Trust and Dual Agency in Real Estate

While I was at the doctor’s office yesterday getting a shingles vaccine, the nurse practioner asked what I was doing the rest of the day. This was only 10 in the morning. Well, putting a home into escrow and listing 2 homes, I replied. The earth didn’t stand still. No trays of medical instruments shattered to the floor. It was obvious to me that no real estate agents were in the doctor’s office yesterday or the next question would have been WHERE? Because inventory is a prized possession right now. If you’re a Sacramento listing agent, you’re suddenly everybody’s BFF.

More on that a minute. About the shingle’s vaccine, though, did you know almost everybody over the age of 60 is supposed to get it? And did you know it’s only one shot, one time; it doesn’t guarantee you won’t ever get shingles, plus it’s pretty expensive. My husband says it’s not as expensive as the stuff we got for malaria when we went to Ecuador but it’s expensive enough that insurance companies want your signature on a document that proves you received the vaccine. I guess they are concerned that some doctors’ offices submit false reports / claims about patients receiving the vaccine, so they try to verify that the patient actually got it. If they don’t trust doctors, whom do they trust?

Trust is a funny thing. Some people don’t trust anybody, no matter what. Take desperate buyers. I’m a little wary of them right now because some will go to any lengths to buy a home. Some buyers can be cluelessly insulting as well. They will call and beg me to represent them. They could be buyers with a real estate license telling me I can keep all of the commission, or they could be buyers dumping their agents in favor of working with the listing agent. They think they will get an edge because they believe all listing agents can be bought and manipulated. That kinda ticks me off on several levels, which I suspect throws them for a loop.

One guy yesterday tried to explain California real estate law to this California real estate broker. He rattled on and on about how it is completely legal for me to represent both the seller and the buyer. I won’t always do dual agency. There are some situations in which the line is so thin and finely drawn that dual agency could step over it. Plus, I’m way too busy to have to stop and calculate whether I am fairly representing both sides of the transaction. I just wanna represent the seller in some cases. Only have fiduciary to the seller. It keeps life simple. I like simple.

Buuuuut you’re giving away all of that money, people stutter. You would have thought I’m telling people the sky is green and the grass is blue. My integrity is not for sale. My ethics are not for sale. I don’t know why that’s so hard to understand. What they may see as stupid, I see as risk management and what’s best for my seller. Fiduciary carries weight with many agents, as it should.

As for my two new listings, one is in Curtis Park, and it’s a positively charming 1910 bungalow that is guaranteed to capture your heart. The other is in West Sacramento in the state streets and it’s updated, a three-bedroom, two-bath with hardwood floors. Call this Sacramento real estate agent for more information: 916.233.6759.