Another Argument for Change in Commission Structure

Still away and back on Monday but here’s a post that ran March 5th of this year that stirred things up a bit.

Respected blogger and real estate agent Noah Rosenblatt tells the story of his experience recently with one of the unethical agents in our industry on his award winning blog Urban Digs.

Surprise, surprise!  An unethical agent in our profession. Noah and I have discussed this on numerous occasions and  we’re on the same page as far as exposing this type of stuff.  He doesn’t name the agent or "her" company because it becomes a legal issue and opens us up for possible liability if we do so.

• Perhaps this agent is savvy and knowingly delayed, lied, and manipulated the situation to benefit her.
• Perhaps, she followed directions of her seller thus lying, delaying, and manipulating on the seller’s behalf.
• Perhaps she’s just an absolute moron…oh…no "perhaps" here.

The unfortunate part is that we will never know her motivation and can only speculate. That said, there is no question that she mishandled this process and was incredibly deceptive. I would also guess that she was protecting what likely was a direct deal that yielded her double the commission.  All the more reason for restructuring the way we do business in Manhattan.

Once again I am proposing that ALL direct deals should be abolished and the Department of State should require each party (buyer and seller) to have separate representation with each agent receiving half of the commission.  Way too much gray area and room for temptation as it is currently structured.  It also breeds horrible mistrust within the industry.  NO MORE DIRECT DEALS!  BTW, 95% of my business is representing sellers and I feel very strongly that a buyer should have their own representation in a transaction.  It would create more trust in the industry and fewer stories like this one.