway, this is a violation of our Code of Ethics.
Standard of Practice 16-2(paragraph 3)
............Second, mail or other forms of written solicitations of prospects whose properties are exclusively listed with another REALTOR® when such solicitations are … (44 comments)

ethics: Helpful listing tip from Broker Bryant. Mister Lister....can you spare a dime? - 02/26/08 07:46 AM

Hi folks. Here's a little tip for you that may help you in your business. This post was inspired by Jennifer Kirby's post "What Sellers Really Want is to be Lied to..." and several others I have recently read.
Jennifer's post was about being "brutally honest" with a potential Seller only to have them list with another REALTOR® that told the Seller "what they wanted to hear" instead of "what they needed to hear". Go read Jennifer's well deserved featured post.
Anyway, if you are a listing Broker and you are being truthful with Sellers, you WILL lose listings on pricing or hopefully, … (41 comments)

ethics: 350 DOM(days on market). Five contracts. And finally........SUCCESS!!! - 12/22/07 05:22 AM

Today I had my last closing for 2007. Yippee!!! I made it through a difficult year. This particular closing is the definition for "get ‘er done!".
I listed this property on January 5th 2007. It was my first listing of the year and fittingly my last closing of the year. It's been quite the ride.
350 days on the market, 5 accepted contracts and at least that many that we didn't come to an agreement on. This property was in pending status for almost 200 of those 350 days.
Our first Buyer got caught up in the sub-prime fall out and couldn't close since … (79 comments)

ethics: Come one come all to the greatest show on Earth!! - 10/26/07 10:04 AM

Ok, I guess I am on a roll this week when it comes to dealing with clueless REALTORS(R). Not that this is anything new, it just seems that I have had a whole bunch of them this week. So, I've been thinking. Why is it that so many REALTORS(R) are clueless? They've all been through very intense (joke) Florida licensing requirements and passed a very difficult (more joking) 100 question multiple choice test. They've also jumped through all the bureaucracy at the Board of Realtors (wrote a check) and have had numerous training sessions with their Broker on how to complete … (36 comments)

ethics: Sorry.....I won't work for that! - 09/25/07 08:45 AM

Hi folks. Today I want to talk about co-brokes. Now since this post will be about commissions, please let's not use specific percentages, we don't want to upset Sherman and his anti-trust crew. I'm going to be talking about principles anyway so amounts are not important.
First, I want to clear up a major misconception in our industry "I do NOT have to show your listing if the co-broke is less than I'm willing to work for." It is neither unethical or illegal for me to pass on showing your listing.
Do you believe that? Well, whether you believe it or not, it's … (49 comments)

ethics: Changing our profession.....one REALTOR(R) at a time! - 07/29/07 09:17 AM

Hi folks. John Ochi wrote a post yesterday titled "Pet Peeve: Don't Show Showings". Give it a quick read if you haven't already. Anyway, in his post, John is expressing his frustration at REALTORS® that make appointments to show his listings and then don't show and don't call to cancel. I guess he had this happen to one of his Sellers twice in one day and the Sellers were taking it out on him. We've all been there. And I agree with John it's very frustrating. But what do we do? How do we stop this from happening?
Not only how do … (62 comments)

ethics: Play by the rules or get out of the business. - 02/10/07 06:56 AM

I've had one of those weeks, where I spent way too much time dealing with incompetence from REALTORS® and mortgage brokers. So, this post is being written, so I can direct my fellow peers to it when necessary. As a listing Broker, I, Broker Bryant, promise the following:
All of my listings will be priced correctly. All of my listings will be clean and easy to show.I will get you in any of my listings with last minute notice.I will return your phone call within 1 hour, 7 days a week, 8am to 8pm.All offers will be presented in a timely and professional … (63 comments)

ethics: Integrity! It's mine and you can't take it away from me! - 12/12/06 08:44 AM

OK, is every one tired of hearing me talk about Range Pricing yet? Well, if it helps, I'm tired of writing about it, BUT, yep, always has to be a but, I have had several conversations going over the last couple of months about Range Pricing and how it works and why the majority of Realtors just don't get it. And you know, that's OK with me. I've tried everything I can to get people to understand it but it seems I am just talking to a closed mind. A mind that refuses to open up and explore different ways of … (29 comments)

ethics: You can lead a Realtor to training but you can't give him character! - 10/28/06 10:17 AM

There have been quite a few posts lately, about what can be done about unprofessional and untrained Realtors, including this one from me. Clueless Realtors, whether new to the game or seasoned “pros”, can really make our jobs a lot more difficult than they need be and give the consumer valid reasons to distrust Realtors. I think we can all agree that something needs to be done about it. The solutions, however, vary from more stringent licensing requirements, required training, mentoring, apprenticeships and shadowing to name a few.
My opinion has always been that the consumer should be able to rely … (36 comments)

ethics: Come one, come all to the greatest show on earth! - 10/26/06 11:06 AM

Ok, I guess I am on a roll this week when it comes to dealing with clueless Realtors. Not that this is anything new, it just seems that I have had a whole bunch of them this week. So, I’ve been thinking. Why is it that so many Realtors are clueless? They’ve all been through very intense (joke) Florida licensing requirements and passed a very difficult (more joking) 100 question multiple choice test. They’ve also jumped through all the bureaucracy at the Board of Realtors (wrote a check) and have had numerous training sessions with their Broker on how to complete … (33 comments)

ethics: Liar, liar pants on fire. Not me!! - 10/19/06 08:46 AM

I don’t know about you but I love things in multiple. Multiple zeros on my bank balance, multiple listings, multiple closings and of course, multiple offers. Multiple offers, are one of my favorite things. It really places my Seller in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiating and normally means we will be able to get a higher price for the house. What I don’t like, is a common misconception, from Realtors, that I have to disclose multiple offers to them. Or, that I have to disclose the existence of any offers to them, whether received or not. Sometimes they … (39 comments)

ethics: Call Broker Bryant, for the truth and nothing but the truth! - 09/03/06 07:12 AM

Ok, so I took a listing yesterday. Great house priced right, clean and ready to be sold. So what's the problem? The problem is, I am now the third person to have this home listed. These poor Sellers have been on the market for 10 months and have never had a showing! That's never, as in nada, none, nobody, no interest, zippo! These Sellers started packing back in November and have been patiently waiting for the all elusive Buyer. They are desperately wanting to move back home to Puerto Rico to be near family. Where oh where have all the Buyer's … (14 comments)

ethics: Real Estate is about people, not money! - 08/24/06 08:49 AM

Yesterday, I did a Blog post that contained a comment about another Realtor, giving the code to my lock box to a buyer so the buyer could do his own final walkthrough. I received quite a few comments about reporting the Realtor to his Broker or filing an Ethics complaint. Let me explain, why I didn't take those steps, even though, I agree, what the Realtor did was wrong.
First, I list homes "For Sale". That's what I do. I rarely work with buyers. Therefore, my business depends on other Realtors showing and selling my listings. With that in mind, my business … (18 comments)

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