Realtors are importuning Realty Times to "do something" about Yahoo! and its publication of a SmartMoney story that disses real estate professionals. We already did - four and a half years ago.

The story is called "Ten Things Your Real Estate Broker Won't Tell You," by Michael Kaplan, and it has been circulating around the Net since before August 2000 when Realty Times first found it on mortgage lender Wells Fargo's site. The story came from SmartMoney, a Wall Street Journal publication, and it is part of a series that warns nervous consumers about how they can be taken to the cleaners by a number of professionals, including stock brokers and lenders. Since then, the story has become a fear-inspiring staple of portal sites including AOL and Yahoo!

Criticism of real estate professionals is popular journalistic fodder, because they are such an easy target. Despite the best efforts of the National Association of Realtors with nearly a million members, a Code of Ethics, and Standards of Practice and oversight by state licensing bureaus, more than a million more licensees don't belong to the NAR, and members and nonmembers are frequently unsupervised by their brokers and do whatever the hell they want. It's these mavericks that give the profession a bad name.

Some of the "ten things your real estate broker won't tell you" are perfectly legal but not understood by the public. As the article states, commissions are negotiable, but are you gonna tell a client that before you have to? Of course, not. Journalists fees are negotiable, too, but when one is selling a story to a publication, one wants to look somewhat firm on the price per word, too, unless pressed by a bottom-line oriented editor.

If a seller or buyer asks if commission is negotiable, the answer will either be yes or no. The story suggests that it is okay for a buyer to use multiple agents, but what real estate professional in their right minds would suggest that? Also financial suicide is the notion of telling a customer that an agent will kick in part of the commission to make a deal go through. These are simply business practices, no more nefarious than a retailer keeping mum about a competitor who may have similar goods on sale or a publication creating controversy to keep readers' attention.

Other practices suggested by the article would land an agent either in court or at least into arbitration. Using what a customer says against them is fair - if the customer isn't a client. If there is a relationship, then fraud could be a word that gets thrown about. Just ask the Alaska Association of Realtors who has just babysat one of their most prominent agents through a civil law suit and license hearing for jacking up the price of a home to a buyer she was representing without proper disclosure of her agency status when she was simultaneously representing the seller. This story made the news because it was aberrant practice, not the norm that the article suggests. This agent has to pay fines and may have her license suspended. But all that just adds fuel to the fire for a journalist. Every time there is a news story like that, journalists feel justified in their hammering of the real estate industry.

But the main thing these kinds of stories are meant to do is keep the readers' attention, so don't forget that.

The Wells Fargo Effect

Wells Fargo, which derives 70 percent of its mortgage loans from Realtors' clients, also ran the same article, but it was so inundated with complaints from Realtors after Realty Times ran its story "With Bankers Like This, Who Needs Enemies?" that spokespersons asked Realty Times to make it stop. Apparently, Wells Fargo Mortgage had a disconnect with the Wells Fargo Mortgage Website, and to save money, they ran some articles they got either free or at low cost, without thinking about the effect these articles might have on their revenue partners. They not only apologized, they asked Yours Truly to write a counter article outlining 10 reasons to use a Realtor.

Realty Times was effective then, because Wells Fargo is dependent on Realtors, but Yahoo! isn't. It's an advertising site with multiple channels. To get their attention, every Realtor advertiser they have must write in. Yahoo! is unlikely to stop circulating this old content because it's "evergreen," meaning always fresh to new people who read it with information that doesn't go out of date.

So, Realty Times is "doing something" all right. We're asking you to vote with your checkbook. Tell companies when you are offended.

But the best thing you can do is a better job policing yourselves and other agents. When another agent breaks the code or the law, speak up. Don't sweep it under the rug.

Published: March 29, 2004

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.