A Letter to My Realtor Colleagues
I don’t know of a Realtor who doesn’t have an opinion about the Sitzer/Burnett case. Some Realtors are fearful about the future of buyer agency and what our industry may look like over the next few years. To gain insights into my colleagues’ thoughts and feelings, I conducted a survey. While trying to sort through my thoughts about the class action lawsuit, I’ve noticed a common theme among my seasoned colleagues: this isn’t the time to be distracted by news reports; our time is best spent giving our best service to our clients and customers. So how can one provide a better service than they already are giving clients? I have a few thoughts that take us back to the basics.
First, remember it’s our job to educate our clients so that they can make informed and intelligent decisions. We should be intimately familiar with the details of our TAR forms to the extent that when a buyer asks whether they should offer a 7-day inspection period versus 10 days, we don’t resolve ourselves to simply say “7 days is more appealing to a seller”. Instead, we should be discussing the different types of inspections they may want to employ, how long those inspections may require to complete, and how much time would it take to allow ourselves to collect second opinions or estimates from contractors, engineers, or surveyors. When we start telling our clients they should do this and they should not do that, we walk a fine line between giving them advice and giving them instruction. Trust me, you never want to find yourself in a place where your “instruction” led your client to a sticky legal situation.
Second, remember that the client’s best interest should always be prioritized above your own. Is your client’s property overpriced for the market? Has your listing been sitting on the market for 30 days with no showings? Have you been showing your buyer $1,000,000 houses, knowing they are only approved to buy a $700,000 home? Are you letting these things happen because you don’t want to confront or offend your client? These are important questions to keep in mind.
Third, work on your rapport with your colleagues. If you develop a reputation for being crude, unresponsive, or dismissive to your colleagues, it will be your clients who suffer. I have helped many buyers position themselves ahead of the competition because of my rapport and reputation with fellow agents. Likewise, if an agent sends an offer to me when I review that offer with my client, I am confident that the buyer has been educated and fully understands the terms they are offering to my seller – and I know to expect excellent communication and cooperation with the buyer’s representative in that transaction.