by Paul Slaybaugh | Aug 13, 2010 | Home Buying, Site Features & Updates
A disconnect that will sometimes occur when a Scottsdale Real Estate consumer lands here on the Scottsdale Property Shop site, not all of the properties you see listed for sale here fly under the banner of Realty Executives. Matter of fact, of the forty some thousand home listings that you can trawl in our home search engine on a given day, only a handful are likely to boast a Ray and Paul Slaybaugh sign in the front yard.
So what gives?
When you land on an individual Realtor’s website, the home search results display the feed from what is referred to as an “IDX” solution. Technical aspects aside, this is essentially a streamlined version of the local MLS for public consumption. Brokers have the option of opting out of the IDX agreement, thus not allowing their listed properties to be displayed on the sites of competitors and aggregators (Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc). As such posturing would be tantamount to internet marketing suicide for a brokerage on behalf of its seller clients, however, few and far between are the active brokers who do not participate in the open proliferation of their listing feed. There are rules and prohibitions in regards to what information can be displayed, etc, but by and large, this allows the consumer to visit most any Real Estate site with a capable IDX solution to view inventory.
Where misunderstandings can crop up is at the intersection of convenience and marketing. You go to Google. Type in the street address of a property you saw (forgot the name or number on the sign) or some specific criteria such as “3 Bedroom Homes For Sale in McCormick Ranch.” If an agent has a search engine friendly IDX solution (such as yours truly), you land on his/her site. Plastered next to all of the property information you seek is the agent’s smiling mug and contact information.
This is not necessarily, and most likely not, the listing agent.
If you scroll way down to the bottom, you will find the slightest nod to the brokerage that has the home listed for sale, but all of the contact information will be directed to get you to pick up the phone and call the agent that owns the site upon which you just landed.
For some of you, this is neither here nor there. You just want the property information and don’t give a fig who provides it. If the property looks interesting, Bigfoot himself could show it to you for all you care.
Where it can become an issue is when the consumer has specific reason to approach the listing agent directly. There is typically an awkward silence, followed by a mild rebuke at a perceived misrepresentation. To this house hunter, I say you found me just in time. Why? Because if left to your own devices, you would have unwittingly blundered right into the lion’s den with no representation.
Perhaps you think the listing agent will be a more direct conduit to the seller. Perhaps you think the listing agent will have more information to provide regarding the property. Or perhaps you think the listing agent will willingly cede a portion of his commission with no other agent involved in the transaction, ultimately saving you money on the purchase.
Were I better at HTML coding, neon lights would illuminate this next sentence.
THE LISTING AGENT REPRESENTS THE SELLER.
I repeat.
THE LISTING AGENT REPRESENTS THE SELLER.
Whatever seemingly helpful information the agent provides, make no mistake that it is his fiduciary obligation to separate you from as much of your money as possible on the seller’s behalf. And he does this for a living.
When shopping for a new home in Scottsdale, it is not possible to overstate the value of the internet. In addition to the tools and resources that are more available to the consumer than ever before, it could just be the chance encounter with a local agent’s IDX search that proves most fortuitous. Contacting the floating head next to the listing that interests you might be the thing that saves you from overpaying or getting embroiled in transactional hell on your purchase.
No, the listing you are looking at is most likely not mine. For that you can thank your lucky stars. I’m quite adept at squeezing money out of buyers for my sellers. Since the shoe is on the other foot, let’s go get you that house for a price that will make the seller limp for a month.
by Paul Slaybaugh | Aug 7, 2010 | Home Selling, Scottsdale Real Estate
Thanks, but no thanks. Therein lie my in-depth feelings regarding buyer agent bonus compensation.
It’s a tricky business, this whole trust-building endeavor. From the initial consultation with a prospective client, to the signing of the closing documents and all stops in between, a certain rapport and mutual belief in the positive intentions of each party must be developed to produce the desired outcome: namely, the purchase of the most appropriate property at the most advantageous terms. With ample opportunity for an agent to unintentionally spit the bit along the way, warding off the encroachment of countless variables that would undermine the health of the relationship is an undisclosed facet of the job. And what, pray tell, is the swiftest and surest endangerment of one’s relationship with the client? Money. More specifically, the belief, whether founded or not, that the agent is twisting his fiduciary obligation by putting his financial interests before those of the client. That’s a relationship killer. Once any doubt creeps into the mind of the client as to the motivation of his representative, you might as well go ahead and split the sheets.
I don’t want a bonus to sell your listing.
If your listing fits my client’s criteria, and you are offering me fair compensation for services rendered, I will show the property. If you are offering compensation that does not meet my minimum standards, I will show the property if my client agrees to make me whole. Mind you, that’s a terrible disincentive to buyers and buyer’s agents alike, but run your business however you see fit. What I do not require is any kind of additional spiff over and above suitable compensation. An extra percent if the transaction closes in the next 30 days, a co-broke that is double the normal range of compensation, a week aboard the listing agent’s yacht after the close of escrow … all such supposed motivators are liable to call my judgment into question.
Am I really pushing property “x” because it represents that best value proposition for the client, or am I mentally slathering SPF 15 over my epidermis in preparation of the promised week in the Bahamas?
I’m not real keen on trying to explain to my client why I am grossing 20k on a $200,000 transaction while we are sitting around the closing table.
So while I appreciate the extra incentive a listing agent and/or seller may try to stoke via a buyer’s agent bonus, it calls my credibility into question. Matter of fact, I will typically apply any such bonus (if monetary value can be readily affixed) to my client’s closing costs. I maintain my reputation and my client gets an unexpected perk. In fact, I would be in breach of my personal ethics, if not my fiduciary obligation, if I didn’t carve out such extraneous allotments for my client’s benefit. If I am being compensated fairly for my role in the transaction, it is my duty to corral any additional nickels that fall out of the seller’s pockets for the buyer.
Want to expedite your Scottsdale home sale? Put the agent bonus back in your shorts. Repackage the offering as a reduced price or concession towards the buyer’s closing costs. Make the terms more appealing to my client and you will produce the desired result. The seller gets his fast sale, the buyer gets more attractive terms and both agents get happy, referral-prone clients. Everybody wins.
If I want to go play Dread Pirate Roberts in the Caymans, I’ll do it on my own dime.
by Paul Slaybaugh | Aug 1, 2010 | Scottsdale Real Estate
Wonder why your lonely Scottsdale rental property is suffering from a lack of showings?
Because your agent is offering the sales force a half-eaten ham sandwich as compensation, that’s why.
In an open, competitive market, I hope it goes without saying that all commission rates are negotiable. There is no such thing as a “set” fee or a “going rate.” Sure, there are market directed norms to which some adhere, but the payment arrangement is always uniquely established between a seller/landlord and the chosen representative. That bit of anti-trust housekeeping out of the way, I will unabashedly state that your rental property is not getting any traffic from cooperating agents because the profit margin has largely been excised from the leasing spectrum.
Altruistic tendencies aside (yes, it’s true, our REALTOR hearts do beat, even if two sizes too small), most professionals I know have already abandoned the rental arena completely. The downward pressure on cooperative compensation for a leasing agent (the guy who actually produces the tenant) has essentially rendered the Scottsdale rental market nonviable as a money maker for agents at present. As if to flaunt that truth, some enterprising souls adept in the art of self-sabotage have driven stinginess into a new ravine. Schlepping around prospective renters for several days, if not weeks, does not compute when the incredible potential bounty waiting at the other end of the rainbow is a mind-blowing $75 and an expired gift certificate to Arby’s.
Why not just mug me for my clients in the driveway? It will save everyone time.
Some of us diehards still believe in working the rental market as a means of servicing clients, even though it is often tantamount to Real Estate pro bono work. I’ll generally trade the meager paycheck for a chance to solidify a relationship with a future homeowner and referral source, but it can be difficult to justify the time expenditure when business is brisk, compensatory coupons to the dollar store notwithstanding.
When you consider the liability that comes with a role in the transaction, the portion of the fee that goes to the agent’s brokerage (you didn’t think he got to keep the entire $10, did you?), taxes, gas, etc, it is not unusual for the lucky leasing agent to be well out of pocket by the time the dust settles.
But don’t cry for me, Argentina. REALTORS are not a sympathetic bunch, of this I am all too aware. I simply advise you not to cut off your nose to spite your sales force’s face. When you select an agent to list your Scottsdale home for rent, make sure to ask what portion of the total compensation is being offered to a tenant-procuring colleague. If it doesn’t sound like a livable wage to you, it will sound like gulag pay to those who are intended to be incentivized by it. Perhaps the listing agent has to short-change the co-broke to keep the total fee you are quoted down, or perhaps the intention is to actively discourage showings from other agents via the miserly offering. Either way, you are more likely to witness a Doors reunion with the original lineup than a cooperating agent with a credit-worthy tenant in tow until you address the shortcoming.
It’s a free country and a free market. Structure a fee schedule with your choice in Real Estate representation in any manner you see fit. Just remember to leave a glass of milk and cookies out for Santa if you expect a tenant in your stocking.
The crumbs ain’t cutting it.
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“If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?!!”
– Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)
by Paul Slaybaugh | Jul 30, 2010 | Scottsdale Real Estate
Ordinarily, we here at the Scottsdale Property Shop are not overly concerned with the machinations at play within our brokerage. Perhaps an odd disconnect given that Realty Executives has dominated the top spot in market share for virtually every measurable category in Scottsdale (and Arizona at large) since 1974, but it is a crutch to lean on your company name too much in a field of independent contractors. Broker support, institutional marketing and the like are vital to the sale of real property, but the job largely comes down to the salesperson entrusted to do the work. Frankly, if we are to toot any horns, we’d rather tout our own abilities (green agents tend to prop themselves up by company affiliation while more experience veterans tend to promote their own skill sets).
We are breaking from that customary recalcitrance to share some pretty big news about what’s going on downtown. My colleague, and Tempe Real Estate wunderkind, Nick Bastian, shares the unveiling of a project that has been months in the making behind the technological scenes. With a host of company websites that had been a sore spot amongst the more tech savvy agents in the brokerage, Realty Executives did not turn a blind eye to the issue. While upstart brokerages have clung to a technological advantage over our leviathan in an effort to gain market share, the full resources of Realty Executives have finally been brought to bear in this arena with today’s re-launching of www.realtyexecutives.com.
How does this benefit you, our clients? In essence, it will dramatically improve our ability to drive traffic to this already heavily trafficked site. More clicks, more eyes, more buyers looking at your home listings … more of everything you have come to expect from us.
If I sound jazzed, that’s because I am. Kudos to our proud brand for recognizing this prior weakness and turning it into a standard bearer for the Scottsdale Real Estate market.
Read more about the dramatic redesign of Realty Executives’ online presence at Nick’s Tempe Real Estate blog.
by Paul Slaybaugh | Jul 28, 2010 | Home Selling, Scottsdale Real Estate
There are dragons lurking in the dark recesses of your property listing. Mean dragons. Scaly, grey, mean dragons that might rise up out of their lairs and go all Godzilla on your potential showings if left unchecked.
And what, pray tell, is the name of these marauding reptiles?
“REALTOR Remarks”
Ah yes, that hobgoblin of good intentions in the multiple listing service that provides for private communication amongst local Realtors. It gives me a good shudder just to type the name of the foul beast. Suburban legend has it that if you say it three times in front of the bathroom mirror with the lights off, you will doom yourself to a lonely stint on the market. Why? Because the private portion of the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service which is intended to impart “eyes only” information to the Real Estate sales force is home to some of the most spectacular lapses in judgment this side of New Coke.
“Do not approach cage, monkey will bite!”
“Disregard water damage in hall bathroom shower.”
“Bring me an offer, seller needs to sell NOW!!!”
From the laughable (“House is better than pictures make it look”) to the horrific breaching of client confidentiality (“Divorce situation: husband not cooperative”), one little notation in the private remarks of the listing can torpedo the price you command for your home, if not endanger the sale altogether. Alarm codes, additional showing instructions, agent to agent disclosures – all are intended fodder for the REALTOR Remarks section. The mistake that is often made, however, is that anything goes so long as it remains hidden from the prying eyes of the public.
The moral of the story? Read the full property listing before your agent inputs it into the MLS. While you will most likely view a copy of the completed listing once it hits the system, you will not be able to see what is privately disclosed to other agents. You will want to see a copy of the FULL listing to ensure that your best interests have not been compromised by a few careless words.
You priced the home well, staged it to look its best, had it professionally photographed, toured and dispersed to the far reaches of the Internet. Don’t blow it now, kid.
Of course, if you want me to avoid your home like the plague, make sure your agent denotes that it “smells kind of funky, but no known presence of mold.”
In the mood to receive offers that are 50% below your list price? Instruct your agent to notify fellow Realtors to “Bring me any offer and I’ll get it accepted!”
Unless the Stargate in the study presents a clear and present danger to those who would tour your home, best not to mention the possible credit for intergalactic species remediation.
