First, as much as Jeff and I genuinely like Greg and appreciate his having us here in his cyber home – he is simply wrong-headed about all this agency stuff.
I don’t believe that Jeff is an angel and I know I’m not. But single agency is not a viable business model. Period. A viable business model is one that would allow for unfettered growth (as long as it was filling a need to the consumer) and single agency is not possible if a company grows.
I remember having an attorney for my client (he was a home seller) and when gave him the “Consent to Dual Agency” form to sign he handed it back and said he would not sign it. I asked him if he wanted his home sold for the highest price in the least amount of time. He answered “yes” that he did. I then asked him if he would like me to refuse to show his home to any of the hundreds of past clients of mine who might want to buy a house like his and if he would also like me to put in the MLS comments that NO JOHN HALL AGENT MAY SHOW OR WRITE AN OFFER ON THIS LISTING?
As he was a lawyer and did understand exactly why I asked him those questions he took the form from my hand and signed it.
There are about 925 agents with John Hall & Associates. It would be quite stupid to preclude them from showing a listing so the seller (and buyer) gets the “benefit” of single agency. What drug do Realtors take (and the lawyers and judges) that makes them even think that THEY control what the buyer or seller are going to do?
The argument I just love is the price issue. Go ahead and make all the low-ball offers you want. “Help” your buyer by writing loads of them. Try it on one of my listings and see how much it “helps” your buyer. I find that most buyers and sellers have a pretty good (and firm) idea of what they will pay for a house and what they will accept when selling. The idea that the agent somehow controls what a buyer will pay and what a seller will accept only indicates a disconnect from reality.
Agents who are not completely honest and forthright in ALL of their dealings with the public and with each other do not deserve to have a license in the first place. Failure to recognize this vital fact is the basis for all sorts of rules and laws in a society – and those rules and laws place an unnecessary burden on honest people.
Please. Recognize that everything I say or write is true and do not argue with me. Thanks!
Todd Tarson says:
Mr. Shaw you said…
>>Agents who are not completely honest and forthright in ALL of their dealings with the public and with each other do not deserve to have a license in the first place.
Well, the truth is that ‘deserve’ has nothing to do with it. The ADRE does not do personality tests that coincide with the exam to obtain a license.
I agree on your premise actually, but it is not reality today and too many members of the public are being damaged by the less than stellar agents that indeed exist and have a license to do this kind of business. Don’t believe me?? Get yourself on the Pro Standards Committee and sit on a few ethics hearings and reconsider.
I’d never question you and how you handle your clients and business, but I’m promoting the idea to my potential clients that they really want me in their corner and their corner alone. They want an agent that will look after the needs of the client and not one that looks out for the wants of the agent or broker. This isn’t about the individual competent agent/broker… this is about the whole body of them and their affect on this industry in regards to the client.
November 20, 2006 — 8:24 am