The Greedy Bully Agent Rears His Ugly Head

It's really a shame that buyer's agents act this way.  They do realize they can get paid an additonal amount they feel they may be due, say from a Buyer Brokerage Agreement, from their own client. 

☔Melissa,  this really does hurt to hear.  It is too bad that there are bad seeds like this in our field.  But isn't your gal lucky to have YOU as her a savvy mentor!  Wish her the best on her listing for me... 


Happy Easter!
Pamela

Should that agent have said what they said.  No, of course not.  But he was being honest and perhaps thats not a bad thing.

I'm going to dissent a bit here and step back and look at it from the buyers agent side.  Full Disclosure: I'm mostly a buyers agent although I do list. But 3/4  of my business is buyers based. There has been a lot of manipulation of commisions on the part of LISTING agents.  When I list its 50:50 right down the line.  I this market, any buyers agent that brings me a buyer is bringing me pure GOLD and I treat them accordingly.   But many people who primarily list have a funny way of treating people who are bringing them GOLD.  

A lot of listing agents are hogging a full % more on the coop and I've found out when on listing appointments with expireds that the sellers were totally unaware of this practice.  (I bring up a low coop when I see one because it can be a reason why the home didn't sell.)  Very often I find that they  thought it was going 50:50 and were shocked that their agent was helping themselves to so much.   If a listing agent can't induce the seller to offer a decent commission, they should take the first hit not hog the lions share.   I'm not one for quoting percentages, but commissions around here are often on third lower than what other parts of the country see. So there is no place for this to go except to create a race to the bottom.

Sure, I have them sign a buyer agency agreement, but most will not agree to pay a higher coop.   Those that do, don't want to foot the bill when a home like this comes along and often try to shake down the buyers agent into giving up what was agreed upon. "You aren't REALLY going to make me pay you? I really can't afford it!" Also, very often the buyer will walk if they realize they have to pay up.   It can be a deal killer which after six months in my car, I have to decide whether half a loaf is better than another six months of gas and time. In this buyers market my job is hard enough without commission issues.  Yet I have to eat and I need to get paid decently.

The issues go on and one.  There are also the relocation companies that are charging 40% of the gross commission for the honor of working with a buyer.  There are also agents that are paying lead generators a huge chunk to get buyers.  Most brokers are helping themselves to 50% PLUS a franchise fee.  The point is that if you see a few checks for about $2500 for $500k+ deal you start pushing back or you go out of business. 

Hi Melissa,

I agree that it is the wrong message to send... It could be that he was trying to find out if her commission was higher.  I've tried to feel agents out on that point as well since they are often a full percentage point higher than the buyers agent.

The problem is that its a question of where does it stop?  I've stopped with relcoation companies as well.  I have crazy vendors calling me every single day telling me they will "give me leads" for $500 a month. It seems like everyone and their pet canary are trying to get between the agent and the consumer while adding no value to the transaction but helping themselves to a very large slice of the proceeds. Meanwhile consumers are using these clowns and then want to lower what they pay us in addition to using third parties. 

But the big lesson for the new agent is this:  Don't take undercompensated listings!  One thing is certain - a tight-fisted seller is 99% more likely to be difficult throughout the transaction.  I'm struggling and need money desperately.  But I've learned that if a seller (or buyer) is difficult from the get-go - closing them is going to be a time-consuming nightmare best spent on finding other clients who will appreciate my efforts. 

Great blog site btw....I've subscribed...

Melissa, Yes, the greedy bully agent did rear his ugly head. I personally would not ask my buyer client to pay commissions above and beyond what is offered in the MLS.  It's not about what I get paid it's about serving my clients. It does not serve my client to refuse to show properties that do not pay a certain percentage commission.  If I were the agents buyer I would find myself another agent!

Melissa, I think the buyer agent was right in a way - it is important to offer a decent coop commission to be competitive.  But I think that putting it in an email is pretty bad form - unless the agent sent him something asking for feedback.  I recently had this conversation with an agent whose coop was totally puny.  She called asking me for feedback and I explained that my buyer said no, and with that puny percentage staring back at me, it was hard ot try to find a way to address her objections to the property in question.  If it had been a fabulous house, well just maybe! 

Hey Melissa,  I included this post in Last Week's Favorites.  Have a great week.

Hi Melissa,  Interesting post and comment thread.  With every transaction being so different it is difficult to apply a flat rate to each and every one of them.  That said, I think, in the end all of it evens out .

Hi Melissa, I am not weighing on the main question since I never discuss compensation ( mine or others) even in the broadest sense.  But the responses in the comments have been excellent and very entertaining. Great reading and insightful by some.

I read this early this week, but with Pat's mention I came back.  Interesting comment thread.  Had I known this guy cut his commission, I'd have written back and said "what's good for the goose"  . . . ;-)

Hi Melissa,

Your title shows your thoughts on the matter.

I am entirely on the side of the poor hard working agent who sees an agent do something that absolutely ensures that their property will not be shown. He was polite enought to call her out on her ineptness.

This is an entrepreneurial business. We work for commissions, not for love.

Heck, why not put in your listing, "if you sell this house you will have to pay the seller $1000 for the privilege of doing so?"

Phil

There are two factors at work here:  Saying that you won't show a property because of the commission offered to the buyers's agent is wrong and NOT acting in the client's best interest. Our buyer broker agreement spells this out specifically...if the commission offered is less than "x", then the buyer makes up the difference.  However, if the buyer was aware of the decreased commission and did not agree to make up the difference and,, thus, took the property off the list and the agent communicated that you the listing agent, that is just helpful feedback.  It does  not sound like that was the case here though...it sounds like the agent made the decision not to show the property.

It is usually new agents who take these low commission compensation. They are so thrilled to get a listing, they think everyone will also be as thrilled to work with their client. In time, she will choose sellers who are willing to value their agents.

" My new licensee is tempted to report him to the NC real estate commission."  Really?  Well, is that the best way for a new licensee to build relationships with other agents?  And while the comment is obnoxious, I just don't see it as a Rule violation. 

"Did the greedy bully just rear his ugly head?"  Well, I do not have enough information to answer.  Just how low was the commission? 

Badly handled by the buyer agent but it also appears to be over reaction by the new licensee that an obnoxious comment email is bullying and reportable to the state commission. 

Of course, I don't have all the facts but just my two cents worth.

Hi Melissa, thanks for the great post, it's never pleasant to deal with a bully, but he may be doing you a favor in that he is informing you of what he and others who did not contact you may be thinking.  Marketers always say that out of 23 unhappy customers, only one will do you the favor of complaining, the rest just wont buy.

You can now go back to the seller and explain that ethical or not, buyers agents may not be giving this home the coverage that it needs with this compensation package.