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Don't violate our industry with the unsupervised use of a guinea pig

What do guinea pigs and the Code of Ethics have in common? Article 11.

I'll paraphrase - If you can't provide service that shall conform to the standards of practice and competence which are reasonably expected, don't hire yourself out to do the job!

DON'T MAKE YOUR CLIENT THE GUINEA PIG!

Real estate has enough twists and turns without some inexperienced agent coming in and making things worse.

I've never sold an office building before - so if I get an opportunity to sell one, I have to put my client's needs first. It doesn't mean I can't take the listing, I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT WITHOUT THE "ASSISTANCE OF ONE WHO IS COMPETENT ON SUCH TYPES OF PROPERTY OR SERVICE, OR UNLESS THE FACTS ARE FULLY DISCLOSED TO THE CLIENT"

If you've never done a short sale, don't try it on your own. You may end up inadvertently creating a foreclosure situation for your client. Other agents may be relying on your compliance with the Code of Ethics, giving you the benefit of doubt when it isn't deserved!

Instead, consider a split arrangement whereby you do all of the work and the split agent supervises.

Never listed a luxury home before? Split your listing with the most experienced luxury home specialist in your office. You do all of the work, they supervise and provide guidance. You get paid for the learning experience and they get paid for the experience you borrowed.

This will save time, and alleviate headaches not just for your clients but for you, your broker, your creditors (you have to get paid for them to get paid), etc.

At the end of the day, I would rather take a split and learn than put my client at risk. Their trust in us are the whole reason we get the learning experiences in the first place. Let's not let them down through greed.

Posted by Mark Organek - Tempe Gilbert Mesa Chandler REALTOR on 08/25/2008 02:08 PM

Comments (7)

code of ethics, seller, buyer, agents, realtor, split, check, risk, tempe, arizona, mesa, chandler, gilbert

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7 Comments on Don't violate our industry with the unsupervised use of a guinea pig

Those are great points and I think people need to hear them.

08/25/2008 02:36 PM

by Chuck Carstensen (Re/max Associates Plus/The Discovery Coach)

Well said...and once you've gotten the experience doing a "special transaction" maybe someone will return the favor and split commission with you when they need help.

08/25/2008 02:38 PM

by Tim Baldwin (RE/Max Commonwealth Group)

Chuck - I appreciate the feedback. People do need to keep the clients' best interests in mind.

Tim - I have a client that wants to list in my market area. Since I don't even know how to get to the area, I am bringing on another agent to split with. I'll do all the work, she'll give me the direction. We've argued about the commission since she feels she doesn't deserve more than 25%. I think she deserves 50% for watching my back. After all, I didn't pay my dues in that market yet.

08/25/2008 02:43 PM

by Mark Organek - Tempe Gilbert Mesa Chandler REALTOR (RE/MAX Alliance)

Mark,

This is an outstanding post and should be required material for every training class for realtors, LO's, title companies, escrow agents, and anyone else involved in this industry!

08/25/2008 11:55 PM

by Eric at Eagle Nationwide Mortgage Co.

Eric - Thanks! I get so frustrated dealing with "so-called" professionals that aren't professional enough to seek training from the right person. It has a tendency to give other professionals in their field a bad name. Know what you know and know what you don't know and learn what you need to know from the best.

08/26/2008 12:04 AM

by Mark Organek - Tempe Gilbert Mesa Chandler REALTOR (RE/MAX Alliance)

I agree with pulling someone with experience in to assist with the deal. When I get a loan that has too many twist and turns and "hidden" documents in it, I usually pull in a seasoned loan officer that has done a deal like that before to assist me. When I did my first land loan, I was upfront with the agent and told him that it was my first land loan and he said that it was okay as long as I did the research BEFORE approving the loan and BEFORE talking to his clients and he made sure that I communicated the deal with a loan officer who was familar with it. Bless his dear heart for trusting me to do the deal. Now, I get all of his purchase deals, and refi, and he always go over the pre-qual/pre-approval letters he gets when he gets offers on his listings. Too many "wanna-bes" out there. Can't wait until they just get purged out of the market.

08/26/2008 03:52 AM

by Linda Le - Hawaii Loan Officer (Pacific Access Mortgage)

Mark - I totally agree. In this industry, there are so many specialists and I don't just mean the ones that call themselves specialist just because they've been trained to do something but have never actually done it. Like the ones who are rushing around these days getting FHA approved and yet have never done an FHA loan before.

This market is too scary and volatile to subject your clients to being guinea pigs. For example, I'm a HUD lender specializing (approx. 70% of my business) in FHA/CalHFA loan programs. However, I've never done a reverse mortgage. Every LO in our company has been trained to do them but very few have ever done one. What do I do when someone comes to me asking about a reverse mortgage? I refer them to someone I know who has been doing reverse mortgages for more than 10 years; that's her specialty, that's pretty much all she does. By doing that, referring to someone who is truly a specialist, I've earned the respect of the specialist for the referral as well as the client for taking care of them and sending them to someone who knows what they're doing.

08/26/2008 11:44 AM

by Donne Knudsen (Pacific Financial Mortgage)

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