Many state and local real estate professional groups have codes of ethics that they ask their members to uphold. While I definitely practice ethical conduct in all areas of my business, there are ten specific promises that I make to you as my client.
- I promise to tell you the truth about your property. I will give you my honest assessment of what your home is worth. I won’t mislead you about its value in order to get your listing or make you feel good.
- I promise to disclose all my relationships in the transaction. If I am representing both the buyer and the seller in our transaction, I am obligated to tell you. However, there are other kinds of relationships that may influence our business together, so if you’re thinking of buying my brother-in-law’s house, I’ll tell you that too.
- I promise not to put my commission ahead of what’s best for you. Of course I earn more money if you buy a $300,000 house instead of a $200,000 house. But if the $200,000 house is clearly best for you, I will respect your choice and work hard to complete the deal successfully.
- I promise to respect your confidences. During the course of our working together, you may share personal, financial, and other confidential information with me. I will not disclose this information to anyone, nor will I use it to gain any kind of advantage in a transaction.
- I promise to show you all the available properties in your price range. Some Realtors may try to steer you toward their own or their company’s listings. I’ll show you any property that meets your needs, regardless of who has the listing.
- I promise to give you good advice. I deal with lenders, home inspectors, appraisers and countless other professionals on a regular basis. I can give you solid recommendations about these matters, if you need them, and if I think you might be making a bad choice, I’ll tell you.
- I promise not to push you into a bidding war. Real estate is a competitive business and there are offers and counter-offers that go on during any business deal. However, I will not encourage you to go beyond your maximum budget to buy a property. I won’t tell you that other people are interested in the property or about to make offers in order to get you to make a higher offer.
- I promise that you will understand what you’re signing. Any real estate deal involves a mountain of paperwork. You’ll be asked to sign all kinds of documents and I will explain them all and make sure you are comfortable every step of the way. I won’t get you into a time crunch so that you feel you don’t have time to read through the paperwork.
- I promise to tell you the truth about myself. I’ll provide you with information about my background, my training, and my experience as a Realtor. I won’t make any false claims. I’ll discuss my commissions and any other compensation I might receive as a result of our transaction.
- I promise to follow through and follow up. I don’t list and leave. I’ll discuss with you exactly how I work and what you can expect. I’ll communicate regularly and you’ll know everything that’s going on as soon as I know it. Even after we close the deal I’ll keep in touch, to be sure you’re still happy with the way things turned out.
Very impressed by this document. It describes exactly the manner in which my husband and I work. We would love to use this, but there is a typo in #9. I’ll discussion my commissions?? Do you think that you could fix this and reissue the document?
Thanks Kathy, I did just make the update. Just goes to show you that errors can sneak in no matter how many times you review it…Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention…
Realtor’s Promises To Clients – 10 Commitments to Make
Fantastic, Can I use this information on my website and in my Listing, and Marketing ?
Warm Regards,
Sumii Jhingon
510-909-5652
Sumii, of course you can use it:) however remember not to just copy – take a look at an article I posted on How to Share, Use and Enjoy Others Content.