Hi everybody, Cheryl Knowlton coming at you with today’s Dynamite Tip of the Day. Today’s Dynamite Tip of the Day comes to you straight from the code of ethics, standard of practice 1-15 to be exact. So, I want you to take a look at that, and I will put an attachment to the code of ethics, particularly standard of practice 1-15 to this video so that you can have a link to that, and look at every single word.
Code of Ethics Standard of Practice 1-15
The thing that I want to make sure that you know about this particular standard of practice 1-15 is this, who is in charge of whether or not multiple offers, the existence of multiple offers, is disclosed? Drum roll. Yes, if you said the seller, you are exactly right. The seller is in charge of that process. And as we think through that, and we think why might the seller not want multiple offers to be disclosed, there are a few reasons. Typically the best offer is the one that comes in first. Statistically that has been proven, and that is something to keep in mind.
Sometimes people are very risk averse. If you’ve got a buyer who does not want to get involved in a bidding war, or multiple offer situation, got to be very, very careful that if the seller does not want that disclosed, that we not disclose it. Another thing to note about 1-15, the seller is in charge, but it specifically says there if we are asked so, take a look at that and do not offer or volunteer the information to the buyer’s agent or a buyer, unless they ask you first.
Who is in charge of the process?
So, very important, two things to note. Number one, who’s in charge of that process, the existence of multiple offers and whether or not it’s disclosed? The seller is in charge of whether or not that is disclosed. Second of all, don’t volunteer the information. It seems like every single time I teach this concept, without fail an agent will raise their hand and they will hold up their phone, and they’ll say, “Look at that, it’s as if on cue.” And they will have a text from the other agent that says just in case you were wondering, there are multiple offers on this property. Almost without fail.
I would laugh, except that it makes me really sad inside to know that the level of professionalism is not nearly as high as it should be. I almost said something else that would have been a little more negative. We need to do our part individual, the buck stops here, to raise the bar of professionalism. And that starts with knowing the code of ethics better than we know it, so that we can live it. We can’t live it if we don’t know it.
Take some time, study it even better. I’ll put a link specifically to 1-15 in this post, as well as a link to the code of ethics. Use it in your listing presentations, use it in your buyer presentations. Make sure you know it, don’t treat it as a biannual thing that you have to suffer through. Actually live it, know it, and be proud of it. And that is my Dynamite Tip of the Day.
https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/policies/2012/code-of-ethics-article-1-2012-08-31.pdf
• Standard of Practice 1-15
REALTORS® in response to inquiries from buyers or cooperating brokers shall, with the sellers’
approval, disclose the existence of offers on the property. Where disclosure is authorized,
REALTORS® shall also disclose, if asked, whether offers were obtained by the listing licensee,
another licensee in the listing firm, or by a cooperating broker. (Adopted 1/03, Amended 1/09)