When a Realtor's Greed Gets in the Way

I have the highest regard for most of my fellow Realtors. They are some of the hardest working (and most under-appreciated) people I know. But I have a real problem when a Realtor’s greed gets in the way of the client’s best interest. Those are the agents that give the rest of us a bad name.


I got a call a couple of days ago from a Michael in Miami. His client had seen a listing on my site, and he asked Michael to check into it for him as Michael had been his agent in Miami on other transactions. But Michael wanted the selling agent’s complete commission, not just a referral fee. He said he had an agent that worked with him who was also licensed in Nevada. I asked Michael if the agent was part of our Las Vegas MLS – no, the agent was just a Nevada licensee, had no MLS access and was not even in Nevada. He would not be able to show property, write up a contract, negotiate or perform normal duties as the buyer’s agent.

I explained to Michael that in order to get the best deal for the client we looked at ALL real estate listings in our MLS, not just our own. We could not pay him the entire selling agent’s commission, but would be delighted to pay him the usual 25% referral fee. But Michael was not interested in that – he was only interested in getting a full 3% on anything his client bought and couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t just show his client only our own listings so he could get paid more.

How sad is it that this client has put his entire trust in Michael and Michael is only interested in his own bottom line? We regularly refer our Las Vegas clients to out of state agents, and we go the extra mile to personally interview the agents first before making the referral. I don’t care what company the agent works for – I just want to know that my client gets THE best agent I can find.

I just referred a client last week to an agent in Big Bear – this client had tried to find an agent on her own and was NOT happy with her selection. So my client contacted me and I called around until I found someone I felt comfortable with. And my client absolutely ADORED the agent I found for her - thanks, Maureen at RE/MAX Big Bear! The client is elated because she got a great agent who found her a dynamite deal on a bank foreclosure, Maureen is happy because she got a great client, and I am thrilled that my loyal client is so satisfied.

This is a true win/win situation and the way every transaction should be. I hope Michael is reading this - it’s not just about the money, Michael.