Astounding numbers of upscale home sellers, and, buyers, leave
no stone unturned to make sure that they lose huge dollars, and,
have maximum aggravation. Let's be frank, you and I, tell me your
immediate reaction. How about, "Oh, this isn't me, or, my social
circle. We are aware, educated, sophisticated, and, Real Estate
savvy 'in-the-know' movers and shakers.
This TOPDOLLAR Senior Real Estate Specialist is about to take you
behind the scenes, to look at behaviors in the Pleasanton,
Danville, San Ramon, Alamo corridor, out here in the
Diablo/Dougherty Valley, the paradise cities that straddle San
Francisco, and the Silicon Valley.
The middle management seller of the standard 3 bedroom, 2000
square foot, $800,000 ranch, is a conscientious textbook case of
methodical, rational, action. These midlevel managers are easy to
work with, because accountability, not smoke and mirrors drama,
is the main component of their upwardly mobile existence. They
are honed in on the numbers, fact driven, just as they,
themselves, were hired, and pay their mortgage, on the basis of
their own, constantly reviewed productivity numbers. It is
inconceivable that they would list their home with a Realtor
who's own market numbers aren't rock solid, and, who's TOPDOLLAR
productivity isn't documented. What, then, is going on with
their bosses, who own the $1.5 Million - $3 Million homes? What
causes these otherwise brilliant, successful professionals to
hire under-performing, less informed Realtors (their words, not
mine)? They would never practice such low hiring standards in
their corporate setting. Say, you're the CEO, or, near-CEO of
your company. How long would the board of directors tolerate your
stacking the most critical and sensitive positions with people
you "like", or, a needy relative, or, someone who whispers
phantom numbers, rather than what you need to know?
I just clicked the California Department of Real Estate, DRE, to
learn that the Department regulates over 280,000 brokers,
agents, and, related entities. In 2003, alone, mortgage bankers
made over $402 billion in home loans to Californians, plus, they
serviced $293 billion in home loans. Since 2001 the department
has brought approximately 2,156 enforcement actions. As a
Realtor, My personal understanding of the cornerstone, the
bedrock, of my responsibility toward the owner/seller of a
property is that I am ethically obligated to do everything in my
professional capacity, to help insure that the client reaps the
highest, possible yield on his/her sale, that the competitive
market dictates. This is not, simply, my personal credo, though
it is, this is incessantly drummed into the skull of every Real
Estate licensee: this is repeated, over, and, over, year in, year
out, as we all must attend continuing education courses to
maintain our licenses.
So, you ask, why don't all Realtors do everything in their power
to achieve the very best deal for their clients? I can't answer
that, I'm not clergy, nor, a psychiatrist. All I know is that my
all out TOPDOLLAR strategy benefits my clients, and, my telephone
rings with referrals. Win/win. My interest, and, my client's
interest, are one and the same.
Not all responsibility lies with the Real Estate professional.
Surely, your own life's experience reflects that people tend to
gravitate toward people just like themselves. Those who deport
themselves on the highest professional plane will associate with
peak level professionals. With that in mind, here is a surreal
situation.
Our upscale city of Walnut Creek has a population of 60,000.
Approximately one in four Walnut Creek homeowners reside in gate
Rossmoor. That's an appreciable chunk of people. A handful of
Real Estate offices have clustered to focus primarily on
Rossmoor. Here is where it gets odd. One office focuses only on
Rossmoor. That's approximately 45 Realtors who are all licensed
by the same DRE, Department of Real Estate that issued my
license. Those agents are legally, and, ethically, bound by the
same regulations, and, guiding principles as I, they even are
paying members of the same Regional Board of Realtors. Yet, as a
group, they avoid to feature their listings on the Multiple
Listing Service, MLS, they do not seek out to expose their
listings to the highest available bidder, and, they block a
Realtor who is not of their "club" to present a competitive offer
to their listing clients, even if that offer is substantially
greater than offers that they had been able to generate within
their little cabal. But, wait. Let's not point the accusatory
finger solely, at this group for this uncompetitive, un-American,
behavior. Doesn't the seller bear responsibility for not
insisting that the property bring in the absolute TOPDOLLAR, as
professional standards require? My point is that ownership has
its privileges; it also has its responsibilities. In a perfect
world, every property ought to come with an owner manual. Imagine
if every new property owner had to pass a comprehensive
examination to qualify for property ownership. I can see one of
the test questions: when you decide on a listing agent, your
criteria should be:
1) which Realtor will expend the greatest resources to generate
maximum offers
2) or, which Realtor will expend the least resources, because
maximum selling price is NOT the goal
3) which Realtor possess rock solid market data
4) or, the Realtor who speaks the nicest sounding price trash
5) which Realtor accesses the deepest network of MLS Realtors
6) or, the Realtor who ignores every canon of ethics, by placing
greater importance on a commission, than, the client's
TOPDOLLAR yield.
Just wait until I become the Commissioner of Real Estate (ha!); I
would immediately order the drafting of a Property Sellers Code
of Responsibility. Here might be some of the points:
1) Highest property value is determined by the market. To achieve
the greatest price every potential bidder in the market must
be afforded the opportunity make an offer.
2) A listing Realtor, who fails to undertake the basic steps to
get his client the greatest selling price, should be forced
to pay money damages to his /her client, and permanently lose
the Real Estate license.
3) The selling property owner should be required to sign a due
diligence document, that states, "Before I signed the listing
agreement I required that the Realtor document a track record
of expended resources to extract the greatest selling price
for listed properties".
4) If the Realtor is a dues paying member multiple listing, MLS,
the property must be listed on MLS, so as to attract the
greatest number of offers.
5) If the Realtor does not list on MLS, then Realtor must
guarantee that final selling price will equal, or, surpass,
what it would have yielded on MLS.
6) If the Realtor represents that it is not in the seller's
interest to be listed on MLS, the Realtor should be required
to state this in writing.
You've heard of the saying, every people has the government they
deserve. Here is my Real Estate version; every Real Estate client
has the Realtor he/she deserves.
I don't mean to suggest that any Real Estate client cuddle up
with thousands of pages written in governmentese, but, wouldn't
it make sense to invest a few minutes to click on those subject
headings on the DRE website that peak your interest?
---
Real Estate Law and Subdivided Lands Law Business and Professions
Code Sections 10000 through 11288
http://www.dre.ca.gov/relaw_pdf/Relaw.pdf
---
Regulations of the Real Estate Commissioner
Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations
http://www.dre.ca.gov/relaw_pdf/Regs.pdf
---
Administrative Procedure Act
Government Code Sections 11503 through 11528
http://www.dre.ca.gov/relaw_pdf/Admnpro.pdf
---
Pertinent Excerpts from the California Codes
Various other code sections applicable to real estate including
additional sections of the Business and Professions Code and
Government Code
http://www.dre.ca.gov/relaw_pdf/Excerpts.pdf
Here is my main point. Say, you are one of the overachievers who
is are looking to sell your home in Pleasanton, San Ramon,
Danville, Alamo, or Walnut Creek. This is one of your most
valuable financial assets. Correct. How would you go about the
selling of one of your firm's most valuable assets? Wouldn't you
cover every base to make sure that your actions won't be called
into question, downstream? Wouldn't this be a career maker, or,
breaker? Wouldn't your board require that you document, and,
justify, your actions? My point is this. You owe yourself no less
professionalism to help insure that those, who can seriously
impact on your personal net worth, act with identical
professionalism, to protect your bottom line.
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