5 Comments

1. 

   elbarcosr on August 5, 2015 at 8:17 am

   The seller will feel better when the appraisal comes in right on the number…. and then feel worse when they do paint and carpet and sell it for 250k more in a month. Get good help.

2. 

   CB Mark on August 5, 2015 at 12:28 pm

   A pocket listing by any other name. No good can come to a seller without transparency. That was true when they were foreclosures and it’s true in a sale like this. The only advantage is to the buyer and/or buyer’s agent in a closed door transaction such as was proposed.

3. 

   Rob Dawg on August 5, 2015 at 2:27 pm

   I remember mentor advice back in ’06. Went something like; “You scour neighborhoods/friends for houses that haven’t been updated. We give them a fair price for current condition and arrange a purchase with someone who can fix it up. I’ll.. I me we’ll get both sides of the buy and then in 6 months we get the market listing for the improved property.” But that was then…

4. 

   Jim the Realtor on August 5, 2015 at 2:32 pm

   Yes, three ‘sides’, or commissions without getting their hands dirty – it’s a nice gig if you can get it.

   I have no problem with investors doing it – if the sellers want quick cash, there are plenty of money guys willing to buy them out in 3-5 days…..at the investor’s price.

   But if you’ve been hired as an agent to represent the seller’s best interest, then by definition you have a fiduciary duty to do what is best for the seller. That’s where the lines get blurry for most agents, and these types of sales happen every day in every town in America.

5. 

   All About Ethics on August 5, 2015 at 4:25 pm

   “Pocket Listings”
   “Legal Obligations and Potential Liability
   • Per California law, real estate licensees owe a fiduciary duty to their clients.
   – Listing agent has a “duty of utmost care, integrity, honesty and loyalty” when dealing with the seller and a duty of “honest and fair dealing and good faith with the seller” (Cal. Civ. Code § 2079.16).
   – An “obligation of undivided service and loyalty” of an agent to his or her client (Rattray v. Scudder (1946) 28 Cal.2d. 214).
   – A complete duty of the highest good faith in his or her dealing with the client and cannot use the position to his or her own advantage (Thomas v. Snyder (1930) 114 Cal. App. 397, Ward v. Taggart (1959) 51 Cal.2d 736).”

   ???
   ““Pocket Listings”
   Legal Obligations and Potential Liability
   • Could pocketing a listing violate CA law by constituting a breach of fiduciary duty?
   – Yes, if the arrangement to pocket a listing is made for the benefit of the listing agent only and is not in the seller’s best interest.
   • HaveyouexplainedtheMLSbenefitsthatwillbewaived?
   – maximizes exposure of for-sale homes to potential buyers and the participating brokers who work with them, and that if kept off the MLS, these people might not be aware that seller’s property is for sale;
   – advertising the property to a wide range of people generally helps sellers obtain the highest possible price for their home;
   – when seller’s property is in the MLSs, it is included in the MLS’s download to various real estate Internet sites that are used by the public to search for properties.”
   ?