You’re your own man, or woman, in real estate.

You are self-employed, and an “independent contractor” by definition.  You run your business how you like, set your own hours, and effectively answer to nobody, if you don’t want to.

But now and again, situations arise that are entirely out of your control, and when something you deem “unfair” is happening, you have certain options at your disposal that you may, or may not, want to use.

Yes folks, it’s just like being in grade-school all over again.  Sometimes, you have no choice but to call another Realtor’s broker of record……….and tattle-tale…

I’d hate to admit it, but I’ve tattle-taled before.

Actually, come to think of it – I really have no shame in admitting it.  Sure, it’s not something I set out to do, but now and again, you simply have no choice.

Every brokerage has a “broker of record” who is the owner, and who also might be the manager as well.

I’d like to think that every brokerage also has a “manager,” but you know that many brokerages do not.

Many brokerages’ physical space resembles that of a movie set: they have a giant sign out front, a nice reception area, a receptionist with a headset, and then behind her is a wall that says “XYZ Real Estate.” But behind that wall, there could be 700 square feet of empty space.

Every brokerage is different, and there is no requirement that a brokerage have a manager, let alone physical space.

Some brokerages – the “new age” ones that I don’t think will stick around (but that’s a topic for another day…), will actually hire agents and encourage them to work from home, never come into the office, and expect nothing of the physical brokerage itself.  These brokerages don’t have anything close to a “manager,” and if you have a problem with an agent, it’s often difficult to find an ear to bend.

“Problems?” You’re wondering.  “What problems?”

What was I talking about in the intro when I referred to “tattle-tales?”

Well, it’s what you might expect, to be honest; it’s going over another Realtor’s head and calling their manager or broker of record.

It’s usually only done when it’s the absolute last resort, and it certainly doesn’t win you any friends, but sometimes you have no choice.

Let me give you an example.

A colleague of mine recently got a new client, who said that he had seen a property with a listing agent, but didn’t like the listing agent, and actually found him to be “shady.”  He met the listing agent at an open house, and exchanged two emails with him, but in the end, decided he didn’t want to work with the listing agent, and thus he sought my colleague’s assistance.

After looking at a couple of neighbouring properties, the buyer decided to make an offer on that first property where he met the listing agent.  He used my colleague’s services to do so.

Once the listing agent saw the name on the offer, he freaked out.

He threatened my colleague, saying that he would “Tell everybody in the business how terrible an agent she was,” and that she “steals” clients.

There was really no truth to this, of course.  The listing agent was just blowing off steam, and it’s not that uncommon.

But what is uncommon, unfortunately, is refusing to present the offer out of spite!

That’s right – the listing agent told my colleague, “I’m never going to sell this property to you and your stupid buyer.”  Throw in a few expletives there, and you’ll get the rest of the story.

As you might assume, he wasn’t exactly within his right to suggest such a thing, but it might not be for the ethical reasons you’ve got in your head.

It’s because, at the very basic level, the client and the listing do not belong to that agent; they belong to the brokerage.

Here’s a screenshot of the top of the first page of the Listing Agreement:

Note that the listing agreement is between the BROKERAGE, in this case, Bosley Real Estate, and the Seller(s).

The listing does not belong to “John Smith” the Realtor, and thus theoretically, the brokerage can be expected to handle the listing.

Follow the logic?

My colleague, who was told by the spiteful, vindictive listing agent, that her offer would never be put in front of the sellers’ eyes, could turn around and call the manager of that brokerage, or the broker of record, and effectively “tattle-tale” on the listing agent, and get her offer presented.

That’s exactly what I would do.

I would hope it would never come to that, but to be honest, if I knew that a listing agent was going to take my offer and throw it in the garbage, without presenting it, for whatever reason, I would kindly ask the broker of record to present the offer.

You can handle it any number of ways.

I would probably try to keep things professional, and simply email the broker of record something like this:

Hi John,
Please find attached – my clients’ offer for 123 Fake Street, Unit #215.
The offer is irrevocable until tonight at 11:59pm.
Can you please ensure that XYZ Realty’s seller-client has a look at this offer?
I have copied the listing agent on this email.
David.

That gets the point across, and it’s not vindictive.

There’s no need to email the broker or manager and say, “Do you know that your piece-of-crap agent is refusing to present my offer?  Do you know that this is illegal?  Are you going to stand for this?”

A simple email like the one I wrote above gets all that across, without mentioning any of it.

A broker of record doesn’t have the time, or interest, in dealing with menial stuff like this.  The broker will probably email the listing agent and say, “What the hell is this about?  What are you doing?”

Sure, the listing agent will probably lie and/or exaggerate, and say, “This jerk stole my client, and I’m trying to teach her a lesson,” but in the end, no agent wants to be told what to do by his or her broker or manager, and that agent will probably change course to make things right.

Like I said – the listing belongs to the brokerage, not the listing agent.  So a buyer-agent is fully within his or her right to email the broker or manager and ask for the offer to be presented.

Things like this happen more often than you’d think.

What happens when a sloppy Realtor goes on vacation, and is too cheap/lazy/stupid to have a colleague look after his or her business?  What happens when you want to make an offer on that Realtor’s listing, and you get her voicemail saying she’ll be back in ten days?  Do you wait ten days?

No.  You don’t.

You email the broker of record or manager, and ask for your offer to be presented.

That isn’t tattle-tailing.  It’s being efficient.

As I write this – on Sunday night at 10pm, I’m about nine hours from letting loose a tattle-tale of my own.

I simply have no choice at this point.

I have a client looking to rent a property, and time is of the essence.

I submitted an offer on Thursday morning on behalf of this client, and it took until Friday for the listing agent – one of these “part time” guys, working for a no-name brokerage, to even get back to me.

He said that he would discuss it with the sellers, and that was around 11am on Friday.

I left him a polite voicemail on Friday night, then Saturday morning, and then Sunday morning, as well as one text message, but it’s radio silence.

The reason for his lack of response could be anything:

1) He’s taking the weekend off.
2) He’s incredibly terrible at his job, and has no business working in this industry.
3) He hates me and my clients, and wishes we would all die terrible, terrible deaths.

None of these three reasons, or any others, would be reason to not respond to a live offer.

A true “professional” would respond to an offer within an hour, but more than likely within 5-10 minutes of receiving the email, phone call, or page from the office.  Even if it’s just to say, “I received the offer and I’m meeting my clients tonight.”

But when an agent is silent for 72 hours, you simply have to escalate things to the next level.

Regardless of the reason – and believe me when I say that “taking the weekend off” is NOT an excuse, nor should it be permitted in today’s industry where clients pay top dollar so we can hold ourselves to higher standards – you simply cannot allow 72 hours to pass with no response to an offer, and action must be taken.

All I’m looking for is a phone call, email, or text message, to say, “We’ll take it,” “We’ve rejected it,” or “We’ll work with it.”

I’d be doing my clients a disservice if I let this slide, so on Monday morning, I’ll kindly ask the listing agent’s broker or manager to contact the seller/landlord on my behalf, and see to it that my offer is acknowledged.

Yes, it’s like grade-school all over again.

I am officially a tattle-tale…