Deerwood Realty and Friends Podcast
Crypto Bro buys a House in Miami, alleges that he had non disclosure set up with his Agent and yet, house he buys manages to show up in the news. What’s going on here
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Thoughts:
1. Buyer says, “Hey, I don’t want anyone to know I bought this house.” Real Estate agent ethics says that is where it stops. Rule 1. Confidentiality. When I talk on my podcast about showings, I never say who I am working with…I never tag clients on social media, and I’ll even change the names of the people I am working with if I even mention anything. So, if this agent has breached this confidentiality, then makes perfect sense to put her on blast.
2. I’m not a celebrity agent. My clients tend to be in the million dollar range and lower. Luxury real estate tends to work differently. I work to sell houses and help buyers find a house they will love. I get paid when they buy or sell a house. I therefore must continue to help buyers and sellers or I don’t make it. Luxury real estate agents may only do one or two deals a year. They market themselves much differently…almost as celebrities. They also may list a home for more than a year before actually selling a home. That’s not my business
3. “At first Ms. Adams denied leaking the information, but her extensive quotes in most of the articles were difficult to deny, and she later admitted to it, but claimed the confidentiality agreement wasn’t valid.”
Based on this tweet, the agent admits to leaking the information….claiming that the confidentiality agreement wasn’t valid was ridiculous….you shouldn’t be talking about it if your client voiced that concern to you. This is an allegation, of course, but it’s all we have to go on.
4. “Her only reason for doing this was increased marketing exposure. She cared little or not at all for my families safety. She knew quite well why we requested confidentiality; she just didn’t care.”
And based on this tweet, we see the motivation. Gosh, it’s a tough line to walk when you are Listing or representing millionaires. EVERYONE loves to look at million dollar homes, and if you can market yourself as someone who deals in this world, you can thrive. The allegation of care is an interesting one and I struggle with this in my own practice. I care very much for my clients happiness. I feel terrible if something goes wrong…but different people feel different things….this agent’s proof of care might be to send a gift basket at closing…I mean it’s entirely relative.
5. “She also helpfully did a full walkthrough video of the house on her instagram after the sale closed, which showed important security features and where they are located.”
This one is kind of tough…I don’t get it. But in a way,
One of the articles says that she represented the seller. In that case, it wouldn’t be odd at all to market the property with a walkthrough on Instagram…
6. Could she have been a dual agent? If so, would she claim that everything she did in the marketing of the property was her duty under her listing agreement with the sellers? That makes things much more muddled.
7. And, if she were a dual agent, was the listing also a private or pocket listing? It would make sense for this security obsessed client to look at pocket listings, because no one would really know the house was even for sale before it closed.
You could very well have a combination of dual agency and pocket listing here which makes things very difficult on the agent. Especially one who demands privacy for his “security” issues.
8. You can see where crypto bro doesn’t understand real estate brokerages either…he calls out the company the agent works for, but the job of the brokerages is to gain “talent” they very seldom, if ever work on a deal. That’s usually reserved for the agent. The brokerage is just a brand…..Sothebys is positioned as an aspirational brand. It’s no different than mcdonalds vs burger king in that regard.
9. Judgement. If the agent did disclose info specific to the buyer, that would be a bad thing. If the agent disclosed the property features, and marketed the property as a means to market herself, she didn’t do anything wrong and that would have been quite common. Because she is representing the seller…it’s quite possible the seller WANTS the exposure to show people how wonderful their lives are and how great their house was. Where she got in trouble would have been if she was a dual agent and she was free to market the property on one side but on the buy side she had to abide by her buyer confidentiality demands.
10. My only experience with this sort of thing is when l have syndicated listings on my website. From time to time, I will get an email from someone who requests I remove the listing from my site…but I don’t own my feed. That comes straight from the Board, and so as soon as they remove it I am able to remove it from my site. People don’t understand this and they get pissed and I understand. I just direct them to their agent and usually they get the removed.
11. Is crypto bro wrong to be upset? I don’t think so. He might be misinformed as to what the duties are of a dual agent, but he was pursuing a path to anonymity and it didn’t work out. The reason he wanted confidentiality is irrelevant. He doesn’t have to justify security concerns or anything.
Here is what I would have done differently, and you can see why I don’t get celebrity listings.
1. If I am the listing agent….we are not doing a pocket listing. We are signing a listing agreement and we are going to promote the hell out of the house. That means awesome photos, walk throughs, tours..we’re going to submit the listing to the national press…everything we can to get exposure to that house.
a. This prevents anyone with security concerns from buying the house because the exposure is everywhere
b. It prevents us from getting sued for discrimination
c. It codifies the commission agreement so that there is no question to the listing terms.
2. If I am representing the buyer, I am going to go over the “security” issues with the buyer. I am going to use a trust, and I am going to keep my mouth shut. If the listing agent asks who I’m representing, I am not saying a word. Here is the issue that very few people are understanding in today’s world: You can be denied a home purchase based on sex…but you can also be denied a home purchase if your political views no longer line up with those of the seller! It’s gotten that crazy. Even more wild is that it would be far easier to discriminate in the “luxury listings” category than others, precisely because of pocket listings. This is why I avoid pocket listings. I don’t avoid dual agency, I think that there is definitely a place for it in the business….but you can see the risks in this story.
Source: https://twitter.com/arrington/status/1486031967430885378?s=21
https://twitter.com/arrington
https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/techcrunch-founder-j-michael-arrington-buys-miami-home-for-16-million-227522
https://activerain.com/blogsview/4441735/six-duties-every-real-estate-agent-owes-their-client–cold-ac
https://www.google.com/search?q=jessica+adams+sotheby%27s&tbm=nws&ei=94D5YfyDIcKxqtsPl668CA&start=0&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwi824SBlt_1AhXCmGoFHRcXDwE4FBDy0wN6BAgBEDc&biw=1920&bih=969&dpr=1
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