Hoddinott Real Estate Consulting Real Estate Info Blog

Hello all,

I was looking through a news feed and ran across this story I had to give vent to some rather poignant emotions:

http://www.inman.com/news/2008/08/7/brokers-property-id-agree-39-million-settlement

It is sad.   As a real estate broker, one of the first things I was often told when I first got into the business as a salesperson, is that in general, real estate agents have a bad reputation.  Is it any wonder why?  When you read of how several of the large brokerages are looking out for their own best interest and not our clients, no wonder they think ill of us.  I know that when I first started in the business of real estate I was told by my broker that I had to use a certain Natural Hazards Disclosure (NHD) provider.   I found out later on when I got my license why, as I was offered a fee of $25 for "printing" out the report for every report I ordered through the NHD company that presented it to me (not Property ID).  My conscience told me "no."  I just didn't think it right or ethical to be pushing my clients business in any direction unless it was because I knew they the company I referred was the best I had found.  Now I am really happy I listened.  Had I compromised my integrity, I would have to live with it.  Folks we have all got to do the same.  Listen to our consciences.  If there is anything other than our clients best interests at heart, it is probably the wrong answer.  What is so bad about this story is that the practice is so common that even in my small brokerage of three people, me and my two assistants, I have had it offered to me by a smaller NDH company.  It really disgusts me that the people that end up holding the bag for things like this, are the same ones we ask to refer us time and again.  Make no mistake I run my business almost exclusively by referrals, but I earn them as many of my fellow agents and brokers do.  This sort of under the table backdoor dealing should never be tolerated.   Not that I would ever lump everyone in the boat and say that most do this, but it only takes a few bad apples to ruin the whole barrel, or at least the whole barrel's reputation.  Let me know what you think.

Please remember that my business is built almost entirely on referrals.  So, please let your friends, family and neighbors know that you have a friend in the real estate business.

It takes a full-time commitment - anything less and you'd be short changed.

Thanks again, your real estate consultant for life,

Nicholas S. Hoddinott

(530) 419-5054 Office
(916) 376-9328 Office
(800) 959-2549 Toll Free
(800) 959-2578 Fax

<Nick@BigNickSells.com>
http://www.NorCalHomeFinder.com

Hello all,

It has been a while since I posted.  Business is going great.  But I have been seeing a trend that I believe is a direct result of so many agents not having enough business to rely on real estate full-time as their only source of income.  The result is that the agent will often have a full-time job that they work 9-5 and then they practice real estate on top of it.  In the past 3 months I have closed deals where the agents on the other side were a bookkeeper, a nanny, and one who worked for the state.  The problem is that in each of these cases, and all of the others I have found in my real estate career,  the agents intentions are inherently divided.  In every case that i have worked across the table from an agent with another job, I have found that I almost always end up looking out for their clients more than they do.  It takes a full-time commitment - anything less and you'd be short changed.  A full-time agent is able to "work the market" for you, keeping up-to-date with new listings and conditions as they impact the market.  Besides even if they are giving you an honest effort it most likely could mean that their employer is the one getting short changed.  I don't know, but I have always said that if a person is willing to short change someone else in my behalf, it should come as no surprise that they would be willing to short change me for someone else, especially when that someone is them.  So folks please look at this for what it is - a warning.  More than that though, do you really want someone helping you make decisions in any market place when they can't even make those decisions for themselves in such a way that makes them successful?  Can they guarantee your success?  I doubt it.  Any way those are my thoughts.  What are yours?

Thanks again, your real estate consultant for life,

Nicholas S. Hoddinott

(916) 376-9328 Office

(530) 419-5054 office

(800) 959-2549 Toll Free
(800) 959-2578 Fax

Nick@BigNickSells.com
http://www.NorCalHomeFinder.com