Building on each other
It’s hard to believe this series has 63 and counting entries. There’s a great deal of overlap, and I’m sure there are some topics I’ve covered more deeply than others. Despite trying to keep it straight forward and simple, I think its impossible to talk about one term in real estate without crossing paths with others. You will see lots of links in this entry to those post.
There is a lot of information within these pages and videos, so if you are new to the series, I hope you will dive into some of the older topics in previous entries. I try to make the content evergreen so it should still be relevant to todays market trends.
OLD CAR
Building on last weeks entry, I have specific responsibilities as an agent. When I was getting my license, one of the Mnemonics we used to help remember our list of responsibilities was OLDCAR. If you aren’t sure what a mnemonic aid is, it’s when we take the first letter of several words and create a new word to help us remember them.
Obedience
As your agent, I am responsible for carrying out your reasonable request. If you ask me to contact the other agent for information, my duty to you is to do so. You can’t ask me to break the law or go around license and legal agreements but if your request is reasonable and lawful, my obligation to you is to carry it out.
Loyalty
In an earlier post, I did a multiple part series on Working with a real estate. In that entry I talk more on this subject. I am responsible as your agent to work on your behalf. It’s not my job to assist, guide and direct the other side. This gets tricky if I am working with a FSBO and they don’t have the knowledge or skills to keep a deal moving forward. This has a lot to do with my fiduciary responsibilities.
Disclosure
If I know information that would benefit my client I should let them know. My job as your agent is to make sure I am guiding you to make the right decisions. The key is YOU make the decisions. Ultimately you can’t do that if you aren’t equipped with all the available information. A great example of this is if the other agent tells me “They are moving to the area for a new job and he has to be find a place to live in 60 days”. Thats really good information for my sellers to know (and a really good reason for a buyer to not talk directly to the other agent….you give too much away). If a seller knows the buyer has to move and loves the house, then they are armed with information when a lower offer comes in to decline and get more money.
Confidentiality
Like an attorney with client privilege or a doctor with patient confidentiality, as your agent I can’t give away any information that you wouldn’t want the other side to have. Why you are moving, how much money you make, or how many members are moving with you is none of the others side business and I owe you complete confidentiality. If you tell me your family is going through a divorce and one seller is moving back to the west coast with family, that information could really help the buyers in negotiations.
I can’t hide information that is a material fact and with license law there is some information I have to disclose some information regardless of my clients wishes (ex a trash dump is being considered next door) but as my client you should rest easy knowing that if you tell me something I can’t release that information to the other side.
Accounting
When making an offer there could be due diligence and earnest money involved. Later in the deal there will also be a closing disclosure with an accounting of all the funds that are trading hands. One of my responsibilities is a proper accounting of all these funds. In real estate school we had to create the closing disclosure, but in real life those are created by the attorneys involved. My job is not to create the closing disclosures, but to make sure they are done correctly and insure that my clients understand them.
Reasonable Care and Diligence
As a licensed agent I am expected to use my skill and knowledge to assist you. There are some things I am expected to know in order to carry out my job. This is not a personal level of skill but a standard by which all agents should have. Anyone with a real estate license should hold the same basic skills and knowledge to carry out their job. I’m expected to be competent and if there is information I should know, I should know it.
A big part of this is the fact that a real estate agent should only advise on topics of real estate. We are not tax professionals or legal counsel. I can’t advise you on legal matters or tell you the best way to handle the capital gains you are receiving on your home.
More coming soon
I recently worked on a single entry on the real estate bubble. From time to time I get asked questions that I try to incorporate into my blogs and video. Thats just one way I try to bring value to my clients and community. If there’s ever a topic you feel like you need clarification on, or that I need to cover please ask. My heart of a teacher loves the opportunity to provide that info.
If you like these videos I hope you will pass them along to your own sphere of influence who needs an agent. You can like, subscribe and share….each time you do that it helps me and others. Until next time……
Welcome Home
Chris Whitehurst
Rose and Womble Real Estate
252 312 2263