Did you know a fiduciary relationship is forever? When working for a Seller or Buyer as a "Single Agent" you are creating a fiduciary relationship.

Brief definition from Wikipedia: for full definition click

A fiduciary duty is the highest standard of care imposed at either equity or law. A fiduciary is expected to be extremely loyal to the person they owe the duty (the "principal"): they must not put their personal interests before the duty, and must not profit from their position as a fiduciary, unless the principal consents. The fiduciary relationship is highlighted by good faith, loyalty and trust.

Once this relationship is established it does not go away just because your listing has expired or your Buyer is no longer working with you. You are still bound by this relationship. This means that whatever your client has told you in confidence must remain confidential until your client has given you permission to remove the confidentiality. And you have the duty of full disclosure to your principal. This is where in my opinion the problem comes in with having an Agency relationship in Real Estate.

Example: Suppose you have a listing as a single Agent and the Seller, your principal, has told you that she has been having financial difficulties. She is a few months behind on her mortgage payments and needs to sell quickly to avoid foreclosure. And she has asked you not to disclose this information to anyone. Ok, no problem, so far. A few months go by and your listing agreement expires and the Seller decides to list with another Company. About a month later you are searching for homes on the MLS to show the new Buyer that you are working with. This Buyer has signed a "Buyer's Broker Agreement" agreeing that you will work for him as a single Agent. The Buyer is now your Principal. Lo and behold the best match for your Buyer is the property that you had listed that is now with another Company. You take the Buyer to see it and he falls in love with the property. You rush back to your office and start writing a purchase offer and your Buyer looks at you and says "It looks like this property has been on the market for several months. Do you know why the Seller is selling?"

Here's your dilemma. You can't mention the pre-foreclosure or you are breaking your fiduciary relationship with the Seller and you can't not tell the Buyer because you owe him full disclosure.

This is a very simple and common example. It doesn't even take into account dual Agency or the fact that an Agency relationship starts with your Broker and filters down to all the Agents under that license. So what do you do?

Received another call off an “Expired Letter” today. Fourth one this week. Nice Lady whose house is located in a 55 and older Active Adult Community (Solivita) located within my market area Poinciana Fl. Even though I am the top Realtor in Poinciana (listings sold) I have never marketed or taken a listing in Solivita. Sold a couple of homes to Sellers of mine moving in but that’s it.

This community has about 1,500 homes and currently has 255 on the Market. The market is dominated by another Realtor (let’s call her Mary). Well I have decided it needs to be dominated by me since prices are a little higher than my current market. Anyway while talking to this lady she mentioned she had been with 2 different Companies in the last year but no one has sold her house. Well I asked her if she had tried Mary. She said she hasn’t but heard she was very good. I agreed with her and told her Mary was the top Realtor in her community and has been for a few years. She also lives there and is very familiar with the community. I said I had actually sold two of her listings to Sellers of mine who were moving in and she was very professional and knew what she was doing. Well the potential customer was very shocked that I was talking so strongly about Mary’s abilities and asked me why. I was truthful and told her that I was number 1 outside of Solivita but wanted to be number 1 in Solivita as well. She mentioned her house model and I proceeded to tell her everything about her floor plan, the neighborhood, how close she was to the pool and golf course and how many similar homes were on the market. She was amazed!! Folks, I had done my homework way in advance of sending out any letters to this community. She appreciated my honesty and said so. I told her I could never guarantee to her that I could sale her house but I can guarantee that I will be 100% honest with her about pricing and what we can do to get it sold!

Well we are meeting tomorrow at 1:00 and she asked me to be sure and bring the listing agreement with me because she has an appointment at 2:00 and wants me to get her house on the market right away. Never talked price or commission. I guess she will trust me with that!

Following up on one of my deals today scheduled to close this coming Friday. Finally reached the Buyer's Realtor after leaving several messages only to hear how hectic her week has been with the kids getting ready for school blah, blah, blah. Anyway she suggested that I follow up with the Mortgage Broker and Title Company to make sure we are still on track for Friday as she doesn't have the time to deal with this this week. OK, correct me if I'm wrong but sometimes I wonder why I am even paying the buyers' Realtors. This happens ALL the time. Fortunately for them I prefer to cut them out of the deal as soon as possible anyway so I can deal directly with the Mortgage Broker. But what about the Realtors that don't want to deal with the other side of the transaction? Are these Buyers having the same difficulty with their Realtor as I am? I do realize that there are part time Realtors in this business that have conflicting obligations, like another job, but please for the Buyer's sake dedicate some time during the day where you are able to follow up and take care of your Real Estate business.

Buying or selling a house is a BIG deal for the consumer. As Realtors we must be in a position to see them through this experience and give them 100% of our attention in getting their deal closed. If you can't do this full time then you need to partner up with another Realtor that can handle your business when you are not able. We owe the consumer no less than this. Are your customers and clients being neglected?

Hi folks. I was browsing through some of my older posts today and found this little ditty about FSBOs (For Sell By Owners). To fully appreciate this post you really have to pop over and read the comment stream on Jeff’s post. YOWSER!!! 

Jeff Turner posted “For Sale By Owner: Raise the price then call a REALTOR®” a couple of years ago. Jeff’s post was basically reposting a question that a FSBO had placed on Twitter. The question was: “Got a buyer for my condo. They want me to hold the mortgage. Any advice?”

Jeff’s post was not only a Public post but it was also a Featured post. It received over 70 comments. The comments, from REALTORS® included statements such as:

• * ……this guy is seeking free advice? After he doesn’t want to compensate a professional?

• Never ceases to amaze me how people with little to no experience buying or selling houses seem to “wing it.

• My advice to the seller’s, don’t reinvent the wheel, always deal with professionals.

• …..just another example of an ignorant homeowner who thought they were doing themselves a favor and “saving” money.

• This guy is a certified idiot.

Now, in all fairness, there were some pretty decent responses, as well, but in my opinion, the majority of the comments were just reprimanding this guy for not wanting to use a “professional”. Folks, if you think those PUBLIC comments make you look like professionals then you are sadly mistaken. Whether this FSBO made a good choice, or not, he was really just asking for some advice. If you don’t want to give him any….then don’t.

But make no mistake about it….him choosing to “go it alone” does not make him an idiot! One commenter summed it up nicely with this comment: “All sellers have four choices, don’t sell it, sell it yourself, list with any old Realtor, or hire an experienced one.” The key word of course being CHOICES. It’s the Seller’s choice…not ours.

If you want to try and win their business then have it…but demeaning their decision to “go it alone” will only accomplish making yourself look foolish. Not to mention the damage it does to our profession’s reputation. What say you?

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Bought a new stove today. Unfortunately it won't be coming to my house but will be delivered to the house I closed on last week. The Sellers, my customers, were supposed to put a new stove in the house but decided to cut corners and put in a refurbished stove instead. Looks great. Works great. But it's not new. The Buyers nor their Realtor did a walk through prior to closing and I didn't notice it when I was in the house. The Sellers are going through a nasty divorce and had already moved and went their separate ways.

So what are you going to do? The Buyers are expecting a new stove when they arrive next week. I figure my Sellers have enough on their plate and I know that calling them on this is just going to create more tension between them. So I bought a new stove. Haven't seen it but hear it is really nice. Real shiny. Think I'll place a few business card magnets on the front and write the Buyers a little letter letting them know how I solved this problem for them. Maybe I'll get some business from it in the future. Maybe they will invite me over to dinner since my lovely wife doesn't cook. Have you gone beyond the call of duty lately?

Hi folks. Recently, I’ve read quite a few posts on ActiveRain from folks trying to decide whether or not to stay in the business. The posts don’t surprise me as I have been reading those types of posts on AR since I joined back in 2006. What surprises me are the comments from people who mention they are “hanging on waiting for things to get back to normal“. You know I hate to be the bearer of bad news but things will NEVER be “back to normal”.

Staying in the business may be the right decision. But if you are staying in to “hang on until the market changes” then you may be just hanging on for a very long time. People are going to be upside down on their mortgages for many, many years. Short Sales and REOs ARE the real estate market and will be for a long time. This current market IS normal.

So my advice is to NOT hang in there but to adapt. Learn new skills and learn how to make money in this current market. This is now the “normal” market. If you can do that then you will not “hang in there” you will not only survive but you will thrive and you will help a lot of people along the way.

So….the first thing you need to do is some market research. Log onto your MLS and start looking at data. You may actually be surprised at how many properties are closing in your area. Then once you find out how many properties are closing, and in what price range, find out who’s selling them and who’s buying them. Then all you have to do is figure how to get these Buyers and Sellers to use your services. It’s simple. It’s just not easy. It requires actual work. But it sure beats “hanging in there”!!! What say you?

***If you need some help just click on that little link down there and join the TTRealtyNetwork. It’s a work in progress but there is already a lot of free info over there that will help you in your business.

Do you need a new Broker?

Want to find out more? www.TTRealtyNet.com

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

OK, this is an actual CMA and E-mail sent to an absentee owner. What do you think? I use a pretty basic CMA format from our MLS. Nothing fancy but it seems to work. The information is current as of this afternoon so it will also give you an idea of market conditions in Poinciana Fl. I'll trust you not to contact my Seller. If you do tell him I said Hi. 🙂 By the way, if you are newer to the business, please feel free to copy the format if it will help.

Following is the Market Analysis I have prepared for your house at XXX XXXX Ct. A few comments: The analysis includes 3 bedroom homes due to the fact there are only 2 other 2 bedroom pool homes on the market in Polk County Poinciana. One priced at $173,900 and one priced at $179,000. There are eleven 2 bedroom homes on the market with or without pools from a low of $159,900 to a high of $179,900. There have been eleven 2 bedroom homes that have sold this year with or without pools from a low of $125,000 to  a high of $179,000. The suggested pricing is based on price per sq ft living area and is basd on the highest sold price per sq ft. In my opinion the suggested price is maxed out. But we can discuss that when we talk.

Your home is in pretty good condion. I would recommend, painting the front door, replacing or removing the verticle blinds in both bedrooms, replacing the light fixture in living room, replacing the socket covers that were removed and clean, clean clean. Next to pricing, cleanliness is the most important. The pool surface is bad but no action required on your part.

Overall it is a very sellable house. Nice open floor plan. Great front yard. The back yard is kind of small but nothing you can do about that. Same with the 1 car garage. It is what it is.

All of these things have been taken into consideration in my pricing. I highly recommend the "Range Pricing". This will enable me to place the home into the MLS at the lower price, but still having the ability to negotiate to the middle of the suggested range.  My whole goal is to get them in the door. If they don't see it they can't buy it. Also, I think it is imperative that we offer the selling agent a x% co-broke. Obviously, if I find the buyer I will not charge you the co-broke. To be honest, that doesn't happen much, but it may.

The previous pricing of $209,000 was a waste of your time. There are 1,400 properties for sell in Poinciana, not counting FSBOs, as of this morning. You have a lot of competition. There are 235 homes under $200,000. So needless to say pricing is extremely important. Ok, that's all for me rambling. Please review all the info and let me know when I can get started. I did a complete photo shoot and measured while I was there today. So if you are agreeable I can have you up and running within 1 hour.  Call me with any questions or suggestions.

Please visit a personal page I've set up for you that contains a link to a Comparative Market Analysis report.

http://bryanttutas.mfr.mlxchange.com/?r=111496147&c=2&id=32373632313339.366

Earlier today I read a post byJoshua Pettus titled “I Quit!”, “I Need a Real Job!”, “I’m Broke!”, and Other Things I’ve Said Recently  A very well written post pretty much pouring his heart out. Give it a read.

Anyway, after reading his post I dug back through my archives and dug out this article I wrote in August 2007.  My advise was good back then and I stand by it today. Maybe it’ll help somebody.

First, it’s important to remember that Real Estate is a business NOT a job. When you are a business owner your job is to find a way to make things happen. Chasing money is what we do. If you don’t have any then your job is to find some. Hopefully it will come from closings. If not? Well here are some ways to generate cash flow.

• Find a partner. This can be another REALTOR® that wants to team up so you can pool your resources. Or maybe a family member who is willing to back you for a small return on their investment. You can’t operate a business without capital. Go find some.

• Use an equity line or credit cards. Have faith that you are good at what you do and will be able to pay these loans back once you get rolling.

• * Do some property management.

• * Do BPOs.

• * If you write a deal use a commission advance company to pull some cash.

• *Get a part time job or jobs that leave your days open to practice real estate. I used to wait tables AND drive a taxi. At the same time.

Do whatever you need to do to get capital for your business. With out it. You will fail.

Secondly, get to work. If you are sitting at home or in the office moaning about how bad business is, you will fail. Get off your butt and get to work. Here are some things you can do that don’t cost anything but time.

• Attend every function you can at your Board of REALTORS® to network and gain knowledge.

• Join an investment club. What better place to meet investors.

• Get a FREE website or start a FREE network. I use Ning.com and have several of them including www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com and www.CFLInvestmentHomes.com  and www.TTRealtyNet.com. I get business from all of them.

• Utilize ActiveRain and Localism to their full potential.

• Solicit for listings. Folks, I have on numerous occasions, given you my expired letter and suggested you use it, everyday, for every expired and withdrawn listing. How many of you have? Or is it still on your list of things to do? While you’re procrastinating, I took several listings last week, that were all from my letter. And turned down several others. And I’ll do the same thing this week, the next week and on and on and on.

• Hop in your car and go visit some yard sales this weekend. People have yard sales because they are getting ready to place their home on the market. Say “hi” and give them a card. And if you see any FSBOs working in the yard while you are out, stop and strike up a conversation.

• Visit a few Human Resources departments in your area. See if they will let you hold a Buyer’s seminar. Do the same at the library and the community center.

• Go view the listings in your market area. Leave your card.

Folks, my point is GET BUSY!! Activity creates opportunity. Get into your community and start striking up conversations, passing out cards, passing out flyers and anything else you can think of. Go stand in front of the grocery store and say “hi” to everyone that walks by. Go to the self service gas station and pump gas for others with a big smile on your face and a card in your hand. I’ve personally done ALL of these things.

So there you have it. A few simple and free things you can do to generate business and cash flow. They aren’t difficult. It’s just requires attitude and motivation. Success is a decision. Failure is a lack of forward movement. It’s your choice. So what’s your decision? Are you going to turn your “to do” list into a “job completed” list?

Do you need a new Broker?

Want to find out more? www.TTRealtyNet.com

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Even the name sounds contradictory. Dual Agency. How can this be achieved? How can a Realtor, in all honesty, work for two Clients on opposing sides of a transaction? How can you place your Client’s interest first, when there are two of them, one trying to get the highest price possible and the other trying to get the lowest price possible? The concept of Dual Agency just doesn’t make sense to me, at all.

The State of Florida got smart in 1997 and made Dual Agency illegal. We are now presumed to be Transaction Brokers unless disclosed differently. I discussed this in a previous post, so won’t rehash it here.

An Agency relationship creates a fiduciary between the Agent and Principal. Take away the fiduciary and there is no Agency. In my opinion, when entering into Dual Agency relationship, this fiduciary must be modified, to the point of no longer existing, in order to assist both Clients equally. A fiduciary is NOT equal. Here lies the problem. Dual Agency, by it’s very nature, is not an Agency relationship. Below are some excellent links that delve into the problems with Dual Agency a little further.

http://www.realestatelawyers.com/Dual-agency.cfm

http://www.realestatejournal.com/columnists/housetalk/20031010-barta.html

http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/20050208_dualagency.htm

So what do we do? As Realtors we are obligated to “protect the public.” Our Code of Ethics is built upon this premise.

In my opinion, Florida has started down the right tract. Be an Agent, for one party and one party only. If you must work for both parties, then do it as a Transaction Broker. Personally, I would like to see it taken a step further and have no Agency relationship in Real Estate. Always, be a Transaction Broker. I believe this is a truer representation of what we really do. We are “facilitators.  If it walks like a duck…………..

Christine Schneider wrote an article titled “When All is Said and Done”.  If you haven’t already take a few minutes and pop over and read it. It’s basically about time management and how we can become overwhelmed if we don’t take some down time for ourselves.

I couldn’t agree more with what Christine is saying. I have always been excellent at managing my time and setting boundaries. Here are my thoughts on the topic and an outline of what works for me.

First I want to give you some facts:

Once you get your head around these things you can then set a schedule that works for you and your life. For me:

As long as potential customer/clients know these things before they decide to hire me we never have any issues. If they can’t or won’t work within MY boundaries then I refer them out because I know our relationship will not work out. They will cost me time…..

…..time that would be better spent on folks that appreciate my boundaries. A better fit means a better working relationship. Which of course translates into getting the job done in less time. It’s simple.

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved