Daniel Rothamel, Inman Community Manager

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I'm sure that the brokerages that topped each list are going to eat this one up. At the end of the day, however, I doubt this means a whole lot for consumers. We're not talking about refrigerators or cars here. 3200 people were surveyed, which means that there were close to 3200 agents used, each of them individual and different from the next, even within the same brokerage. The customer experience at a particular brokerage can vary wildly within a state or even metro area. This is especially true when you have independently owned and operated branches within a brokerage. My guess is that, in the end, the brokerages will use this as a means of recruiting agents. http://www.RealEstateZebra.com

The issue as I see it is that both sides view the consumer-agent relationship as all or nothing. Agents and brokers had greater control in the past, and consumers felt they had none (not true). Now, consumers have greater control, and agents/brokers feel they have none (also, not true). No interpersonal relationship is one way, unless one of the persons is unconscious (and I could even argue that such a relationship is still two-way). Now, relationships might have terms or aspects that one of the parties doesn't particularly like, but that doesn't mean that they are completely one-way. I, just like any agent on this site, have spent time with folks who ended up not buying, or who misrepresented their intentions, only to leave me hung out to dry later. So what? Look, there are bad people out there. Liars, cheats, rude people, the list goes on. . . That doesn't mean that the consumer base as a whole is out there to cheat, or take advantage of, professionals; or that they want a one-way relationship all the time. We all do it. I went to no less than three doctors and three surgeons in three different hospitals before I made a health care decision. I have changed accountants before, and I have changed attorneys before, too. Remember, as brokers and agents, we've got options, too. Raise your hand if you have ever shown the same property to more than one of your clients. Why didn't you just work exclusively with one of them, and not the other? Why didn't you refuse to show that home to the second client who called and just say, "I'm sorry, I can't show that house to you, I am working with another client." In fact, in the Buyer-Broker agreement here in Virginia, it specifically states that the broker is permitted to work with multiple buyers. The buyer, however, cannot work with multiple brokers. That seems pretty one-way to me. Look, it's never as bad as we feel it is. And as much as we feel we are getting screwed by consumers, there is a list just as long (if not longer) that works in the other direction. As others have mentioned, the trick is to adapt to the current consumer environment, and to take advantage of the opportunities it provides. Relationships are complex, and establishing and maintaining them isn't always easy, especially in our profession. As long as our goal remains to serve our clients and customers to the best of our abilities, the other stuff will take care of itself. Nothing we are going to do will make every consumer an honest one. We will never be able to weed out all the bad apples. The trick is to figure out the best way to pick the good ones. http://www.RealEstateZebra.com

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. We are always trying to provide different and valuable articles to our readership. When there are things that can be improved, it is good to know that our membership is there to let us know. http://www.RealEstateZebra.com