Welcome back!

Did you know that when you hire a real estate broker to represent you they have very specific obligations to you?  Chances are, you answered, “Yes.  Duh!”  So do you know what they are and how they should be played out in a real estate transaction?  That’s a little stickier and sometimes left undefined.  However, with the rapid changes in today’s real estate market, it is more important than ever before that you have someone who is treating you as a Client as opposed to a customer.

What is the difference between a Client and a customer?

A customer is someone who may purchase something from me, but to whom I have no Agent/Client relationship with.  You are a customer when you go buy groceries at the local Fry’s.  You are my customer if you visit my open house.  However, if you ask me to take you to look at other homes we have an implied Agent/Client relationship and my duties to you change.  An Agent is someone who is representing a person and has authority to act for that person.  However, the Agent must follow the directives of the Client. 

This will be a six-part series where I will focus on each aspect of the Agent/Client relationship separately.  The first fiduciary duty that a real estate Agent has to his/her Client is Loyalty.

Loyalty

Loyalty is vitally important because you are trusting your Agent to operate in your best interest.  Purchasing a home is likely one of the biggest investments you will make and if the Agent is loyal to someone else, it could cost you thousands of dollars.  To me, loyalty in the Agent/Client relationship means that I will work for my Client’s best interest in the relationship, even ahead of my own interests.   If I don’t think a house will serve my Client’s needs I will let them know even if it means I have to wait to make my commission.  On the other hand, if I feel that a particular home will be beneficial for my Clients, I will encourage them to make the purchase.  Loyalty also means negotiating ferociously to get the price down to get my Client an excellent deal even though that means that my commission will be lowered as well.

Loyalty also speaks of faithfulness.  In a real estate relationship, that means that you should be able to expect your Agent to remain true to you and continue to work with you and for you until the job is done.  The only exception to this would be if things are really not going well between you and you mutually agree to terminate the Agent/Client relationship.

My goal is to develop lifetime loyal relationships with my Clients and I believe that the best way to do that is to prove my loyalty to them.  It is somewhat surprising to me that I often get compliments for remaining faithful and working in my Client’s best interest.  This is one of my fiduciary duties.  However, to my current Clients, keep the compliments coming, especially when it is the compliment of referring a friend or family member to me. 

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