Columnist addresses complaint from Realtor
Q: As a real estate broker for many years, I often find the tone of your articles to be anti-Realtor. I realize there are bad agents out there, just as there are bad home inspectors, and you have written about both. But I think you could tone down the us-versus-them approach regarding real estate professionals. How about it?
A: Let me begin by praising the numerous first-class real estate agents with whom I am personally acquainted. There are many outstanding Realtors who bring credit and good repute to the real estate profession: hard working agents who truly represent the best interests of their clients; who conduct their work with the highest ethical standards; who truly earn every dollar of their sales commissions.
The intent of this column has never been "us-versus-them"; nor has it been to paint real estate professionals with a broad brush: neither positive nor negative. As you say, there are good and bad agents out there, just as there are good and bad home inspectors; just as there are good and bad members of every profession.
The content of this column is largely dictated by questions and comments from readers, and many of these involve grievances against Realtors and home inspectors. If human nature tended toward praise rather than complaint, I would probably hear from more people who were satisfied with the top-notch agents and inspectors who have served them. Instead, I receive consumer complaints involving very real problems. The purpose of this column is to address those issues from an unbiased perspective: to educate buyers, sellers, agents, and others about the pitfalls of real estate disclosure and the best ways to deal with property defects.
During real estate boom cycles, when the market is thriving, many novices enter the real estate and home inspection professions. As a result, there is an upsurge in the numbers of inexperienced people in both professions. Novice home inspectors then obtain referrals from misguided or inexperienced real estate agents. The result is that unsuspecting homebuyers make purchase decisions on the basis of errant and incomplete home inspection reports.
Novice agents who recommend these inspectors may be unaware of the vast quality differences among home inspectors. At the same time, there are experienced agents who should know better, but who fail to exercise ethical discretion when referring home inspectors to their clients.
So, what is the solution?
Brokers and Realtor associations can provide agents with clearer direction regarding disclosure, and this emphasis should be two-fold. First is the matter of ethics. Buyers should be fully informed of property defects because total disclosure is the only honest way to do business. It is the way everyone wants to be treated. Second is the matter of legal liability. Faulty disclosure exposes agents and sellers to potential lawsuits. Whether for ethical reasons or to limit legal liability, disclosure of property defects is good for everyone.
Agents should become familiar with the best home inspectors in their areas of business and should only recommend those inspectors. The best agents make this a standard practice throughout their careers. When other agents follow that example, consumer complaints will cease to fill my inbox, and articles that offend agents will become rare.
• Distributed by Action Coast Publishing. Questions to Barry Stone can be emailed to barry@housedetective.com.