Remember the Golden Rule, PLEASE!

Recently I was contacted by a prospective buyer from out of the country regarding his desire for a specific type of property coupled with unusual financing needs. We communicated via email quite a few times and I spent hours researching the area for places that would fit his criteria. And I placed calls to 5 different local area lenders regarding his financing issues. I also found agents in other parts of Florida for him to work with, should this county not be to his liking. It was a lot of work, but done to insure that he was comfortable with the information provided. I understand that people working with me on-line don’t know who they are dealing with until there has been some sort of comfort level established. He was incredibly complimentary regarding my professionalism and made arrangements to work with me on his trip to the US in July.

Then just a few days later, I received a call from another local agent asking if I was working with this person and she called him by name. It appears that he had engaged many agents in this very small town in the same search, and that one of the lenders I spoke with on his behalf recognized the circumstances when approached by this other Realtor on the very same issues. The other agent and I discussed the situation and I agreed to pull out since she had already arranged to meet him in Europe in June in his home country, from where, coincidentally, her husband hails.

So I wrote him to relay that since he had arranged to work with agent #2, I would no longer be communicating with him. I explained that we are all independent contractors, working from the same pool of listings on the MLS. And in this small area of Florida, we are all well acquainted and for the most part, collegial. I wished him well in his search and thought it was the end of the story.

Imagine my surprise to receive an email berating me for not embracing his demand to have many of the best people working on his behalf. He stated that he intended to buy from whoever could show him the right property first. Like this business is one big contest with a ticking clock and water pit below for whoever falls off the log!

This wasn’t a cultural difference or a misunderstanding of how our job is done. This was just an ego-centric wanna-be investor who showed no regard for other peoples time or professional knowledge.

The messages between us ran fast and furious for another few days. But just as it is his prerogative to work with whomever and as many agents as he chooses, as a business woman it is my prerogative to not work with those who do not show a level of loyalty from the start. So I fired him.

I’m writing this now to clarify for anyone who doesn’t already know the process, but each real estate agent is their own business, regardless of what company name is on their card. We work at brokerages that give us a desk and services for a fee and we share out commissions with the broker of that firm when a sale occurs.

I do not get paid any hourly wage or weekly draw for my time, talents, or knowledge, nor for the advertising and marketing, technology and services, education tuitions, materials and gasoline that I use to do this job properly. Everything I do is at my expense. And I have no guarantee of recouping those costs unless a buyer buys or a seller sells.

In order for me to have the buyer or seller’s best interest in the forefront of my mind each day, I must have some sense of loyalty from them. For me to continually put myself and my money out there, I have to know that I’m not being ‘played’.

NO, it's not OK to withhold that you’ve already contracted with a builder and are using me just to see if you’ve gotten a good deal. NO, it's not OK to have me spend weeks doing searches and driving you around for days looking at houses and then have you go into an ‘open house’ and buy on the spot. NO, it's not OK to call me for a free market analysis when you have no intention of selling or you planned all along to sell it yourself without my help. NO, it's not OK to work with me one day and another agent in town the next. NO, it's not OK to make appointments with me and not show up. NO, it's not OK to have me show you properties you cannot afford and have no intention of buying. NO, it's not OK to have me show you homes and then have your relative who's licensed, but lives in another area, write up the offer. NO, it's not OK to blame me for your house not selling when it's you who won't accept that the market has changed and prices are down. No, it's not OK to have me show you a house because your agent is too busy that day.
NO, it's not OK to waste my time!

I am good at what I do because I’m focused on what each client needs and dedicated to providing them with really good service. In return, I expect loyalty.

Please remember the Golden Rule!