If you are seeking a home to rent, it is often difficult to find an agent willing to represent you. It is a safe bet that a phone call to any major broker's office will result in a rather short list of agents that have signed on to assist renters. Now brokers will be the first to share that everyone should work with renters (after all, if you play your cards right and stay in touch, they may use you when they become home buyers). I have never seen a factual statistical analysis showing the ratio of renters that become home buyers with an overlay of how many of them use the agent that helped them rent to represent them in the purchase. The only support for this theory is purely anecdotal.
When attempting to explain away the obvious, agents share that they do not work with renters because of the mine field of Fair Housing regulations. It is not that they do not want to follow the Fair Housing rules. The problem with Fair Housing regulations is that the people that are supposed to be protected often see discrimination at every setback. It may be a faulty generalization, but my experience has been that a lot of people find it easier to claim discrimination rather than look at the facts involved. Why would anyone want to subject themselves to the real possibility of the need to answer an unfounded complaint?
People that are turned down because of their credit or their past rental history or one of many financial reasons occasionally seem to overlook that and claim that the rejection has to do with their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual persuasion or any other "red herring" than can pull from their emotional bread basket and demand acceptance. The facts rarely support the allegation, but the allegation must be answered.
The general public does not understand that real estate agents have to analyze each transaction from a cost versus benefit perspective. Regardless of our zeal to help and assist, we must also make sure that we earn a living. This is a profession and not a charity mission. There are times when the return does not justify the exposure to liability or the amount of time and effort necessary to complete the transaction.
In most cases, brokers list homes and charge a fee of one month's rent. They share a portion of that fee with the agent that represents a person that rents the home. In years past, brokers would split the fee 50-50. If the rent were $1,000 per month, the broker would keep $500 and share $500 with the agent representing the renter. Then brokers decided it was o.k. to offer as little as 20% of one month's rent to the agent representing the renter. In a situation like I just mentioned, the broker would keep $800 and only share $200. In many cases the agent representing the renter would have to share up to 50% with their broker. The bottom line ends up with the agent representing the renter receiving $100 or so for the time and effort they put into the transaction. It does not take a genius to figure out that with the price of gas at $4 per gallon, the cost of printing listing information, the time to show homes until the right one is there, the time spent processing, etc, etc etc...well, it is a negative cash flow process. Why do it?
I have always tried to assist those renting homes. When faced with the declining share of commission, I began to ask those renting to make up the difference. Most have balked. Those that have agreed, reneged. Unfortunately, it would cost more to pursue them than would be recovered.
Now to be fair, I can not pick and choose whom I represent. As a matter of fact, picking and choosing would open another door to a possible Fair Housing complaint. We are required to treat everyone equally.
Representing clients seeking to rent...Why? I am still trying to resolve an answer that is fair to everyone concerned. It may sound selfish, but the welfare of my family is at the top of my list. I am a Realtor. This is my chosen profession. It is my business. I am just considering a change in business style. I suppose I have to ask the powers that be if the fact I have represented renters in the past has created the dynamic where I will always have to represent them.
Representing clients seeking to rent...Why?
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