With nearly 25 years of practice in the Metro DC area, over the years I've worked with many agents... some experienced, some newer , some big producers and some not. An agents dream is to work across the table with a co- op agent who knows their job and works to keep the transaction’s success at forefront . Sadly, because our standards of education are not consistent, nor is the training that brokererage companys provide, the professionalism varies widely.
From the very first interaction I have with an agent , I'm pretty sure I know what I'm in for- should an offer be tendered. This is often based on the conversation and response provided me at first contact . When I get a call from an agent about my listing or call the listing agent to arrange a showing for my buyer client... the tone is often set. I pride myself on being a good listener and there are times I pray that the agent I’ve just spoken to , is not the one I'll have to work with over the next 30 days! But, my client's needs come first.. so I batten down the hatches knowing I’ll need to ride out the storm looming on the horizon.
It goes like this. The voice mail message. This might be a fully helpful voice mail message that tells me how ( and sometimes when) to best reach the agent and could even suggest sending a text or email, or it’s an unprofessional voice message that would only be approporiate if you were waiting on call from a college buddy.
If you are the buyer agent, you hope this agent has had the courtesy to upload the disclosures required should you need to write an offer ( or even review them).But then there is the agent who asks you to have your buyer ' fill it out' and send it if you make an offer. Again , the tone is set.
A true professional shares necessary information in advance that your client would need to know. Recently, I wrote an offer for buyers on a luxury home. At the time of showing, there was a lovely color brochure featuring the home and touting how amazing and fantastic the agent was . The agent was sure to place lots of info about how ' exclusive' her practice was and that her company listed only the ' best homes ' in our area.
To be fair, disclosures were available along with the ' look how amazing I am ' blah, blah, stuff- but nothing else. No list of coveyances, no other information about the home.
An offer was submitted and when the agent called me back to acknowledge receipt .. (12 hours later and after being notified with texts,emails and calls) , she mentioned that they’d reviewed the offer, and oh….a few key elements in the house were conveying ' as is' with the seller not willing to address. Well gee, thanks for sharing ! My buyers would likely have offered much less money for this charming house- had we known that bit of information up front. !
Was this agent so busy fluffing her ego, that she didn’t bother to think about how a buyer might react to this late news? Did her sellers need to feel so important and exclusive that they did not realize this was not representing the property well to potential buyers? Needless to say, the buyers and I made calls to get a sense of what these ‘ omissions ‘ would cost to repair and the unknown factors they portended.
Still , we pressed for a honest solution. How did these sellers know they had an issue , if no one had discovered it prior? Hmmm. Did they have any estimates for the repairs , I asked? Oh.. they threw those papers away a few years back and have no memory of the cost – she replied. Sounds pretty fishy to me! We did move , but not forward with that offer, as we felt that this type of bad behavior would only worsen as we moved through home inspection and on.
Buyer agents are not without their lack of ethics either. How about the agent who we call ‘the extortionist’ agent? This agent brags to their buyers about how they are going to pummel the seller and get every last nickel for their buyer- mostly because they are so wrapped up in their own power trip. They write offers that don’t accurately list the conveyances and include items that are noted as ‘ NOT ‘ conveying both problematic. In a recent case- with a cash purchaser who had an appraisal, they tried to lie about the appraisal results, stating that a cash buyer doesn’t have to share the appraisal if the value comes in low- but wanted to negotiate the sales price. Really? When did that rule get invented?
Ethics and professionalism go hand in hand. Give me an agent who works to get to win win and you'll have sellers and buyers begin to respect our industry.
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