
An animated discussion on ethics training
“Does anyone else find it ironic that NAR – the trade association for Realtors – has to mandate that members take an ethics class every four years?” An agent who attended one of my company’s broker opens yesterday posed that question to the wine and cheese grazing attendees. Of course, that opened up an animated discussion on the value of etchics training and the lack of enforcement when the rules are violated.
One agent volunteered that the guy sitting next to her in her last ethics class played games on his cell phone and then cheated during the test at the end of the class. Seriously, dude? You cannot even pay attention long enough to pass what should be the easiest test you’ll ever have to take in your career? Perhaps he was just seeing how far he could push it by cheating during an ethics test, to see if anyone else around him caught the extreme irony there. None of the other agents around him – including the agent he cheated off – turned him in and the instructor didn’t notice.
This same agent later called one of my sellers and tried to convince him to break a listing contract with me, because he had a “guaranteed buyer” in the wings. The seller was an attorney, and this bozo tried to get me cut out of the deal, offering the seller a reduced fee to dump me. The seller held firm and directed the agent to call me, then the seller called to let me know about the conversation.
“But you know if you file something the other agent will know.”
It gets better. After the deal closed, I requested paperwork from our local Board of Realtors to file an ethics complaint. The person in charge said, “But you know if you file something the other agent will know.” Gee. Really? I asked her to send the paperwork over anyway.
I called the seller/attorney and asked him to repeat the conversation to me, because I was documenting it to file a complaint. He turned wishy washy on me at that point and his story changed from “The other agent tried to get me to dump you as the listing agent to cut you out” to “Well he really only asked a few questions and I told him to call you. He probably didn’t mean any harm by it.” So there goes my star witness, who doesn’t want to rock the boat.
I didn’t file the complaint. I resorted to the “turn the blind eye but never trust the sleazeball again” path. And that is what happens to almost all ethics issues I hear about / see in person.
That’s what happens when you have a self-policing group of “professionals” who would rather not “narc” on a fellow agent. After all you’re probably going to end up on the other side of a deal from this guy some day, right? The guy in my example has sold two of my houses since that run-in. Why tick him off by filing a complaint and going through all that hassle? If he stops bringing buyers to my properties then my sellers ultimately lose, right?
Boiling down the CoE
The NAR Code of Ethics takes up pages and pages of tiny print, and it runs each year in their trade magazine (I think it’s the January issue). Does anybody read that? Probably not many. I’d argue none of us ever should have to read it again. Simply follow this advice instead. The thousands of words in the Code boil down to one thing: Do unto other agents, and consumers, and clients, what you would have them do unto you. It’s the Golden Rule. Simple. Well, obviously not, for many agents and brokers.
The sad part is the agent in my example had no clue how close I was to filing that compaint, and if he did know he’d probably scratch his head and wonder why his actions were “wrong.” Making us take a one-day class every few years won’t “make” the unethical agents suddenly operate ethically. Most of them just don’t get it.
Steve Beam
November 5, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Honesty is the best policy. I’ve lost only a few clients over the years for being honest about the work their homes needed. Sellers that don’t want to make improvements are usually the ones that want top dollar too.
Vicki Moore
November 5, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Oh man. I’ve – as I’m sure others – have had tough conversations about cat boxes, smokers and dirty toilets. It’s a tough job sometimes. I like to get the bad news delivered immediately – before my stomach turns into knots and I have to spend the afternoon in the bathroom – oh well, probably TMI there. LOL.
Lisa Sanderson
November 5, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I’m interested to hear how & when people deliver this news. Do you actually type out a checklist and go over with them in person? Email it to them? Hand-write notes on your tablet as you go through the house and then tear off the sheet and say ‘have fun!’ ? Is it part of the cma? I’ve done all of these things at one time or another and wonder what people find to be most effective.
Missy Caulk
November 5, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Kim, most people ask, what can we do or when I am walking through with them they will say “we’re getting rid of this” or something.
If a house needs to be staged to sell then I tell them, and I have no problem with it.
Vicki Moore
November 5, 2008 at 9:42 pm
I go through the house talking to them, explaining why and how much better it will look, then prepare a list. I ask if they want to take care of the list or would they rather I make arrangements to have it done. Then I check in with them to see how the list is going to make sure we’re following the time line.
I try to be diplomatic but if they don’t get the soft approach, I have told people: Look, it stinks in here. Sometimes it’s the only way they’ll hear it.
Jill Wente
November 6, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Kim: I get my sellers ready by telling them that right now you are living in your home but as soon as we put your home on the market it becomes a product. And as a product, it needs to look and smell its best so that buyers choose your product over the other products. It usually works and takes some of the “oh, she does not like my stuff or she thinks my house is a wreck”
When we get feedback from other agents saying that their house looks like a model home they love it.
Steve Simon
November 7, 2008 at 6:01 am
This is the toughest area of the entire process. Having been a seller a number of times and a licensee for over 20 years I know the dialogue well. I think the lists needs to include only the items of highest priority. To include “Staging” in with a list of musts for sellers is in my opinion not appropriate. Staging should be saved for the most cooperative sellers that have already complied with the high priority items. Just my thoughts:)
Daytona Beach Real Estate
November 7, 2008 at 2:27 pm
It is sometimes difficult to communicate with the seller. But, I have found, that by putting a lot of extra effort into making the house presentable, marketing the house and explaining the process to the owner, they usually jump on board and begin to understand how important every aspect of the house really is.
Kay Baker Wilmington NC Real Estate
November 7, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Kim, I could not agree with you more. There is no substitute for being honest in this business.
Derec Shuler
November 11, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Our company has a design consultant come through all the listings and give them a report. It saves us the trouble of being the bad guy since it’s from an “objective” third party.