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REAL ETHICS by Steve Stazel | March
2005 | Index of all Real Ethics columns
You have two offers on your listing!
So, you have two offers on your listing. Isn't that the kind of problem you want?
Well, yes. However, some concerns are associated with multiple offers. If you have the time you may want to read, "Presenting and Negotiating Multiple Offers." You can find this in Appendix IX to Part Four of the Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual. The Aurora Association of Realtors has a copy in the office or you can get it on line from the National Association of REALTORS® at www.Realtor.org.
If you don't have the time to refer to Appendix IX, remember that all negotiations on behalf of clients should "protect and promote" their interest, as stated in Article 1 of the Code. Sellers' brokers should consult with the seller early on about what to disclose and to whom. Please read Standard of Practice 1-15. If sellers instruct listing agents to disclose terms of competing offers, the listing broker may want to discuss with the seller the ramifications of any disclosures about competing offers.
Article 1 of the Code also requires all parties be treated honestly. Remember that the Preamble to our Code has long noted that "....REALTOR® has come to connote competency, fairness, and high integrity..." Appendix IX notes that if a seller directs you to advise offerors about the existence of other purchase offers, fairness dictates that all offerors or their representatives be so informed. Article 3's mandate to cooperate implicitly includes the idea that listing brokers should make reasonable efforts to keep cooperating brokers informed. Finally, sellers' and buyers' agents should discuss with clients what their negotiation options are if multiple offers arise.
Remember that the decisions about how offers will be presented, how offers will be negotiated, whether counter offers will be made and ultimately which offer if any will be accepted, are made by the seller---not by the listing broker.
Each month, the Aurora Association of REALTORSŪ Web site features Real Ethics,
a column by Steve Stazel devoted to explaining Code of
Ethics issues for members. A REALTORŪ since 1974, Stazel is a Professional Standards
instructor and senior Ethics
instructor for the Colorado Association of REALTORSŪ.
If you have an ethical concern or an issue you would like
to see addressed, please call Stazel at (303) 773-3333 or e-mail him at
stazels@msn.com. The comments of this article reflect the understanding and
opinions of the author and do not represent an official expression of policy by the National Association
of REALTORSŪ.
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