By Linda O'Koniewski, CEO and Owner, RE/MAX Leading Edge

We must end practices that ruin our industry’s reputation.

A very earnest new agent posted on a national real estate forum last week about her new listing and her intent to “double end” the deal when she took the listing.  In other words she set out to get both sides of the commission.

She was very excited to report that a direct call to her resulted in very interested buyers to whom she showed the house twice overcoming heavy traffic, literal traffic en route to the property.  (I know the traffic is not a pertinent fact, but she mentioned it to demonstrate that she was working hard for the buyers she just met.)

When her buyers reported that they wanted to make an offer she responded, and I quote her directly from her post, “I let them know they were in the right place at the right time because we were just about to move forward with another buyer but I could put everything on hold for them if they’re ready to take action with me immediately.”

I wanted to cry.  This was just a side issue.  It wasn’t the point of her post.  But it was evidence once again that the industry is riddled with agents who do not understand their fiduciary responsibility to their clients.

She would put the first buyers “on hold” to open up the opportunity for her buyers to purchase the property thereby offering herself an opportunity to receive the whole commission.

I’m afraid this happens more often than most of us want to admit.  She posted this openly on a huge real estate forum and only one other Realtor besides myself called her out on it.

Are we so jaded that we have come to expect this as normal?  Par for the course?  The way business is done?  Is the bar that low?

She is representing the homeowner!  Isn’t this the perfect time to tell her new buyers, “We are in negotiations with another buyer, so you will have to act fast and make a competitive offer.”  Isn’t  it her duty to create competition and create the best outcome for her seller clients?

Instead, she proudly reports that she put the deal on hold and got a lender to give her buyers some viable financing options within two days.

Can you imagine what buyer number one is wondering… ”Why is communication going dark for two days?”  Don’t you hate when that happens?  You are negotiating an offer and think you might put a deal together when the listing agent all of a sudden falls off the face of the earth.

What goes through your mind as the agent representing buyer number one?  “She must have been rushed to the emergency room?”  Or, “The little devil is playing another offer behind our backs and is trying to keep us on the hook in case it doesn’t work out.”

I kinda wish she was in the emergency room.  It would be better for our profession.

She was clear in her post that she was not working with the buyer as their agent and that she did not have a contract with them.  Here in Massachusetts she would be representing the buyer as a Seller’s Agent. In other words, she is working in “the homeowners best interest.”   Or at least she is supposed to be. But is she?

I can’t help but wonder what happened to buyer number one and their agent?  It’s a cliff hanger, and we never find out.

When will this stop?  There is so much wrong in this thinking and it is exactly what makes our industry disreputable.  It’s bad for the seller because the listing agent is tanking one offer to get her own accepted. It’s bad for the first buyers because they aren’t getting a fair shake at buying the house they want.  And it’s bad for the poor Buyer Agent who, in the midst of negotiating, gets sidelined because the listing agent sees dollar signs to sell her own listing.

What are we to do?  We aren’t supposed to contact the seller directly because we would be interfering with the listing agent’s contract.  But don’t these handcuffs that prohibit us from contacting the seller to share that buyer number one is still in the game protect the guilty?

I proposed this problem once to a class I was giving, and an agent in the class suggested that we have no choice but to “inform” the seller, not interfere.  In other words, we need to go over to the house and speak with them or leave a note on their door that we have buyers who want a fair shot at buying their house.  Is it enough to let the listing agent know that is our plan if we aren’t treated fairly?  It could be done very diplomatically.  The buyer agent, or maybe even the buyer, could simply let the seller know that they are still in the game and excited at the prospect of buying the home.  That way the homeowner would keep the listing agent accountable by asking questions like, “Where does the other buyer stand?”  Or, “Is the first buyer willing to pay more to get a contract accepted?”

I am open to ideas!  How can we compel our colleagues to do the right thing and elevate our profession?  How do we do it in a respectful way?  We can’t be accusatory because we don’t always know what is really going on if the listing agent isn’t communicating with us.  Maybe it’s something legit, but we will only know that if the listing agent is super communicative.  Anyone? Bueller?  Bueller?