“In Flanders Fields”

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

– John McCrae

REALTORS® – We’re Not All…[insert adjective, noun, or other favourite descriptor]

Like many in my chosen profession, I too get tired of all of the mud-slinging and general BS that gets thrown at REALTORS® and the real estate industry as a whole. Yes, it is true there are a lot of REALTORS® out there that lack the appropriate knowledge, experience, integrity, or otherwise-normal human ethical and moral base to appropriately assist and serve their Clients and the public-at-large. I however, happen to believe that for every douche-bag REALTOR® out there there are at least ten that know their business inside-and-out, go way above and beyond any and all expectations to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities to their Clients, and along the way successfully build long-lasting and mutually gratifying relationships with their Clients — myself included. To exemplify this fact I thought I would call upon another personal experience and share it with you.

BTW, it’s my blog so if I want to call the unsavoury types in my industry douche-bags I will…besides, that adjective is a lot cleaner than what I hear and read elsewhere.

Now, on with the story… About two years ago (early to mid-2006 when things in the Edmonton market were in full-on-stupid mode) a mortgage broker with whom I work from time-to-time sent me a referral. His Clients had their pre-approval in-hand and were ready to go shopping for their first home. As with many first-timers, things can be tough when you are approved for a mortgage that amounts to ‘the minimum’ to get into the housing market and things weren’t any different for my buyers. Pickings were slim and the half-dozen or so homes that we did go see were total dogs. A more appropriate sign for these homes would have been “Danger – Open Excavation in Progress” rather than “For Sale” (i.e. these homes should have been bulldozed). In very short order we eliminated every available home on the market and were basically in watch-and-wait mode, hoping that as the first ones to view any new listings we would successfully find and secure the home they wanted before it escaped them through a multiple-offer scenario (these were also quite common at this time in Edmonton).

During one of our outings our conversation turned to a local commission-free realty company and whether I could and/ or would be willing to help them find a home that was ‘listed’ through a commission-free ‘listing’ service. For reasons I will discuss in a future entry, I explained to them that it would not be in their best interests for me to assist them but I encouraged them to go after such a home if they found one on their own. I encouraged them to grab one that was ‘listed’ with a commission-free realty company if they found it (and they did).

That’s right – at the risk of losing my payday I encouraged them to continue to search through FSBOs while I continued to hunt on their behalf, knowing that if they found a FSBO I would not get paid for the work I had done for them. Now why would I encourage my buyers to go after a for sale by owner without me instead of protecting my commission cheque you ask? Because it is my fiduciary duty to place the interests of my Clients ahead of the interests of all others; including my own. If I had instead discouraged them from pursuing the FSBOs they could very well have found themselves homeless and I would have failed them and failed to fulfill the obligations I have to them.

Instead, I actually found the FSBO the day it went online, phoned them and told them about it, they went and saw it, and ultimately purchased it — and I didn’t get paid. Do I work for free? Hell no. Do I work for my Clients? Absolutely…and that’s exactly what I did in this instance. My job was to help them find the best home for the best price and that is exactly what I did!

The best part of this whole story is that in the two years that have passed since they purchased the home we have become very good friends. Oh, and I proved once again that I’m not one of the douche-bags.

///…CP