Can You Afford An Unethical Agent?
Agents Cost Clients at Least $10,000
This morning I was asked to take a survey by the California Association of Realtors. What the CAR does is send you a link with an incentive of some kind to respond. I honestly didn’t see the incentive but it was the 3rd email I had gotten from them so I begrudgingly took the survey.
I didn’t know when I clicked on “Take Survey” that the topic would be an issue I’m concerned with in our market right now. Unethical agents.
Over the last month or so, I’ve communicated with 3 agents who violated their clients interests purposely. I understand if there is a mistake due to inexperience that costs a client financially. You don’t know what you don’t know and those mistakes can be easily corrected and consumer loyalty protected if the agent is ethical.
Unfortunately, most consumers don’t know there have been mistakes that cost them money. In all fairness, neither do the agents sometimes but other times, it’s clear to the agent yet they say nothing to avoid having to make restitution or costing themselves future business.
It’s unfair to the consumer and continues to haunt the real estate sales professionals. Real estate industry professionals are in the top 10, or top 5 depending on the poll you’re reading, of most hated professions nationwide. Is this unfair? I don’t think it is however unfortunate it may feel to me personally.
Below are the three examples of how agents I have personally dealt with in the last month have misrepresented their clients interests and cost them thousands in the process.
“My Clients Disappointed Me Because They Didn’t Move Forward” So I Screwed Them Out of The House
I had a listing, a really nice home, on Black Oak in Rocklin that is closing this week. We got it on the market and got an offer from an agent who by his own admission wasn’t a “fly by night” agent. He helped his clients write an offer not contingent upon their house selling because they could handle two payments. I’ve run into this before so it wasn’t a surprise to hear this.
The sale was contingent upon my seller’s finding a new home which the buyers gave us 30 days to find. I didn’t know it at the time but that should have been a red flag. He didn’t ask me how much time we might need but just gave it to us breaking the cardinal rule of negotiation of “never give up anything unless it benefits your position”.
What they were hoping is that they would get their home on the market and get it sold before they closed on my listing. Well, guess what? The house was overpriced and didn’t sell. About 20 days after acceptance of the agreement between my seller’s and his buyers,I sent the buyers agent an email to check in.
Crickets..no response at all. That was a red flag.
On day 30 when I emailed to let him know that my seller’s had found a home, he says..”yeah, well, we’ve got an issue. My clients aren’t comfortable with buying your seller’s house without having their home sold.” Writing the not contingent upon the buyers home selling was unethical.
I put the house back on the market, pending a cancellation of the previous agreement, hoping we could get another offer at least as high as what we had. Two days later I get a text message from the original agents’ buyers agent. A buyers agent is someone who works under a lead agent working the potential clients the lead agent generates.
She wants to show the house to her buyers, different buyers than who her lead agent still has an agreement with. If another agent from his office had come in to show the house without prior knowledge of the agreement between the parties, that’s fine. This buyers agent knew everything and had the ok from her lead agent to show the house and potentially sell it.
My immediate reaction was to tell her that she’d better check with her sales manager or, at worst, her lead agent before doing so as I found this unethical. The lead agent then calls me and tries to “sell” me on this being ok. Needless to say, I didn’t fall for his rational.
His clients still wanted the house. They still had an agreement with my sellers. He gets paid if the buyers agent sells the house to her clients. During our phone conversation I told him that if I knew my agent had done this I would fire him immediately. That’s when he says to me, and I quote, “my clients have disappointed me because the didn’t move forward”.
In essence, instead of working with his clients to help them find a way to move forward, it was more beneficial to him to misrepresent them.
“Don’t Worry About The Counter Offer..”
My buyers submitted an offer on a really nice home in Westpark, Roseville. Just a beautiful home. It was priced a little high at $485,000 and my buyers decided to come in at $470,000. There were more offers but all were lower than ours. I followed up with the agent, he said his clients were reviewing and he’d get back to me.
The next evening I get a call from him. He says “My sellers are countering at a higher price but don’t worry about it just counter back at your original price and we’ll get this into escrow.”
The counter came back at $480,000. My buyers may have accepted that or countered back at $475,000 but with information to the contrary, we didn’t and the offer was accepted at the original offered price of $470,000.
That phone call cost his client at least $5000 or $10,000. My clients eventually backed out of the deal because of “something they couldn’t put their finger on..just didn’t feel right”. I wonder what that could’ve been?
“My Clients Wrote a Counter. I Tried to Talk Them Out of It..”
If my client wants to counter, it’s my job to offer both sides of the coin. “Yes you could do that and it might be accepted but also, consider this aspect if you do..” then it’s my job to follow their instructions and support them 100%.
My buyers submitted an offer on a really nice home in North Roseville. Gated community, beautiful condition and newer construction. They came in a little low but not much. The listing agent called me and said that he had tried to talk his client out of it but they wouldn’t listen to him. “Do you think that’ll be ok or should I tell me sellers that the buyers won’t accept it?”
First, I told him, just submit it to us and I’ll let my client make the decision on what to do. Second, I can’t tell you what my client will do for two reasons 1) I don’t know what they’ll do and if I did I wouldn’t tell you and 2) why would you ask me that question in the first place?
The role of any agent is act as the consumer advocate with fiduciary responsibility. The consumer is placing the utmost confidence and trust in someone that represents their single largest asset in most cases.
This is a responsibility not to be taken in the least bit lightly. This is a serious matter.
I understand a lot of agents hang their hat on being able to “get the deal done”. I pride myself on that as well. My question would be to these agents though “at what price are you putting your own interests ahead of your clients?”
I can see why real estate agents get a bad reputation. It’s examples like these that contribute to that reputation and make it more difficult for the public at large to trust the profession as a whole.
And who can blame them.
If you can’t afford to lose $5000, $10,000 or even $20,000, please give me a call. I can help :-).
Thanks for visiting!
Buying or selling a home in Rocklin? If so, I’d like to help you. Please call or text me directly at 916-532-7653 or click here, for my contact page.
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