The Ethics of Using Multiple Real Estate Agents

If You’re “Cheating” on your Real Estate Agent in Park City, You’ll Probably Get Caught

I had the privilege of showing some homes to a lovely, young couple from Las Vegas. They were looking at homes in the $4-8 million dollar price range. We took a break from showings because the husband had to leave town for a week. Naturally, at that price point, the agents are present at all the homes I have been showing these clients. A few days after my client left town, an agent from my office who had met my clients at a showing told me she received a call from another agent who’s clients were from Las Vegas and closely fit the profile of the couple I was working with. We quickly determined it was not the same couple. Whew, my nice couple wasn’t cheating on me.

This incident reminded me of another that happened earlier in the year. An agent in my office asked me if I would show his client some homes while he was out of town. His client was particularly interested in one of my listings, which was an unusual “gentleman’s ranch”. He gave me the background on his client, including her name, email, where she was from, what she was looking for. I tried making contact with her several times and she was elusive in her responses to me.

A few hours later the same day, another agent called to set up a showing at the gentleman’s ranch. He gave me the background on his client and I said, “Wait, is her name X?” Sure enough he said, “Yes, how would you know that?” I said that another agent in my office had been working with her.

She was busted in the span of 2 hours. Can you imagine how my colleague felt when I told him that his client was now working with someone else?

The Value of Your REALTOR’s Time, Knowledge and Energy

REALTORs are paid on 100% commission, which means we work for free until there is a transaction that closes. If an agent spends an hour or two with you, you may think “no big deal”. It is a big deal. How valuable is years of market knowledge that is freely given to clients with no strings attached? How valuable is the time we spend researching properties, comparable sales and setting up showings? How valuable is the time we spend previewing properties every Wednesday so that we will understand the value of our market? It may be a few hours spent with a client, but there are hundreds of hours of preparation before the client is ever involved. It’s not nice to “use” real estate professionals for free advice if you have no intention of using them.

But, Your Agent Should be a Good Fit for You

Now, I am not talking about the situation where you realize that the REALTOR you started out with is not a good fit. We all have different personalities, work ethics, and levels of expertise. You deserve to work with someone who is a good fit for you.

What I am talking about is someone who using multiple real estate agents and makes each of them think they are that person’s exclusive representative. Or the person who calls three REALTORS, tells each one they are competing for the listing and then uses the knowledge imparted by the three REALTORS to sell their property to a friend. Yes, I was one of those three REALTORS and I was annoyed at the person’s lack of transparency.

Park City is a small town with a small REALTOR community. We talk to each other. Even though we compete with one another, we look out for each other. And we will almost always find out if you are “cheating” on us. So do the right thing.  If you are shopping around for a REALTOR, say so. If you are looking for help to sell a property yourself, say so. Isn’t that what the “golden rule” is all about?