It’s all about risk/reward. The higher the risk, the higher the potential reward, and Realtors assume LOTS of risk. Seller’s agents have to pay to photograph, video tape, and advertise a client’s home for months, sometimes, to sell the house. If the Seller changes their mind, the Realtor doesn’t recoup those expenses. Buyer’s agents typically show 15-30 homes to a buyer before they make a decision. We use our gas and risk our own personal safety by putting strangers in our car and taking them to empty houses. In the end, we’re not guaranteed a paycheck. Our reward is a lifestyle that is in our control. Sometimes we work for dirt, and sometimes we work for diamonds.

OK, maybe a few don’t. But the vast, vast majority of real estate agents have high moral standards. Most ethics violations I see involve agents sharing information about their clients that they shouldn’t, and a lot of the time it happens innocently. For example, two agents are in a weekly sales meeting chatting about what and with whom they are working, and one lets it slip that his client MUST find a buyer by the end of the month. A few days later, the other agent has a Buyer for the house and has the advantage of knowing that the Seller is motivated. The Seller’s agent has inadvertently cost his client money, and the Buyer now has a competitive edge. As a Buyer, you don’t want your agent to tell other agents how much you can afford to pay or that you must move in two weeks. These innocent slips of the tongue cost you money.

Most agents, I believe, would say that it took about 10 transactions before they really felt comfortable with what they were doing. New agents have their brokers guide them through it all until they are ready to handle it alone. Still, there are thousands of variables and each transaction is different. Buyers are naïve (read “out of their minds”) if they think they can manage it all because they read Homebuying for Dummies.

One of the benefits of working with Sellers is that the Agent can keep their sign in the seller’s yard until closing (or until the seller makes them take it down). Since most closings take 30 days, that’s 30 days of buyer leads generated for the listing agent, who will tell you when you call that the house is sold, but they can show you others. If you’re serious about buying a home, it’s time to hire an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent. Buyers waste hours and hours calling off yard signs and scouring the internet for a home, only to find out that the house is under contract or won’t meet their needs. What’s worse, if they call from a yard sign and the listing agent shows them the house, the buyer has no representation.

A large internet-based brokerage encourages buyers to have the Seller’s agent show you their listings and then contact an EBA if you want to make an offer. We strongly disagree. In fact, we won’t accept you as a client if you do. We’re not about stealing buyers from listing agents; if they show you the property, they deserve to be compensated in the end. If you haven’t yet hired an EBA and you really want to see a house, call the listing agent and be honest with them. Chances are they will show you the house anyway because it’s in their seller’s best interest. BUT, remember that they don’t work for you and that they are required to pass along to the seller any information you share with them, should you decide to buy the house. Keep your mouth shut. Better still, if you are serious about buying a home, hire an Exclusive Buyer Agent before you start looking at homes.

Most people assume that the monkeys are taking shots at Realtors. Not true. Our tagline “Don’t Let Them Make a Monkey Out of You!” was actually directed toward predatory lenders. In the 1990’s, lender fraud ran rampant to the financial detriment of buyers and to the emotional distress of Alysse and other consumer advocates. Our trademark monkeys stemmed from this period of time.  We have had our fair share of real estate agents become upset about the insinuation that they are monkeys. To these agents we say, “Lighten up!”