I am starting a new real estate brokerage. I want to have clear and solid ethical policies in place. I have listed a start to this list below. Please let me know what you think!
-Agents will not push politics or religion on clients or other agents. Talking about these subjects is fine, but please respect that people may have different viewpoints than you.
-Agents will abide by all fair housing laws. It is not our job to tell clients where they should buy a house, what a good neighborhood is, what good schools are, where high crime is, the cultural makeup of neighborhoods or other subjective information. Every client is different and will have different viewpoints. It is better to lose a client than to sacrifice our own values. Be honest with clients and tell them what we can say and why.
-If you have issues with other agents or clients, we expect matters to be handled in a proffessional manner at all times. Yelling, cursing, bad mouthing, physical violence, intimidation, threats or other unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated.
-If a mistake is made, we expect agents to be proactive to fix things as soon as possible. This includes communicating with all affected parties ASAP. We all make mistakes, and they can be great learning experiences. However, hiding mistakes makes the situation worse and will not be accepted.
-We expect agents to go above and beyond to find solutions to problems. Our office is held to a high standard and we expect all agents to represent us with utmost proffessionlism.
-Experienced agents are expected to help and mentor inexperienced agents. The more success the entire office has, the more success we will all have.
-We highly discourage coming soon listings that are used for the listing agent to attempt to double side a deal before a house is properly marketed. This is a disservice to the client.
-We will always offer a co op commission on houses we list or advertise. If there are special circumstances where the seller cannot or will not pay a commission, it should be fully disclosed upfront. The listing agent collecting the entire commission and not paying co op agents is not acceptable.
-We do what is in the best interest of our clients and customers, not ourselves. We are more concerned with our long term reputation than short term financial gain.
-Agents will respect every agent in the office and other offices as well. We do not go after the clients or customers of other agents. If a client or customer comes to us we will take great care communicating with their agent and being transparent.