Face it: The REALTOR® Code of Ethics isn’t exactly light reading. Weighing in at over 7,000 words, just reading the Code of Ethics is a chore many REALTORS® dread.

VAR’s Code is Good Business campaign makes it easier to understand NAR’s Code of Ethics and demonstrates how adhering to the Code helps REALTORS® earn the trust of their colleagues and clients. Not to mention make more money.

Recently, we’ve added a new feature to TheCodeIsGoodBusiness.com: all 17 articles of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics are now in easy to read layman’s language. We call it StraightTalk. If you need a refresher on the Code, or if you’ve ever felt confused by it, have a look. We’re doing our part to make the REALTOR® Code of Ethics accessible and easily understood.

Other features available at TheCodeIsGoodBusiness.com include:

• Audio clips featuring perspectives of other REALTORS® on the tangible rewards of upholding the highest ethical standards.
• The interactive, addictive, hilarious, but eminently slimy real estate trainer, Ted Truitt.
• Interactive ethics case studies.

One of the most controversial Standards of Practice to come from NAR in long time, would have to be the new Standard of Practice 12-12, which became effective January 1, 2008.  Just to refresh your memory, Article 12 is known as the “truth in advertising” article.  We have come a long way from the published newspaper ad.  Years ago, that was pretty much all that was available to REALTORS to spread the word about their new listing.  Now, advertising can be instantaneous thanks to the internet.  In addition to company web-sites, many agents have their own personal website.  Some of the URLs and domain names used can be either dull or attention getters, and sometimes down right misleading.  The new Standard of Practice 12-12 states:  REALTORS shall not:  (1) use URLs or domain names that present less than a true picture, or (2) register URLs or domain names which, if used, would present less than a true picture. 

The new NAR Case Interpretation 12-20 address this new Standard of Practice.  So, here it is–you be the judge–REALTOR A, a residential broker in a major metropolitan city, spent several weeks each year in his cabin in the north woods where he planned to retire one day.  Even while at home in the city, REALTOR A stayed abreast of local news, events, and especially the local real estate market by subscribing to the print and on-line editions of the local newspaper.  He also bookmarked a number of north woods brokers’ websites to stay current with the market and to watch for potential investment opportunities.

One evening while surfing the internet, REALTOR A came across a URL he was unfamiliar with–northwoodsandlakesmls.com.  REALTOR A was pleased to see the MLS serving the area where he vacationed for so many years had created a website accessible to the public.  Clicking on the link, he was surprised to find that the website connected with REALTOR Z’s company website, not an MLS website.  Having had prior dealings with REALTOR Z, REALTOR A spent time carefully scrutinizing the site.  He noted, among other things, that the name of REALTOR Z’s firm did not include the letters MLS.  REALTOR A sent a letter to the association’s EO asking whether REALTOR Z had been authorized to use the name northwoodsandlakesmls.com and whether it presented a true picture as required by Article 12 of the Code of Ethics.  REALTOR Z filed a complaint alleging that when he clicked on what appeared to be a real estate-related URL that included the letteres “MLS” he expected to be connected with a website operated with a multile listing service.  He stated he felt that REALTOR Z’s URL was deceptive and did not meet the true picture test.

At the hearing, REALTOR Z defended his URL on a number of grounds including the fact that he was a participant in good standing in the MLS and he was authroized to display other participants’ listings  on his website under MLS rules.  “If I used `MLS’ in the name of my firm, I could see how that might be perceived as something less than a true picture,” he argued, “but by simply  using MLS in my URL I am telling consumers that they can get MLS-provided information about properties in the north woods from me.  What could be truer than that?”

How do you think the hearing panel ruled?  Do you think REALTOR Z  was found in violation of Article 12?  What do you think of the new Standard of Practice?   

The trouble with air guitar is that no matter how well you can fake it, you’re still only faking it.

People do peculiar things at the gym. Well, at my gym, anyway.

There’s the matron who moans erotically through her half-hour of stretching each morning. The gym-rat who drips sweat on each weight bench he uses, like a Doberman marking his territory. The paunchy, world-weary types who park themselves on the very weight machine I need and commence to doze between sets. And the chatters, voluble (or perhaps hard-of-hearing) sorts who feel inclined to carry-on indelicate conversations with their buddies clear across the weight room: “Mornin’, Roy. How’s that prostate doin’?”

Which is to say, I’ve seen it all – or rather, I thought I had…until the musician.

I discovered him one morning, hovering near the leg press, eyes half-closed, mouth set in customary overbite, and swaying euphorically to the wicked sounds of his…air guitar.

I did a double-take.

“Dude,” I thought, “You’re at least 40 years old and 40 pounds overweight, and you’re standing in the middle of a crowded YMCA, playing air guitar like you’re the coolest thing this side of the lap pool. Stop it before you embarrass yourself!”

But it was too late, of course.

No doubt he was aiming for casual nonchalance, as if a grown man playing air guitar in a weight room was somehow cool, commonplace, normal. And had he been 15, I might have given him a pass. As it was though, it was unsettling, pitiful even. Here was the ridiculously self-conscious attempting to look unself-conscious and failing spectacularly.
“I don’t care if you have Guitar Hero™ at home, and you’re perfecting your technique,” I wanted to say. “I don’t care if your first cousin was Leonard Skynard. There is no band at the Y. There’s no tour bus, no albums, no agents, no groupies. There’s not even a guitar, for Pete’s sake, and the last thing people want to see this early in the morning is a bare-legged Boss Hogg jamming to the sound of…silence.”

But I didn’t say that. Because the thing is…he was OK at it. I mean, as OK as one can be, if you can get past his age and physical condition and the venue and complete, embarrassing inappropriateness of it all. I could practically hear the opening riff of Sweet Home Alabama in my head.

And that’s when it occurred to me: The real trouble with air guitar is not that it’s juvenile or better strummed in private. It’s that no matter how well you can fake it, you’re still only, well…faking it.

These days air guitarists abound, metaphorically speaking. It’s easy to find artifice parading as art in the real estate business.

When you do only three transactions a year while you dabble in a half dozen other “businesses” on the side and still think you’re contributing to the credibility of the real estate profession: Dude, you’re playing air guitar.

When, as broker, you default on your duty to supervise and mentor your agents because, “They never listen anyway.” Dude, that’s air guitar.

When you tell clients what they want to hear rather than what they need to know: That’s air guitar.

When you prostitute your professionalism with clownish advertising gimmicks: Air guitar.

When you accept an overpriced listing just to get a listing: Definitely air guitar.

Ditto failing to reply to emails or embrace new technologies, generally considering your own interests before those of your clients, and treating real estate as a pastime rather than a profession.

What I’m talking about is pretending at professionalism rather than practicing it – the difference between hanging out at the gym and working out at the gym; between miming Santana with empty hands and making real music; and yes, between having a real estate license…and having a career.

Sadly, some folks still do peculiar things in real estate, too.

VAR’s CEO Scott Brunner is rumored to be a half-decent air-trombonist. Email him at scott@varealtor.com.

OK OK I’m going to step up to plate. (do I need a flame proof suit?)

First of all DISCLOSURE: Often I am a dual agent, I work in a niche market - horse properties & farms. I am broker/owner of a small firm Valley of Virginia Real Estate, within my firm I have no possibility of Designated Dual Agency.

When I started in Real Estate I thought seriously about being an Exclusive Buyers Representative but as I started working with buyers & showing farms I discovered many, not all, listing agents of horse properties just did not understand the horse aspects of the property. They were trying to sell the house that oh btw there is a “barn out there too, I’ve never been in it but I think you can store about 6 ponies in it & there’s a riding rink too”. Hint - horse folk usually could care less about the house -they want all the details about the horse facilities. After seeing this type of information more times than I want to count, I started listing horse properties so I could better serve the clients - both sellers & buyers. I guess you could say lack of specific knowledge on other agents part drove me to Dual Agency.

My average time from first contact with a seller or buyer client to closing is often well over a year. I build relationships with clients based on the expected Real Estate expertise & my clients very specific needs which require special knowledge of horses, land, riding styles, hay sources, local instructors, equine vets, show schedules, just to name a few. Most of my sellers require & expect me to be present for all showings - most live in fear of something happening to their horses, dogs, cats. They also know most agents just flat don’t know enough about the horse world to be effective. Buyer clients seek me out because they know I have specialized knowledge of horses & riding.

“Candy has had horses and ridden for a long time and so she was able to understand how functional the farm was. Also, horse people have their own language and she “fit right in” with whoever she showed the farm to”

I’ve had more than one client tell me that if I’d shown up in a fancy car with a dress & heels they would have shared a cup of coffee with me, thanked me for my time & said goodbye. I am one of those blue jean wearing , big loud truck driving agent! So what does all this have to do with dual agency?

On first contact with each seller or buyer I explain agency with emphasis on Single Agent Dual Agency. I let them know up front that my firm cannot offer Dual Designated Agency. I send them home with information on Agency to read. If they are not comfortable with Dual Agency as a possibility, we either make arrangements for referral, identify another agent with another firm that can represent their interests or part ways on good informed basis. This conversation is repeated throughout the process.
Do I recommend Single Agent Dual Agency for everyone? NO!!!
It takes a special REALTOR. One that is a stickler for COE & one that is willing to work hard to do it right. Agency & Agency Law must go hand & hand with the COE. Its hard work, it takes extra time, specific education (I highly recommend taking Marcie Roggow’s Class: Negotiating in Dual Agency), specific consent ( IMHO - above & beyond signing the VAR Form on Agency), specific rules during negotiations, specific education to all parties & above & before all - DISCLOSURE!

I think REALTORS have got it… “it” being the connection between current market trends and the need to set reasonable expectations.  The REALTOR seems to know that they are in for the long haul when taking a listing.  I am not sure that brokers and educators are doing a good job of equipping the REALTOR with what they need, to set the seller’s expectations.  Knowing the connection and relaying it to the consumer are two different skill sets.

My wife is a REALTOR and recently she has prepared two market analysis for indvidiuals wanting to sell for lifestyle upgrades.  It’s interesting to me that these sellers haven’t “gotten the memo”.  It’s a buyer’s market.  In the county where we live, in December there were 399 homes for sale and only seven went under contract.  In this same county these folks are asking to get substantially more for their homes than ANYTHING that has sold in the past year. 

I have recently gotten information from a Zillow.com survey that was done.  What was reported in the Real Estate Intelligence Report was of great interest to me.  Zillow reported that 77 percent of Americans do not believe that the value of their home has declined.  34 percent advised that they were going to try and sell their home….this year. 

Wow!  Someone really hasn’t been listening.  For a generation of REALTORS, we’ve been saying that it’s location, location, location; but isn’t that just if there are actually buyers looking?  I think it’s important to remind the seller that it’s price, price, price.  It doesn’t matter where you’re home is located in this current market if it’s overpriced, not compared to the appraisal the received a year ago, but in comparision to the other competition.  Let’s not forget, that even if it is priced well, the chance that a buyer is going offer full price is pretty slim in a lot of cases.

I’m sure that it’s not everywhere, but in plannig district 16 it’s a tough market.  It’s time that we frankly tell your seller just that.  Setting a reasonable level of expectation will help you and the seller sell the home.  It’s the REALTOR’s obligation to sell the home – not simply generate more listings.  I recently spoke to a listing agent complaining that her clients were calling her almost daily upset that there had been no activity on the house.  When I asked about the price point, she replied that it’s very overpriced and was when she took the listing.  She simply took it, so that she could get a sign up to generate more listings.

I have to ask… is the pain and suffering of dealing with a unreasonable seller, in a home that has no chance of selling worth the “free” marketing that you can get.  I would think a busness analysis would probably not relfect that ideology.

A marketing strategy employed by some other practitioners has been to find out who else the seller is interviewing and show the seller the “success rate” of that other agent jockeying for the listing.  If you are an agent who takes every listing, it’ll be pretty easy for these “success rate” agents to show the seller that you’ve failed in selling the listing more than you’ve succeeded. 

Whereas there may be many barriers to agents giving the sellers the hard facts about what’s going on, it’s still your ethical duty to let them know if they are off target.  It’ll save both you and them a lot of headaches in the long run.  As a buisness decision, every REALTOR should know their walk-away point.  You should be able to articulate to the seller why you can help them, and why as a professional you have to give them the tough news.

Thirty-five years ago when I entered the real estate profession, things were very different and in many ways, easier. Contracts were one page long, financing was done by and handshake at the local banks, we had the very modern Polaroid camera to take our instant photos, and, if you can imagine, no MLS. Today everything is different about the business and the advancement in technology has been incredible. For people like me who are still trying to figure out how fax machines work, it is sometimes overwhelming.

Enter the age of the digital camera and Photoshop. How wonderful! We can do our own photo editing and enhancements right at our own computer. We can create a House Beautiful magazine cover out of a handyman special with just a few mouse clicks. After all, isn’t this what we are supposed to do to help your clients sell their houses? Article 1 of the NAR Code of Ethics clearly states that we are to promote the best interests of our clients. So what if we improve the look of the their rather tired looking home? Aren’t we promoting their interest? Doesn’t the seller want a fast sale?

Let’s take a look at Article 12, which states we must present a true picture in our advertising. So, where do we draw the line? Do you think it is okay to photoshop into our listing photos a “new driveway” so the house looks better? Is it okay to “patch the grass?” Remove a mailbox and a telephone pole and stains from the driveway? Is it okay to remove the trash cans the owner forgot to put in the garage?

When have we gone beyond helping our clients and deceiving the public?

From Wikipedia: Speed dating

“is a formalized matchmaking process or dating system whose purpose is to encourage people to meet a large number of new people.

In practice folks are rotated to meet each other over a series of short ‘dates’, usually lasting from three to eight minutes depending on the organization running the event. At the end of each interval, the organizer rings a bell or clinks a glass to signal the participants to move on to the next date.”

On the day one of our first retreat, the 2007 class of Virginia REALTOR Leadership Academy speed dated. Our directions, as I recall, were to ask a real estate related question that would be a good conversation starter. I totally failed on my very first speed date.

My question was, “What would you do if NAR, VAR or your local association decided today to do away with the Code of Ethics?” Should spark lots of great conversation – right?

First Response: “I’d quit.” PERIOD - end of discussion.

WOW – great answer! That’s the REALTOR I want to work with – that’s the REALTOR I strive to be.

What’s your answer?

Related Links:
2008 Code of Ethics
The Code is Good Business
The Code in Straight Talk