I'll Take the High Road and STILL Get the Listing!

Those who know me know that I am a big believer in karma. Some people think it is hokey but I think you can do the right thing and be an effective sales person! It has worked for me for years! Here is a little story that has a karmic ending.

I entered into a relationship with an out of area agent to help her market a great home she had listed in the charming neighborhood of Golden Hills in Fullerton, CA. We agreed that I would do the marketing, signage and showings while she handled the paperwork with the bank (short sale) all for a percentage of the commission.

Short sales are tough and though we had multiple offers, months went by and nothing was happening with the bank. There was a second mortgage on the home and they were just not budging so for all our efforts, the house went to foreclosure.

I did some detective work and ended up finding the person at the bank that would be handling the home after foreclosure. I went to the Trustee Sale back in September and once the bank had the home the gentleman at the bank called me back. He agreed to keep moving with the one offer we had!

The other agents and I were thrilled.After eight months, we might actually get to close on this adorable home! Some thought that I should have taken the listing alone and not let the original agents handle it (I found the banker after all) but that was just not right.

Then something happened. The "Listing Agent" wanted to LOWER my split. She wanted to reduce my commission it by one third! She had multiple reasons from the bank shorting the commission to having to pick up extra expenses, and so on. Funny thing was that my commission was going down by one third and hers not at all. I couldn't believe it. I had done so much work. I couldn't believe that I had made this whole thing come together and she wanted to short change my commission. Our referral agreement was dead because it was NOT with the bank!

Should I have gone around them in the beginning and just work with the bank myself as so many told me? My husband was one and I heard an "I told you so" coming...

Then, that deal fell through! The buyer backed out! The "Other Agent" only had a one offer commitment from the bank and it died right there with the offer.

I called the gentleman at the bank right away. He gave me the ENTIRE listing, alone! I am getting full commission and reimbursed for my expenses! This was one of the reasons that the listing agent wanted to lower my commissions! Hmmm...can we say, "NEGOTIATE"?

The moral of the story? Do what you say you will and be tenacious! You will be successful and still be able to sleep at night! I sold that house in THREE DAYS! Karma, it will get you every time.

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Cristal Drake - Realtor (R)...At Your Service for all your Fullerton area real estate needs! RE/MAX North Orange County - 714-423-7525. All information in my blogs is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed. Copyright 2008 all rights reserved.

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