Is it “Just” Business?

“It’s just business.” For all the times I have heard those words uttered, I still do not really understand what they mean. Does that mean that our ordinary reactions should not arise because it’s a professional situation? Does it mean that the behavioral standards we expect of ourselves and others are suspended because it is “just” business? A volatile and active real estate market, like the one in which we currently find ourselves, gives both principals and agents plenty of opportunities to contemplate this conundrum. This past week a number of difficult situations arose at Warburg which inspire me here to lay out a few guidelines for what does and doesn’t seem like fair and appropriate behavior between customer and agent:

– Don’t change horses in midstream unless there is a TRULY compelling reason. This week one of my agents, after introducing a customer to a property, making an opening offer, and negotiating for weeks to try to bring the parties together, discovered that the buyer had decided to ask another agent to continue the negotiation. We all understand that buyers get frustrated when they cannot get the property they want for the price they want to pay for it, but, as the messenger of that information, we are often unfairly blamed. If you as a buyer truly believe your agent is not negotiating skillfully on your behalf, talk to him. Try to arrive together at a strategy which you agree has the best chance of being effective. Because nine times out of ten, firing someone in mid-negotiation is to no one’s advantage.

– Co-ordinate with your spouse or significant other. If you are using multiple agents in your search (something for which there is truly NO necessity in these days when every listing appears on multiple websites available to everyone), please make sure that you are seeing and/or discussing a particular property with only one of them. It is acutely frustrating for agents to do research on a buyer or renter’s behalf, discuss the property, arrange for a viewing, and then discover after the fact that the buyer/renter is negotiating for the property with another agent. It can be easy to forget, since agents get paid by the transaction rather than by the hour, that we ARE professionals and that our time is valuable. The buyer/broker relationship is a partnership, and the greatest likelihood of success always exists when the partners are working together.

– On that note, another experience one of my agents has had in the last few weeks: the buyer who wants to see everything, whether or not they have any likelihood of buying it, or even the resources to do so. Ours is a service business, but we are not tour guides. Many buyers may be curious about what properties at twice their budget look like, but it is not fair to ask an agent to spend a day showing them unless a real possibility of purchasing or renting them exists . As agents, we never want to say no, but we do hope to put our time to effective use.

As a buyer or seller, you have the right to expect a knowledgeable, professional agent who gives you clear well-documented advice on how to achieve your real estate goals. If you feel you are not being adequately represented, please talk to your agent about it. Sometimes the fit is not right. It may be a tough conversation, but it respects our professionalism and dignity to be treated as peers. We hope to receive the same consideration for our time and expertise which our clients and customers look for in THEIR professional lives. It’s not “just” business; it’s a critical life transaction – highly important for both the buyer AND the agent. Nothing is more important than that.