Re/Max Welcome Home

Something that has become acceptable in this industry that I do not think should be acceptable is poor service.

I am constantly surprised by how often people put up with it.

I have dealt with agents who do not have their MLS key. Agents who do not have the proper materials. Agents who call and ask if I am having an open house because they want me to show the property to their client.

I have even had agents tell me they are on vacation and ask me to show the house for them.

I am sorry, but you are representing that buyer.

That is your job.

I think customer service in general has gotten worse. People have become accustomed to waiting, being transferred around, talking to automated systems and feeling like nobody really cares that they are a customer.

I refuse to operate that way.

I have three offices, and there is a live person answering our phones.

I want my clients to know that when they call, somebody is there.

And that does not end at closing.

If a past client calls me years later with a question, I am still going to try to help them.

I do not want people to remember me because I had the flashiest marketing or the biggest advertisement.

I want them to remember that I answered the phone.

I showed up.

I did what I said I was going to do.

To me, that is not exceptional service.

That should be the standard.

There is one thing a seller can say to me that immediately makes me nervous.

It is when I hear hesitation about telling the truth.

“Do we really have to tell them about that?”

Yes.

If you were buying the house, would you want to know?

That is the question I ask myself.

Houses are not perfect. Older houses especially are going to have things that need attention. Basements can have water. Roofs get old. Systems need maintenance.

That does not automatically make a house a bad house.

But it does mean we need to be upfront about what we know.

I have seen situations where a seller says there has never been water in the basement, and later the buyer discovers evidence that there has been.

I have seen buyers get all the way through inspections and financing, only to have an insurance issue come up because the property had previous claims.

That is not where you want to discover the truth.

I would much rather deal with an issue honestly at the beginning than have it become a problem at the end of the transaction.

And there is another side to this.

Buyers need to understand that when they buy a home, they are not buying a maintenance-free product.

Homeownership means maintaining a house.

So my rule is simple.

Be honest.

Disclose what needs to be disclosed.

And do not start a business relationship with a lie.

If I could make one rule that every Realtor had to follow, it would be simple.

Treat people the way you want to be treated.

That sounds basic, but I think it has gotten lost in our industry.

One thing that bothers me in particular is when an agent receives a commission and then offers another agent less than half of that commission for representing the buyer.

I understand that the industry has changed. I understand there have been lawsuits and changes in how compensation is handled.

But my philosophy has not changed.

For more than 40 years, I have believed in treating the other agent fairly.

I have always shared half of my commission with the buyer’s agent, and I do not add an MLS fee because there is no MLS fee.

Why?

Because sometimes I am the listing agent and sometimes I am on the other side.

You show that buyer 25 houses. You write four offers. You spend hours working with them.

That work has value.

I do not believe in looking at every transaction as an opportunity to squeeze a little more money out of the other person.

I believe real estate works best when the people involved respect one another and understand that there are two clients in the transaction who both deserve good representation.

For me, it really comes back to one question.

How would I want to be treated if I were on the other side?

That is the standard I try to follow.