Not all Real Estate Agents are Realtors!

I had a call this morning from a very distressed Wilson County  home seller.  She’s said she needed a new Realtor, the one she has doesn’t seem interested in her home and has been avoiding her!

Protect the investment!

I wasn’t sure what to make of this.  I listened for a while and told her I would look up her property and see if we could improve on the marketing being done by her present Realtor.

After getting off the phone I went to the Nashville are MLS and put in the property address.

“No Listing”, came back.  Next I did a thorough property search on her address and all that turned up was the previous listing when she had bought the property in 2006.  No other listing had taken place, no “Withdrawns” or “Expireds” were to be found either?

Now I was really interested.  I looked up the agent in our MLS roster, “No Listing”.

Bingo. The home seller had been hoodwinked.  Thinking she was signing up with a Realtor, she had instead signed a long term contract for exclusive marketing of her home for months with someone who had no access to the MLS Listing service, no website and apparently, no other listings!

The entire marketing effort for the past 90 days was simply a crude sign at the end of her street with a pointer, and a sign in her front yard.

Non- Realtor agents do exist. They just have to pass the Tennessee Real Estate Commissions test and just like that they are legal to assist in the buying and selling of property. However; there are many limitations , mainly to the people they work with.

Such  as:

1. Only Realtors can list your home on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Here in Nashville we have the Middle Tennessee Multiple Listing Service or MTRMLS.  That is reserved for Realtors in good standing.

2. Only Realtors have a Code of Ethics.  While the state of Tennessee maintains a set of codes for Real Estate Agents and Brokers, the Realtor Code is much more stringent and demands obeyance.

3. Only Realtors have access to the Sentri-Lock system. This is the most effective and safe way to co-ordinate the showings of your home. Only Realtors have access to them and each access is electronically recorded and Time Stamped.

4.  Only Realtors have the right to use that word Realtor.  It is trade marked.  If you are approached by someone to list your home or help you find a home, make sure they are a Licensed Realtor. Ask them for their National Assoc. of Realtors ID #.  Then call your local Chapter ( Greater Nashville Assoc. of Realtors, GNAR )and verify their standing.

If my caller today had known to do this, she might have already sold her home and be in that new home she is dreaming about by now.

I’m going to call her back now and ask her to bring over her contract to see if there is anything we can do to help her.  If her agent mis-repesented himself, she might be able to withdraw from the contract, but she has still missed valuable time on the market.

How did this happen?  On one hand we Nashville area Realtors need to make more information known about the advantages we offer. On the other hand Nashville area home buyers and Nashville area home sellers need to be more demanding when they interview agents.  Your home may be the largest investment you own,  don’t trust it to anyone but a professional.