The Morality of an In House Listing

I have firsthand information about a fairly common practice that I once tried to say is isolated but know now that it exists throughout our industry and its fairly, I guess common:Giving preference on a listing through keeping it in the office or only negotiating a fellow agent's offer.

I once thought that our primary job as a realtor or real estate agent is to fully market property. To me that meant truely letting the most qualified buyer contract on the house.

Questions abound: Are we being fair to the seller even if it is a bank? Is someone participating in a deal that "channels' income to them ( In this case, having a "Wells Fargo" loan rep in the office to facilitate this deal.)? Is the buyer really going to get the best value for their money? Are we hurting our image as a realtor, being honest and legitamate?

Likewise a friend recently gave me an account of a family member that wanted to buy a house through a buyer's agent and recounted how the listing agent offered them a " special way" to get the house if they put down x amount of money. To my friend, it sounded devious.

Laws keep getting passed that dictate how we do business. In California, there is the new GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE mandated coming out soon. Taking up front fees for Loan Mods is outlawed here. Last year title companies were banned from giving us freebies because of supposed corruption. This year loan officers not of banks will need to be specially licensed by the DRE.

What I am trying to say here is that we need to be models in our profession and take extra care to avoid any PERCEPTION of wrong doing just like a pastor of a church is held to a higher level than his flock. If he has a "fling" its a crime. If his parishioners have a " fling" its well because they are sinners. You get the idea.

There is one exception to the whole 'in-house' deal though. I know that personally I get notified of listings long before I ever actually get to list. While they do the work-outs for CFK for example. There is no price & no mls input until all this stuff is handled. Do I tell my fellow agents about the pipeline property?? Well yeah & anyone else I think to mention it to. Many times, even without a listing or price these agents will have a client who they know will be interested if it comes in at the right price. Ergo when it hits the mls, the contract hits my desk. I know this happens to many other agents as well but I am the one calling them asking about their pipeline. It's the way you get ahead by being ready to pull the trigger when it pops up. I follow other reo agents that I know & make sure I know what they've got coming and we have a great relationship because of it. Even so I know that on occasion an agent will bury it to sell themselves but I really don't think it happens as often as you think. ;))

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Comments

CJ Oliver February 28, 2010 at 12:01pm

There is one exception to the whole 'in-house' deal though. I know that personally I get notified of listings long before I ever actually get to list. While they do the work-outs for CFK for example. There is no price & no mls input until all this stuff is handled. Do I tell my fellow agents about the pipeline property?? Well yeah & anyone else I think to mention it to. Many times, even without a listing or price these agents will have a client who they know will be interested if it comes in at the right price. Ergo when it hits the mls, the contract hits my desk. I know this happens to many other agents as well but I am the one calling them asking about their pipeline. It's the way you get ahead by being ready to pull the trigger when it pops up. I follow other reo agents that I know & make sure I know what they've got coming and we have a great relationship because of it. Even so I know that on occasion an agent will bury it to sell themselves but I really don't think it happens as often as you think. ;))
Billie Dalessio February 26, 2010 at 5:23pm

It's a shame there a a few bad agents, but I suppose every profession has it's share of good & bad.
Denise Stovall February 26, 2010 at 5:39am

Back to Ethics, Fairness, and high Standards Biz Practices. Choices.
David L. Hennigan February 25, 2010 at 1:50pm

John, good thoughts, and I agree with you 100%.I think keeping the deal in house is the normal, NOT the exception. I do know of an REO agent that lost his account with PAS because more often than not his office double ended the deals. That is a hard and costly lesson to learn. All we can do is try and change them one realtor at a time. Realtors are considered lower than used car salesman. We need to change that perception!!!

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