From the desk of 2017 CRS President Leigh Brown.
You see someone at the grocery store leaving their cart. Not in the corral, not walked back to the store, just left there all alone and abandoned.
The perp doesn’t even look ashamed. She looks you dead in the eye and gets in her minivan to drive away. What do you do? You’ve got two choices.
- Chase her down. Call her out for her behavior and make her march that cart right where it belongs.
- Let it slide.
Too often in real estate, we’re choosing to let it slide. The agent who failed to make an appointment at your listing, but showed up anyway and got into the house? You let it slide because she’s bringing an offer and you don’t want to upset the apple cart. The agent who told your clients at their open house that there are ways to change agents? You let it slide because you know your clients are loyal and it’s not worth a battle.
Currently, the situation with “coming soon” listings has created a whole new Wild West of drama and ethical concerns. Who exactly is seeing this “coming soon” listing? What exactly is being shared with potential buyers and sellers? If you watch what agents are saying on Facebook and Twitter, you’ll find that there are many rather icky situations occurring all over the country (yes, icky is a technical term).
What’s a CRS to do when encountering these situations? You’re busy selling houses. You know that you’ll potentially have to deal with this agent 14 times over the next 10 years and you just don’t want the bad blood out there. It’s a time suck. The grievance committee never finds anyone at fault. It won’t change anything.
Does that cover most of your excuses for not filing complaints?
I understand that we can’t live our lives to pick battles. That it’s an exhausting way to live, being the police in a self-policing profession. No one ever liked the kid who wrote names on the board in class. However, if you and I don’t stand up for what is right, how are we to change the experience of the consumer as it pertains to real estate? How are we to attract the best and brightest into this profession so we can elevate our own competition and standards?
This isn’t about being liked. This is about our whole profession. Y’all, this is a big deal. The more transactions you do, the more ethical digressions you’re likely to encounter. The fact that we have so many situations happening out there is a growing issue, considering the amount of money at stake on each transaction, particularly considering the lack of inventory in many markets, which is creating a very competitive—yeah, cutthroat—environment.
It’s up to us, the CRSs, those who are purportedly at the top of the entire industry, to carry the torch—to file the complaints, and stand up for what is best for the consumer and what is best for our profession.
It’s a hard job, but I know you are up to it. You’re a CRS.
