I was attempting to relay a, "Once upon a time" story, but I think it more appropriate to start at the beginning with the text message that spun Paris and I into a spiral of deep conscious thought.
We had sold a nice couples home and are waiting for a home to come onto the market in Southern California that is in a specific area. There might be 80 homes total and with the restriction of Foreclosure Releases and the home values down, it has been quite difficult to get anything available to write on.
Receiving a Text Message asking, "Connor, did we sign a Buyer Broker agreement with you?" - "I don't have all of the answers right now, but I wanted to know."
That is when the spinning started and so did the questions to myself and Paris. What was happening and what would be the reasons to ask such a question?
As the curtain comes up 1/4 way - we see a bit more of the Wizard. This "Wizard" is quite dark, not in complexion but in heart.
The story unfolds as follows: A Friend of our Clients a Part time agent/lender, work associate, etc - approached him at work, our client by the way does not have a Buyer Broker agreement (we are not for pushing those - we explain that we are about loyalty and how important it is to have your own representative so as not to be thrown under the bus), knowing that he wants to buy in a specific area and with a specific home profile - stated that he knows of an agent that has a "secret" listing in the very area with the profile that they want.
He further stated that this agent, his friend, knows of a couple that is going through a nasty divorce and they just want the home sold as a short sale. If he uses this Lender/Agents Friend (the other agent) - they he might be able to get the home for sure.
The other agent called our client and explained the same scenario with a couple of different twists - They don't want the home on the market or MLS - they don't want the home to appear on the "radar" and they want it done quickly as a short sale without any problems.
So I explained a few things. Even if they want the home to be sold at a short sale - there is no reason whatsoever that they cannot have their own representation and our client have us. Also - if this guy is such a good friend, he should know that, unless there is something in it for him.
I also mentioned the fact there are rules regarding having a listing contract within the California Association of Realtor's - this listing needs to appear in the MLS within 48 hours, or appear as an "exclusive" listing within that same time frame.
Another thing that I spoke about had to do with this "friend" wanting to throw our client under the bus without any forethought - and I also opened our client's eyes to understand that once Paris or I find out someone has an agent that they have been working with - they are not available for solicitation. Furthermore, I would never ask if there is a "buyer broker agreement" because that is to me unethical, because the road after that question is dark indeed.
As the story continues to unfold - there are several issues that I can see and I would appreciate any of my Active Rain Friends Input to make sure I am covering all of the bases.
I am wondering if this agent does not have the listing as of yet and is going to use our client as the sacrificial lamb to take to the owners in order to show "hey I have a buyer, I was not lying, give me the listing"- Also - It has been my experience that the Banks will identify that there is only one agent on the listing and buyer side - only paying half of the total commission. Unless this other character is going to do some of the writing?
It saddens me that others would take this road - which we would never ever consider embarking on this type of journey, even in this hard market.
Karma, or whatever you believe in, is quite a powerful thing. If you take 100 dollars from someone, it might not be loss of money you get hit with - usually I find it is much worse and from somewhere you did not expect.
Please advise Active Rain and Thanks ahead of time for your comments.
