Open House Dilemma

By 8 commentsLegal Resources

This past Sunday, we had an unfortunate incident with an agent sitting an open house for a top producer. A neighbor came in and wanted a CMA done. The agent sitting the open house was excited…the listing agent was irate. She does not want to give up any listing opportunity in her “farm” but did not discuss this with the agent sitting her open house. I have prepared a form “Commission/Referral Agreement Between EWM Agents When Sitting an Open House of Another Agent.” I will e-mail it to you if you choose to use it.

8 comments on “Open House Dilemma”

  1. Beth Reply

    hmmm – seems to me this could and should have been contemplated BEFORE the open house. Send me the form its a great idea.

  3. 0568732F Reply

    Just had a similiar situation with an agent handeling another’s calls while she was on vacation. A call came in, the “sitting” agent ended up showing and selling the listing agents home. Not only did the listing agent want the entire volume to her but wanted to give the “sitting” agent only a referral. No prearrangmnets had been make for a situation like this.

    Some of the agents want their cake and eat it too.
    Debbie

  4. 0041477 Reply

    It’s amazing, let me see — hold my open house and — if you get business, it’s mine!! Greed is a wonderful thing. I’ll look at the form, but I do agree, discuss this prior to open house or covering for an agent. Great heads up! JoAnn

  5. Maggie Dokic Reply

    Wow. I agree that pre-arrangements were in order but c’mon…expecting someone to sit at your Open House so you don’t have to and they can’t have whatever business walks through the door? Sounds greedy to me.
    Maggie

  6. 0571286 Reply

    Good idea. Too bad it had to come about the way it did. Nice job on the solution! Maggie

  8. Vicki Restivo Reply

    We choose a partner, spouse or friend…carefully… or one would hope! Why would we choose a fellow agent to do business with (offering to hold open houses for them, or giving them our listings to hold open for us) unless we admired and respected them, and thought of them as competent and capable? If and when we delegate open house responsibilities to another, we risk a great deal. Our ‘substitute’ may loose us a sale, might loose us a lead, could loose us a customer… On the other hand, that substitute could possibly gain us a sale!

    Why do I do open houses? To sell my listings and to get leads. IF I want someone to work for me, I can pay them directly (for something like computer or tech work)… or I can give them the chance to drum up some business for themselves, by holding an open house for me … for free… and in exchange they just might get something in return: a lead or a sale!

    The person sitting in for me in my open house may stumble across, or actually through effort and diligence on their part, drum up some business for themselves. Should they happen to do that while holding an open house for me and my seller, that lead belongs to them (notto me!)… I don’t have a claim to their leads just because my name is out front.

    There are risks as well as potential benefits when we delegate our OWN open houses to someone else. I have to ask why anyone would want somebody else to hold an open house for them, unless that someone else was particularly well spoken, charming, brilliant, and shared a similar work ethic, and was fully capable of procuring a sale that day for that house.

    Any business generated by someone else is theirs… regardless of whether they drum it up at a fancy cocktail reception, or while waiting at a gas pump before a hurricane… or while holding an open house for me.

    My name and phone number on the yard sign are blatantly evident, and neighbors or passers-by wanting a CMA (or anything more!) can contact the name on that sign (if they so choose) or contact anyone else for that matter…. including an agent sitting on that open house.

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