Thursday, July 1, 2021

Once in a while, a member will phone and ask me how to deal with a “mere posting.” This is a listing where the sellers do pretty much all of the work themselves except posting their property information on the MLS® system. And that’s where you come in. As a member of a Canadian real estate board, you’re the only professional who can act as agent for sellers to post their listing on the MLS® system. Sellers can’t just phone the Board and tell us to put their property on the system. If they did, we’d tell them to contact an REBGV member. 

With that topic out of the way for the moment, let’s see if I can dip my toe into potentially treacherous waters without getting hit by a rocket from Ottawa. I think members are pretty clear on the notion that, similar to there being no “standard” commission rate or fee for services, there's also no “standard” business model. Meaning, you and your client agree what you will do for them to get them to their destination. In return, they agree to pay you for your services.  

Some members have a whole laundry list of services they perform for clients. In the case of sellers, for example, services may only include getting the property on the MLS® system, to doing a few more tasks to get the place to market, to offering the “full-meal-deal”, which includes staging the property and hiring a photographer and videographer, painters, cleaners, gardeners, and others. And that’s just to get the property to market. After this, the services might include being present at all showings, giving feedback after those showings, and a lot of handholding. All of this gets everyone to when one or more offers are made. Then the services might include managing the three-ringed circus that multiple offers can become—navigating negotiations, giving advice, more handholding—followed by a whole raft of after-sales services like reminding the sellers not to take down the dining room chandelier, dealing with utilities, and the like. If it were me offering all those services, I’d want to be paid handsomely for my time. But, obviously, “handsomely” means different things to different people, which is a good thing, because I suspect there’s a business model and a price that fits everyone’s needs, both client and agent. 

"Which brings me back to mere postings. Keep in in mind that a mere posting is a listing. It’s not some kind of special listing that allows other members carte blanche to contact the sellers directly. Treat these listings the same as you would any other. For example, read the listing for information on how to arrange a showing, who to call, and what to do if you have an offer. If it doesn’t say “contact the sellers to arrange a showing” and/or “contact the sellers to present your offer,” then don’t."

The other side of the equation is what you do if you’re dealing directly with a mere posting seller—meaning their agent isn’t there, and the seller wants to direct all the fun. If this is the deal, then go with it, but be careful about getting dragged into situations where the seller may start asking you for advice. This would be a bit of a problem, of course, because giving advice starts you down the agency road, and since June 2018, we’ve not been able to have more than one client in the same deal. If this happens, you could use scripting like, “That’s a good question, and if I were your agent I could take a stab at answering it for you. But since I’m not, can I suggest that you contact your agent to discuss your question? I’d be happy to wait in the car for a while.” Or something similar. 

Finally, let’s talk about the related “other stuff.” Members are allowed to advertise what they charge as well as the services they provide. They can follow the well-worn path of saying things like, “I’ll do it for less,” or I suppose they could say, “I charge more than anyone else, but you’ll be so staggered by what I do, you’ll think it was worth it once all the dust has settled.”  

If you’re making claims that you will save potential clients money by charging less than your competition, be sure to put your supporting rationale in your ad, following the requirements of REALTOR® Code Article 15. Never make references to a “standard” rate because there is no such thing.  All commissions are negotiable, which I’m sure, comes as no surprise to you. I recall getting that look from the seller many a time, after a pregnant pause, when the buyer and seller were $2,500 apart. Or nowadays, $250,000 apart. “You can cut your commission, can’t you? Because I need $X.” “Yes,” says you (while at the same wondering how the client would you feel if their boss came in and told them to work for free next Friday). “I could do that but it’s not my practice, so why don’t we go back to the buyer to see if they’ll come up?” But if it is your practice, then, as they say, “fill your boots.” There’s a lid for every pot. And on it goes.