Pro Bono? No Bro!

Wanda- there will always be people who think that some people "don't really work" and should donate their time, and that includes their relatives. 

Interesting post, and ironically now that we are making the changes in less than 45 minutes there will be a few agents who do not know how to handle and might as well work for pro bono:)Endre

Hello Wanda - there has never been a shortage of those who complain.  About things quite important as well as things much less significant.  Evidence of such stuff can be seen as overwhelming for some.  And less than sufficient to others.  Hmm, maybe we can split the difference.  Or go to a higher court.  Does that sound appealing? 

And I will add a HaHa for further proof.  Will I need to compensate Brian England to use of that line.  🤣

Some people's kids...  This does not sound like the type of person I would ever want to associate with, haha.

Good morning, Wanda... as I've long said, most agents are terrible at explaining their value and keeping their clients informed on everything they are doing. I've never had a client even hint that I didn't earn my keep. But that being said, there will always be people like this seller and he would probably have behaved the same way even if the agent had not been a relative.

That's cray-cray. His Brother????!!!! When I bought my apartment, and I was in a different career- the agent representing me was horrible. She did not earn that commission- and 19 years later, I am still angry at the way she handled things and the amount she received for such little work, and ignoring my express wishes on forwarding my name to bankers  (I worked in finance- and even though mortgage banking was not my end of the business- it was easy for me to get a ton of solid referrals from colleagues in my office). I bought the place,, and eventually joined the condo board, reluctantly because it was a small building- and we needed someone with a finance or at least a basic accounting background- and it was me. Over the years that I served on the condo board- I saw bad agent after bad agent stroll through the building- lying through their teeth, not understanding vital aspects of the building. or caring how their lies and/or ignorance was hurting people. When I decided to make the career shift to become an agent- it was with the vison that I would be the exact opposite of these terrible agents- and that is exactly who I am today. I would rather provide transparency over lies- and do a clean deal that doesn't risk falling apart when due diligence is started. 

I can understand the public's response in what they think we do - and it's because there are so many bad agents out there. Though, in your example, the guy's brother is something else entirely.  Perhaps the commission changes are a great opportunity for us to show the public our value and truly what we do. 

Our management team was discussing the commission changes with us this week- and mentioned that the public thinks 50% of what we do is find listings, set appts, and do showings. In my market- the true number is more like 15-20% of what we do. I see this an opportunity to highlight my value- and why I am worth my commission far above my requirements. 

I do work pro-bono...but that is on a limited scope for some value add services on rare occasion after the deal is done and I have been paid. 

Correct me if I'm wrong,

Imagine 3 Levels, each representing a different type of Sellers:

- The Value Adder

- The Greedy

- The Cheapskate

Out of all 3 the greedy seller "does not sound like the type of person I would ever want to associate with"

In our business, as in any business, we do run into some strange folks from time to time.