Each agent is fully responsible to participate in, be aware of the status of and be familiar with all aspects of any transaction for which he/she expects to receive compensation. You are licensed professionals. Being a member of a state-recognized and licensed “profession” means that in your case, ignorance, carelessness, accidents etc., are not valid excuses. You are, in fact, in the same situation as a Doctor or Lawyer: you are personally responsible for your competence and knowledge of all aspects of your duties and professional activities for which you receive compensation. Your Broker is always available to provide guidance, so ask for help when needed.
Whether the cooperating agent works for this company or not, you are being paid to be responsible for a complete and correct transaction. It is your personal responsibility to know the exact status of your sale or rental transaction including all contractual deadlines, participants in the transaction and the status of the documentation. Some common (and inexcusable mistakes) agents make are:
- Failing to verify information that can be verified (such as the true amount of condo application fees, maintenance charges, rules regarding pets, rules regarding rentals etc.). It is no excuse that the owner misinformed you. You are responsible, when listing a condo property, to contact the Condo management and determine if your information is correct.
- Failing to keep track of critical deadlines. For example, the financing deadline is a critical date. Did you know that a buyer in a financed transaction could be made to proceed as if a cash transaction under FAR/BAR AS-IS (Rev 07/2023)?
- Moving a tenant into a property or distributing money to a Landlord without having all the required initials and signatures on documents, whether the other agent involved is willing to do so or not. In other words, if Buy the Beach agent “X” is the listing agent, he/she is responsible to verify that all the documents are correct and complete, even if Buy the Beach agent “Y” is the selling agent and thinks it’s OK to do the move-in.
- Failing to prepare and execute addenda required to keep a contract current (if the intentions of the parties are no longer those indicated in the contract, such as settlement date, escrow agent or other terms, then the new understandings need to be reduced to writing and signed by both parties).
- Failing to provide copies of all offers, contracts, and required records to office immediately.
- Blindly relying on the other agent in a transaction to determine procedures. If you do not know how to handle a situation you should: follow the steps outlined in Getting Help With Contracts. It is no excuse, either to me or to a DRE investigator, that “The other agent told me we could do it…etc.”
- Do not rely on clerical staff or on me to correctly know the status of your transactions. Our staff review the files as a courtesy to you in order to help you find errors you may have overlooked. As senior manager, I am always willing to review them with you. But whether a staff person found a mistake, whether a senior manager found it or not, you are responsible to read, review, check and be aware of the status of your transactions. If you see a transaction reported as “effective” when you think something is missing, it is up to you to review the file and find out the correct status.
- Never meddle with another agent’s customer: Never deal directly with another agent’s customer, whether or not the other agent asks you to. This applies to transactions both with other Buy the Beach agents as well as those with outside agencies. No good will ever come of it. If asked by someone’s customer to accept documents, help with something etc., tell them nicely: “You did not select me as your real estate agent, you chose Agent “X”, as a professional I am required to channel all my business through him/her.” if they gripe about the poor service they are getting from that agent then tell them, “Sorry, next time please let me have your business and this will not happen.”
Remember, take time to learn your trade and seek guidance when needed. All transactions are different, so it is okay to ask questions. Just make sure you are asking the right person (me) for guidance and don’t allow one of your colleagues to mistakenly misguide you (and it happens).