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Things a Sacramento Realtor Cannot Say About a Listing
There are amazing things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing.
An online newsletter I received this morning contained a synopsis of an ethics case that was interesting not because of things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing but because of the things the Realtor did not say. I am very cognizant that at all times a Sacramento Realtor who represents the seller has established a fiduciary relationship, which results in a legal duty to the seller.
Solely seeking seller representation makes my job easy, because I focus on my sellers. I have a duty to treat the buyer fairly, but my alliance is aligned with the seller. This means when a buyer’s agent asks: Is there wiggle room in your listing, I might reply they can pay more than list price.
That’s a seriously stupid question anyway because no agent, I don’t care who she is, knows whether there is “wiggle room,” (she’s not the seller) and even if the seller told her he would accept less, unless the seller has explicitly given the agent instructions to disclose that fact, her lips better be zipped. There are things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing, and this is one of those things.
The thing this ethics case disclosed was the agent never told the seller that in his opinion the property was priced too high. Instead, he shared this opinion with other prospective buyers. He violated his fiduciary by not disclosing his conflicted viewpoint with the seller, among other things. I think some agents are scared to tell a seller what they think because they are worried the seller will cancel the listing or get angry with them if they do not see eye-to-eye. But we are required (and we are hired) to share our professional opinions and thoughts with the seller.
I don’t take a listing that I don’t believe will sell. And because there are things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing, I do not suggest to other agents nor buyers what they should offer for a home, apart from list price or above. That’s my job. Don’t ask me what kind of offers we’ve received, whether you can offer less or how high you need to go because I won’t give you the answers. Although I always suggest that my Elizabeth Weintraub Team members ask those questions of other listing agents because some will cooperate. Those are the agents who forget about the things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing.
If You Are Not A Weintraub Client
Just because I deal honestly with other people doesn’t always mean people will deal honestly with me, and I can live with that. I can’t change other people; I can only change myself, but I have to really want to change, ha, ha, little joke. I mean, what other business in the world can you be in that involves working with other people without a contract or guarantee that you’ll ever get paid? Apart from the state of California, I mean. The real estate business is an odd duck.
You know what else is odd? U. S. Customs. I went through U. S. Customs in Los Angeles earlier this week when I came back from French Polynesia. I filled out my custom’s form in meticulous detail, and drove my husband crazy trying to compute the value of each item I had purchased in the islands. We had to convert from Franc-er-roos to American dollars, and the conversion rate was different on different days, but we managed to arrive at a value to report.
The guy at the first window stared at my declaration and gasped, “You spent !!!! (a bazillion dollars)?” He stared into my eyes. My husband volunteered, “Hey, I was stunned, too.” I answered in the affirmative. Yes, I did. Well, then I was ordered to go to Section B. Oh, no, not Section B! I grabbed my suitcases and marched over there. Thank goodness for those new rollers on luggage that allow a person to maneuver her luggage with one finger, that’s all I’ve got to say.
I handed my declaration to the guy standing behind the sign that read Section B. He studied it. His eyes narrowed, brows crisscrossed. He, too, made the bazillion-dollar comment. Then he questioned, “These pearl necklaces . . . do they have a tie clasp?” I retracted a necklace that did and showed it to him. He asked about the others, but they were gift wrapped. He did not make me unwrap them. He said simply that he would presume they were all similar, and he exempted them, adding that he believes that U. S. Citizens should get a break. I suppose it’s because I was not a “permanent resident” but instead a U. S. Citizen. I don’t know for sure but he gave me a break, and most likely because I told him the truth.
But I don’t always get the truth out of potential clients who approach me. I ask if they are working with another agent. Most of the time, a person will say no, she is not. Perhaps in her mind she is telling the truth because her agent is not standing next to her. She has her own definition of what working with an agent means. If the agent believes you are her client, then you are working with an agent.
The problem with working with an agent is this Sacramento real estate agent can’t work with a buyer who has an agent. It’s not ethical. It is against the Code of Ethics if a buyer or a seller is in contract, in escrow, with no intention of canceling and just wants advice, for me to respond. If a person has signed a purchase contract and not yet canceled, that person has a fiduciary because the agency most likely has been signed as well. Once a person is under contract, a person should not try to get advice from another REALTOR without first canceling the existing relationship.
Yet, all the time I see buyers and sellers on Zillow and Trulia and other websites seeking advice from REALTORs. Most of these buyers and sellers are in contract. They also contact me directly. They email or text or leave me voice mail messages, and they ask for my help. They probably think I am being a witch when I don’t respond or say I cannot help them, because they don’t know any better. They don’t know how agents work. It’s not that I don’t want to help, it’s that to do so would violate the Code of Ethics. On top of that, I am paid to help clients. That’s how I earn my living. If you are not my client, then you must either become client to get my assistance or find help elsewhere. I don’t make up these rules. But I do believe that what goes around, comes around.
If you are working with the Elizabeth Weintraub Team, you can get help from me or any of my team members. But you have to first be working with us. If you are working with another agent, you need to get your help from your own agent.
Photo: Gift shop in Bora Bora, which was probably sued by the owner of the rights to Fantasy Island, by Elizabeth Weintraub
