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Need to know means need to know. The lender needs to know. The seller and their agent, buyer and their agent need to know. The appraiser needs to know. The brokers need to know. The title company needs to know. Those who work on the specific sale at the lender and title company need to know.
Nowhere do I see any need to know for buyer's and seller's agents colleagues. They are not involved in the transaction and have no valid need to know that I can see.
All I see is sharing private information with colleagues for selfish gain.
You don't understand agency. Every agent in that room has a fiduciary duty to their fellow same-brokerage agents' clients.
Well, I understand agency, and here in Texas, that fiduciary responsibility to the seller holds for every seller of every brokerage, UNLESS the agent has a buyer client looking at a particular house, in which case the fiduciary responsibility goes to the buyer, not the seller of that house. Of course, part of the fiduciary responsibility, an important part, also centers around confidentiality, which would preclude announcing the contract price in a room full of people and putting it up in writing on a board for everyone and his dog to see. (Including, for example, the cleaning crew.)
Announcing the contract price at meetings not only violates confidentiality rules right, left and center, and opens the seller up to potential loss if the contract falls through, but it opens up a whole new can of worms if an agent in that meeting should, say, leave and go to another brokerage in the meantime and have a buyer client who is interested in that house. If the seller were to discover that the buyer agent for the buyer for their new house knows what they accepted for the last contract and thus the buyer now knows and is making their offer accordingly, and how that agent got that information, the broker would be open to all sorts of liability for allowing that to happen.
Well, I understand agency, and here in Texas, that fiduciary responsibility to the seller holds for every seller of every brokerage, UNLESS the agent has a buyer client looking at a particular house, in which case the fiduciary responsibility goes to the buyer, not the seller of that house. Of course, part of the fiduciary responsibility, an important part, also centers around confidentiality, which would preclude announcing the contract price in a room full of people and putting it up in writing on a board for everyone and his dog to see. (Including, for example, the cleaning crew.)
Announcing the contract price at meetings not only violates confidentiality rules right, left and center, and opens the seller up to potential loss if the contract falls through, but it opens up a whole new can of worms if an agent in that meeting should, say, leave and go to another brokerage in the meantime and have a buyer client who is interested in that house. If the seller were to discover that the buyer agent for the buyer for their new house knows what they accepted for the last contract and thus the buyer now knows and is making their offer accordingly, and how that agent got that information, the broker would be open to all sorts of liability for allowing that to happen.
First off, I'm merely reporting what used to go on at a brokerage where I was a lowly agent. I wasn't the broker nor did I dream up the announce the sales part. For the record, that practice does not go on today in my company because I have the same concerns you do, even though the agency relationship to the client would survive an agent's change of brokerage.
However, in Florida, every agent of a brokerage has the same level of duty to every other agent's clients within the same brokerage. Should one of those agents bring a buyer for an in-house listing, that agent immediately becomes a transaction broker and can not advocate for either side of the transaction. In all events, every agent in the room carries the same level of confidentiality as the listing agent which means they cannot divulge that contract price to anyone, including their clients.
The other poster's comment about this being for agents' selfish gain is off base. Considering the Florida agents' agency constraints and obligations, there is no way that shared info within the brokerage could be used for selfish gain. Our broker certainly didn't invent this meeting format so that the agents could line their pockets. Agents don't have to lie and cheat or devise crazy systems to make a good living. We can do quite well being decent and honest and abiding by the rules.
My neighbors have had their house listed for a few months, we put up ours and it sold within a week. The house are the exact same cookie cutter layout, mine was priced $15,000 less than theirs as it has an unfinished basement, theirs has a finished basement and fenced in yard.
We haven't officially closed yet so do I say anything, or am I worried about something that I shouldn't be worried about?
You're worrying about something you shouldn't be worried about. It's natural for neighbors to be curious as it reflects on the value of their homes and since yours sold so quickly, they might want to rethink their price.
First off, I'm merely reporting what used to go on at a brokerage where I was a lowly agent. I wasn't the broker nor did I dream up the announce the sales part. For the record, that practice does not go on today in my company because I have the same concerns you do, even though the agency relationship to the client would survive an agent's change of brokerage.
However, in Florida, every agent of a brokerage has the same level of duty to every other agent's clients within the same brokerage. Should one of those agents bring a buyer for an in-house listing, that agent immediately becomes a transaction broker and can not advocate for either side of the transaction. In all events, every agent in the room carries the same level of confidentiality as the listing agent which means they cannot divulge that contract price to anyone, including their clients.
The other poster's comment about this being for agents' selfish gain is off base. Considering the Florida agents' agency constraints and obligations, there is no way that shared info within the brokerage could be used for selfish gain. Our broker certainly didn't invent this meeting format so that the agents could line their pockets. Agents don't have to lie and cheat or devise crazy systems to make a good living. We can do quite well being decent and honest and abiding by the rules.
Suppose my Realtor announces my contract price as seller in their weekly meeting, my deal falls through, then another Realtor in the same office finds a buyer for my property. He already knows from the meeting that I will take less than my asking price, and how much.
How is that not a violation of my right of confidentiality?
Suppose my Realtor announces my contract price as seller in their weekly meeting, my deal falls through, then another Realtor in the same office finds a buyer for my property. He already knows from the meeting that I will take less than my asking price, and how much.
How is that not a violation of my right of confidentiality?
But he can't tell his customer that number because he is prevented from sharing that information because of his agency duty to you. Instead of embracing the "I've been violated" drama you should be happy if he brings you another offer. You can hold out for a higher price this time if you think that's the way you want to play it. You are in control of the price you ultimately accept, no matter what you may have said or accepted in the past. Your goal: Sell the property.
You're worrying about something you shouldn't be worried about. It's natural for neighbors to be curious as it reflects on the value of their homes and since yours sold so quickly, they might want to rethink their price.
One reason might be that EVERYONE is a freakin' real estate 'expert', and has a strong opinion that is often in direct conflict with the seller's goals (fnancial, emotional, etc.) They have an opinion -- too many showings, "then you're underpriced", too few showings, then "you're overpriced" . . . it's stressful, and they seldom know the market well enought to make an informed opinion.
It's a two-edged sword. On one side, there is the privacy of the buyers. It's not unknown for neighbors to ask "Did I see John and Jane Smith looking at your house yesterday? He works in my office, I didn't know he was moving!" Do you really want Nosey Neighbor running to John Smith to talk about the house ("well, you know, they had that rat problem last year . . ." )?
On the other side, we've had neighbors say, "Well, if those sellers don't want to buy YOUR house, maybe they'll want to buy MINE . . . what's the agent's name?"
It's just messy. Better to smile and say, "We're happy with the traffic we're getting."
Yep, this. People are complete a**holes, like the poster above who said his new neighbor started critiquing what he paid for his house. Unbelievable.
I sold my house in one day to the first people who looked at it. Of course, I got multiple comments from friends/family that I must've underpriced it -- you know, 'cause I'm a single woman and an idiot. No, how about that I kept a spreadsheet of every comparable home sale in the three years that I had the house? How about giving me credit for doing my homework before setting the price? And the price was $5K OVER what the agent had recommended, so it's not like I just caved to an agent who just wanted a quick sale. Or how about the fact that the agent went ahead with her open house the next day (not revealing there was already an offer), and there was lots of interest but NO OTHER OFFERS? If it was so underpriced, why didn't people jump all over it? How about the fact that it wasn't a full-price offer and I still had to do some negotiating? If it was so underpriced, it would've gotten a full-price offer or a bidding war...but it didn't. I had no other offers, which meant to me I sold it in one day not because it was underpriced, but because I just happened to have the right price and the right buyer at the right time.
It just totally ticks me off that jealous people have to be a complete buzzkill and can't just say "congrats, good job".
And P.S. to the seller who paid $80K but the public record showed $120K: That's true but, in my state anyway, the MLS listing shows the seller-assist credits so you can figure out the actual price paid.
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