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REAL ETHICS by Steve Stazel | June 2010 | Index of all Real Ethics columns
A statement to make, a question to ask
Whenever you hold an “open house,” there is one statement you are required to make and one question you are required to ask. Before you read any further, do you know what they are?
The statement is a disclosure of your relationship to the seller. Standard of Practice 16-12 states that you will disclose your relationship with the seller to the prospect “as soon as practicable.” That can be accomplished with a simple sentence: “Hello, I’m Morley Krupt. I am an agent for the seller, may I help you?” Or “I’m Bud Tugly, and I am a transaction broker for the seller.” (Be prepared to explain what a transaction broker is.)
The question you are required to ask is, “Have you signed an agency agreement with another broker?” That is the requirement of Article 16 of the Code of Ethics (Standards of Practice 16-9 and 16-13).
I would like to suggest that we take that requirement one step further. May I suggest that, instead of the above question, you ask either of the two following questions:
1. “Are you currently working with another broker?” or
2. “Have you established a working relationship with another broker?”
What you are saying in these two questions is “If you are working with another broker as EITHER an agent or transaction broker, I will respect that relationship.” I think the important thing here is that you are more concerned with a relationship being established than with an agency being signed. Isn’t an attitude of respect for our fellow REALTORS® in everyone’s best interest?
As an aside…if you are holding an open house and a prospect comes in and says “We are working with Bud Wiser,” what else are they saying? They are saying three things:
1. That they would like to look through the house.
2. If they submit an offer, they plan to write the offer through Bud.
3. Is it O.K. if they look at the house under those conditions?
I would hope that you would say, “Come on through. I would love to co-op with Bud.”
But wait a minute. What if you are holding the house open and it isn’t your listing? You won’t make anything if these people buy this house. A suggestion to avoid this situation: prior to holding another broker’s listing “open,” you may want to cover this possible event with some type of referral agreement between you and the listing broker.
Each month, the Aurora Outlook features RealEthics, a column by Steve Stazel devoted to explaining Code of Ethics issues for members. The comments stated in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Association of REALTORS®, the Colorado Association of REALTORS® or the Aurora Association of REALTORS®. Ultimately, a hearing panel of the Professional Standards Committee determines whether a violation of the Code of Ethics has occurred on a case-by-case basis. These comments should not serve as the foundation of any ethics complaint, arbitration request or response.
If you have an ethical concern or an issue you would like
to see addressed, please call Stazel at (303) 773-3333 or e-mail him at
stazels@msn.com. The comments of this article reflect the understanding and
opinions of the author and do not represent an official expression of policy by the National Association
of REALTORSŪ.
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