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With the number of houses on the market, if banks involved with short sales
only want to pay something lower than I am willing to take, so be it. They
lose. I don't.
Philip Rosenberg
Broker/Owner
Mr Rosenberg,
I am sure you meant to explain that you always show the listing information to your clients and remind them that according to your buyer agreement that if the selling portion of the commission is less than the x% you and your client have already agreed upon, that Mr and Mrs Client you will need to make up any short fall. However if, as you have implied, that you make the decision to not even tell your client about a particular property because you might not make the money that you feel you deserve I hope that you change that business practice. There are many here who will be happy to cite the chapter and verse of the code of ethics- all I know is that it is very straight forward with no room for any confusion that a Realtor's financial interest is never more important than the transaction itself.
I can easily see both sides of the coin in this debate. I, too, am sick and tired of the Code of Ethics, or any other real estate entity, REQUIRING me to do things that will not provide me an income. Let's get something perfectly clear - we are all in this business the provide an income for our families, NOT to do charity work or taxi service for the public.
One of my buyers is a personal friend, and I would have NEVER invested this amount of time, effort and hair pulling if he were just 'someone off the street'. In the past 6 months, I have written 16 contracts for him on 16 different properties that were all short sales. I have an unsurmountable amount of time invested in each transaction, ALL of which we are 'still waiting on the lender's answer' or have fallen apart, or the lender decided to foreclose on. I don't care WHAT the Code of Ethics assumes to dictate, my time and effort are MINE, and I will choose how to spend it.
ALL of us Realtors MUST stop being the doormats of buyers and sellers, constantly trudging through unpleasant transactions FOR FREE!!!!! When I agree to work with a buyer, I get a non-refundable retainer fee, up front, with a buyer agent agreement. If they don't want to sign it, I refer it out to some idiot who has not learned their lesson yet.
When I am PAID for my time, it is much easier to spend the frustrating hours necessary to negotiate a short sale, usually for a lower commission than advertised.
In Arizona, our Listing Agreement provides in the boiler plate for a non-refundable Retainer Fee. If EVERY agent were to INSIST on a non-refundable retainer fee, it would immensely professionalize our business, and weed out the tire kickers.
I feel that insisting on a non-refundable Retainer Fee is the ONLY way that I can make a living AND abide by the Code of Ethics. We ALL should start taking Retainer Fees and pass if the buyer or seller balks.
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