Nate's Bright Ideas: Don't They Teach Scout's Honor Anymore?

Scout's Honor As realtors, we are always under the microscope. Sellers and buyers want to know they are dealing with a straight shooter. Someone who has integrity and a good work ethic, as well as knowledge of the market and the ability to get the job done. I used to tell my Marines (back in the old Corps) that someone's true character was best tested when no one was looking. Do you do what's right because you don't want to get caught red handed, or do you do what's right because it's the right thing to do? Think about that for a second.

I know for a fact that a person looking to sell their Davenport Florida short sale is going to be looking for someone who they can trust. And I'd like to be able to trust them as well. It really is a two way street.

I had a seller contact me a couple of months ago who initially just told me he wanted to sell his home as a short sale and needed some help. So I start doing some research and putting things in line. I found out that he was actually an investor who was doing an A-B-C short sale with the original owner of the property, in our first conversation he had already lied to me. But I let that one go, maybe he just wasn't a good communicator. He already had short sale approval from the lender and was just needing to find a buyer. Great, I can handle that. I've got a database of 600 or so investors who might be interested.

We got the listing agreement done and put the house on the market. About a week later I get a call from him and he needs to take the property off the market for a couple of weeks to sort some stuff out with the lender. "Sure thing, no problem," I say, "just let me know when you're ready to move ahead." So I give him a call a week later and can't reach him. It took another 3 weeks total before he returned my call. He proceeds to lie through his teeth for about the next ten minutes and finally gets to the point, he no longer needs my services.

Basically, he found another realtor willing to list the house for cheaper and find a buyer. Well at this point I explained that he signed a listing agreement with our company, but there really isn't much I can do. If I hold him to it, he is just going to try to run my name through the mud. So I decide to just let it go and let bygones be bygones. I know karma will sort it out in the end.

I've kept track of the property in the MLS over the last 2 months and it's been withdrawn listing after withdrawn listing. Every time he finds another realtor to work with, they figure out that he's dishonest and drop him like a bad habit. The property has been withdrawn 5 times in 2 months and I feel bad for the original owner. They are in a bad position and there isn't much they can do about it. If he had just been honest from the start, we would have had the thing under contract and well on it's way to being closed (maybe, with short sales who knows how long it's going to take). I'm sure we could have worked out the commission. But as it is, that house is never going to be sold because no one wants to work with someone who's dishonest.

It's a two way street, I'm going to be honest with you, but I expect the same in return!

Photo courtesy of azrainman at Flickr