Lockean

I wrote the follow blog post in November of 2007.  At that time I admit I was burnt out, disgusted and had decided to throw in the towel.  It is now almost five years later and I am contemplating going back to the business I loved at one time.  I am curious if the things I saw wrong with the industry have changed with time and the economic slow down.  Keep an eye out for my observations.  Here is the original post:

Growing up we sometimes fall prey to the pressure of our peers. When I was in school I can recall the need to “be cool” or “fit in” really didn’t start until middle school. These days I find my six-year-old twins falling victim to pressure of the latest fad. But this doesn’t seem to bother me as much as the under current of peer pressure and politics that plagues the Realtor community. And while there are laws and an ethical code in place to supposedly “ensure competition and protection of the public” it is interesing to find that the peer pressure to not “buck the system” is blatant and the “rogue” Realtors that are out there trying to fulfill their ethical and legal obligations to their clients and the public are boycotted and bad mouthed even though it is against the law and ethical code. So what gives?

First, let me start with an article that brought me to write about this issue. There is a Realtor columnist for a local association in another state that writes monthly on real estate and Realtor ethics. He usually writes about some case scenario that is frequent yet questionable and tries to give insight on whether what is occurring is within the ethical code or not. Often he is right on…. other times it is clear that his view of “ethical” is influenced by the peer pressure or backlash he would receive if he didn’t answer in an “acceptable” manner. The latest article dealt with the question of whether or not a Realtor is being ethical by putting a “for sale” sign in a clients yard with a “coming soon” rider on it and without submitted the property to the MLS. He answers by saying “it depends on what the seller’s instructions were to the listing broker.” If the seller expected the property to be submitted to the MLS and actively marketed immediately and was not aware of the coming soon campaign, then he believes that there could be a possible ethical violation…. with this I agree. However, what really rubbed me the wrong way was the blatant peer pressure answer that he gave as a side note. He goes on to say…

“Something else the listing broker needs to be aware of is what other brokers might think of a listing agent who has a sign in a yard and has not submitted it to the MLS. How important is your reputation, even if what you are doing is ethical?”

He goes on to say that even if the seller requests that the agent do the above scenario, giving the listing agent the opportunity to grab a buyer themselves and thus save the seller money on commissions, that this tactic could be viewed by other Realtors as unethical. Reading between the lines this columnist is saying that while if done right would not necessarily be a violation of the code of ethics but it would put you in bad standing with your peers. And you don’t want to be boycotted by your peers because when they refuse to show your clients listing, you are losing potential buyers for that client.

Now, you may ask how this would be considered ethical… to refuse or avoid to show your buyer client particular listings because you are not happy with the listing agent’s marketing strategy. Well, it seems that some tactics and questions of “ethical” are more widely accepted than others. Surprised? I’m not. I have been in the game long enough to see some of the long timer egomaniacs that play this game and influence the new comers to play along. And the newcomer that says “that doesn’t seem right” is hushed and trained not to buck the system.

The code of ethics is said to be in place to protect the public and the integrity of the system. But it is clear that the “good ole boys” use it to their convenience. For example, the code states in Article One that we must deal with EVERYONE honestly… hmm… I lost count of how many lies I have been told regarding offers, pre-approvals and property information. Article 1-3 says that we should never deliberately mislead a property owner regarding value in order to secure a listing… hmm…. yeah, that doesn’t ever happen. Or “we shall submit offers and counter offers objectively and as quickly as possible”…. hmmm… Realtors have actually told me that they would not present my offer at all because it was a “slap in the face”… hmm… There’s more…. we as Realtors should always respond to another Realtors inquire. However, I have lost count as to how many times I have tried to gather feedback from a Realtor showing my listing or obtain listing information and have never been responded to. The code says we are not to misrepresent a property but there is an endless count of MLS violations regarding square footage or even the pictures used. I could go on for days. I could also spend all my time filing complaints against these folks and neglect my own clients. Not. How would I get my listings sold if I was the whistle blower?? Thus the point.

The Realtor Code of Ethics is there; everyone makes mention of it and how it is there to protect the public. The problem is you have the fox watching the hen house and the fox is afraid of the hens because the fox is in the same business as the hens!