Cooperating With Commercial Brokers

and our policies relating to

Commercial Brokers

Did you know...

Cooperating Commercial Brokers today work more closely than ever before?

We are strong with direct 1031 buyers seeking replacement properties.

Our agreements with buyers and sellers are non exclusive for identifying and marketing properties, but exclusive once we identify a property or buyer they are unaware of.

A Broker policy common to large brokerage firms that "allows" a registration for a single property or one buyer for a short duration does not sit well in our ball park. We are not looking to be "allowed" an opportunity, but work with brokers who respect and appreciate a source that qualifies their buyers and properties while granting those brokers protection for procurement of their clients, especially where there has been no prior dealings.

Single property/buyer registrations common with larger commercial brokerage firms probably work well for residential brokers who just don't have the time or expertise, or for agents who are perhaps hungry and figure "what the heck, its worth trying for this one deal".

Regretfully, many of these agents find out the hard way, usually after a closing, that their client successfully closed on the offering or another property with the broker they introduced their client to! ... They try, but it's too late to do anything since the listing office required the buyer to register and work with them exclusively.

We are not residential brokers and are not hurting to do deals by crossing our fingers and hoping for that one deal to miraculously close. In reality, the chances of closing on the first deal presented is rare. In most cases, we find that it's the 4th or 5th presented property that triggers a successful acceptance - this occurring after the buyer has finally fine-tuned their acquisition criteria or has gone through failed attempts at other properties.

Taking a closer look at typical registrations, we are aware that "other properties" that the listing agent (or office) may have for a registered buyer which are not addressed in the registration process. This silence, along with the silence of other confidentiality issues, allows that listing office to solicit the buyer directly - with no obligations to the broker who brought the buyer. The listing office is now free to directly go to the 4th and 5th property and increase their chances of closing with the new buyer that was so generously handed over by the unsuspecting broker. We do not support this theory of robbery, to say the least!

We work to develop relationships with brokers who respect our time and quality clients. These cooperating brokers are those who go out of their way to offer protection of client relationships in exchange for an increased amount of good activity (good for the customer first, not the broker office first).

Our way of handling Broker Cooperation is simple and effective.

We are not a Referring Broker nor are we a "Co-Broker" - By law, any other broker (Co-Broker) who becomes involved in a transaction also represents the seller unless otherwise disclosed. Listing brokers we work well with understand this simple concept that they are the agent exclusively for the seller and therefore should not conduct agency duties on behalf of a buyer. Never is a listing agent asked or expected to deviate from their role as exclusive agent for seller.

The law of agency dictates that every seller as a principal is responsible for the acts of their sub agents. Our goal is to locate the best possible property for our Buyers and to successfully deliver an executed offer/contract to the listing broker that is accepted by the property owner, not locate a property then abandon the buyer for the seller's interests (co-broker and sub agent for seller).

We are a duly licensed real estate firm. It is always a buyer's choice (not a listing broker's) as to what type of agency (if any) the buyer wants, who the buyer authorizes to procure a property, negotiate their offer/contract, and carry out other agency responsibilities for buyer associated with a transaction. Our direct buyers understand this and have authorized us to procure properties for their benefit, and have elected to represent themselves with regards to agency.

The following will be confirmed with all brokers who request that we present their offerings to our buyers:

1. That you are the direct agent to the seller. If your company is the listing office and another agent in your company is the listing agent, you are personally not direct and either a co-lister or a referring agent to the listing agent.

2. Commissions are to be split 50/50 between your company and our licensed real estate firm should a closing occur with your seller and a buyer procured by us. We are ALWAYS direct to the principals on our end when working with cooperating brokers.

3. Your company has a written commission agreement, listing agreement or authorization to sell the property.

4. The total commission the seller has agreed to pay your company should you sell this property.

Listing Broker policies that will not work with us include:

1. Broker considering the commission "none of our business"

2. Broker not cooperating at all

3. Broker paying a predetermined amount to an outside (selling) broker which is less than 50% of the total fee paid by the seller to the listing broker

4. Broker hung up on basing splits on their interpretation of how and who a Buyer chooses to handle Buyer responsibilities and duties

5. Brokers who require us and our buyers to consent to the full release of our hard earned, proprietary, and confidential buyer contact information and relationships as a precondition with no recourse to us (we are not Co-Brokers)

6. Brokers who prefer to focus on Buyer responsibilities even though it's the Buyer's concern, rather than focusing on closing a transaction and building a solid reciprocal relationship for future transactions.

Like ALL sellers and buyers, we prefer to not walk into situations where there is absolutely no up front agreement in place - leading to various broker interpretations and bickering later on among the agents.

We are also very successful at closing a handful of real transactions rather than utilizine the concept employed by other brokers of "throwing a bunch on the wall just to see if a few stick".

In it's simplest terms, we require, up front, an agreement between the brokers, outlining an equal split in fees, along with the addressing of non-circumvention & non-disclosure issues and the recourse afforded for the breach of these terms.

This proven business practice IS putting the horse before the cart. Presenting a property to a buyer with unknowns is, for us, placing the cart before the horse. Therefore, we never reach a point of presenting properties where there is no prior written understandings between the brokers. This is precisely why any buyer or seller working with us knows that the property or buyer is deliverable and that there will be no broker squabbling since in our agreement with buyers and sellers, we have already agreed that a prior written agreement must have already been in place.

There is a common saying in the industry: