Agency Representation Does Not Mean Making Decisions for Sellers

Client representation does not mean making decisions for them.

Representing real estate clients does not mean making decisions for them, but how many times have we seen listing agents in Sacramento try to do exactly that? It’s not their fault, really. Many real estate agents tend to become overly invested and involved in a transaction. They feel protective of their sellers and can sometimes turn the transaction into their own. They may forget who owns the property.

We encountered a listing agent recently who demanded that our buyer rewrite the purchase offer. Because she most certainly was not about to advise her home seller to accept an offer with XYZ in the offer. In fact, she could not see how in the world any seller would take an offer with XYZ in the purchase contract, yet sellers routinely accept these types of offers with XYZ without blinking an eye. It’s been fairly common place.

The property has been on the market for a while; the buyer was offering list price. Yet the listing agent insisted that the seller would reject the offer without revisions and, worse, without presenting the offer to the seller. There is no point in promoting adversarial relations as that kind of approach does little to persuade a recalcitrant listing agent to cooperate.

If an agent is in charge of her own small nation of people, writing new rules for Sacramento real estate that carry no authority, it’s best in general to leave that agent to her own devices. Sellers deserve much better representation than a White Knight agent. We, as listing agents, cannot fall into the trap of making decisions for sellers. It’s easy to fall down that rabbit hole because we want to do what is right, but allowing our sellers the privilege of making their own decisions is what is right. And legal.

Sellers do not want to be told what to do. They want information from their listing agent, the pros and cons of a situation. They do not want their agents making decisions for sellers. Let’s take receipt of a lowball offer, for example. I try not to jump down the buyer’s agent throat. Nor do I push the seller to accept the offer. I don’t personally care if the seller accepts the offer, if you want to know the truth. I’d like to find a way for the seller to make the transaction happen, but if it’s not possible within the offer on the table, there will be another.

This Realtor provides options. And I ask the seller to choose. I advise and counsel. Because after 40-some years in the real estate business, I fully realize that agency representation does not mean making decisions for sellers. It is not the place of a Sacramento Realtor to agree with her seller’s decision, either. Nowhere in that agency disclosure required by California Civil Code does it state that the listing agent calls the shots.