Wednesday, April 20, 2022

We’ve been over this before. But since I’m still hearing from aggravated members on the subject, let’s review the rules and the reasonable expectations members should have of each other when arranging appointments and conducting showings.   

This is all about common courtesies and common sense. I had a grade 8 teacher who, when he wasn’t caning us for what he referred to as dumb insolence, would say, “Use your common sense, boy. It’s an uncommon thing, I know. But there must be at least some vestige of it in that head of yours.” There wasn’t. Common sense doesn’t often enter into the head of a 14-year-old boy starved of female company at a boy’s school.  

But we did have some training at the occasional “House Supper,” a periodic event where we put on our best uniform and shiniest shoes. Heaven forbid they not be shiny. Prefects, some more sadistic than others, would be on the lookout for those. And when found, we’d be made to take a cold shower, run cross-country in the rain, or do tackle practice in the frozen mud.   

Common courtesies drummed into our heads at the House Supper included using eating utensils in the correct order, drinking out of the appropriate glass (from the array surrounding a place setting), and sitting quietly without fidgeting through the after-dinner speech. We also learned why it was a really bad idea to be late for the dinner, but not, apparently, to lob the occasional dinner roll at another boy when no one was looking. Archaic and quaint, you may think. You may also be tempted to think, “Gosh, that explains a lot about him. Now I know why he’s such a weirdo.” 

I could go on for ages, but I won't. However, what I do suggest is that even when there isn't a written rule or one engraved on a stone tablet, using common courtesies is just common sense.

"We all have expectations of each other. While these can differ based on our age and life experience, we can rarely go wrong by being guided by the Golden Rule, as noted in our REALTOR® Code: “Treat others as you would want to be treated.”"

As for some specific dos and don’ts, how about not being late to a showing, for starters? Or, if you are going to be late, how about calling your colleague when it dawns on you that you’re unavoidably delayed. Time is precious and all that. We’re going to be dust for a very long time indeed. It just won’t do to waste time while on this earth.   

Bringing a business card with you wouldn’t hurt either, along with some not-so-common pleasantries like introducing folks to each other at the door.   

When showing properties, if the seller’s agent isn’t present, leave your plain business card on the kitchen counter so the seller knows someone has been in their home. (Leaving an advertising business card is a tad “shouty” and will annoy your colleague.) Do a security check of the place after the showing, and then thank the seller’s agent. Those small courtesies really do count.  

Now for the can of worms: We don’t, and will not, have rules telling members specifically who has to be at the showing. It’s only necessary to have a licensee there (for the entire duration of the appointment). That person can be the buyer’s agent, or the seller’s agent, or both of them. It can be one of the brokers. Or both. Or a brokerage-provided surrogate for any of them. But an agent must be there.  

"Lately, it seems, we have buyer agents making arrangements to show properties and then not going to the showing themselves. That’s okay if the seller’s agent knows and agrees to it in advance. But doing it without a call beforehand leaves seller’s agent to show the property to the buyers, which may be okay with some, but isn’t with quite a few others. "

What’s worse is for buyer’s agents to just assume the seller’s agent will be there. Why would a seller’s agent assume this if you haven’t told them? If they’re not there, who’s going to show the property if you’re not going to be there? The seller? Not illegal, but it’s a bad idea. It’s also possible the seller’s agent may have instructions not to show the property to buyers if their agent is not present. That can lead to confrontations at the door, as two on-point recent disciplinary decisions reveal.  

I don’t understand why it’s difficult to advise a seller’s agent, in advance, if a buyer’s agent won’t be able to make a showing or doesn’t plan to attend. It’s a reasonable expectation and a professional courtesy.   

One last point: In conversation with a female member earlier this week, she described how uncomfortable she was when a buyer agent’s client came alone to a showing without their agent. She had expected the buyer agent to be there. They weren’t, and they hadn’t advised her in advance. She also had seller instructions not to show the property to buyers if their agents weren’t present. But, wanting to be helpful, she allowed herself to being pressured into showing the place alone. In a suite. In a building, with a man she didn’t know. I think many of our female members would have been equally uncomfortable with this situation.  

Let’s be reasonable folks. Let’s extend common courtesies to each other so feathers aren’t ruffled and our client’s and our own safety isn’t in jeopardy.