You will never guess what our recent bout of snow and icy roads brought to my mind – the Realtor Code of Ethics. Yes, you read that correctly. While our Code of Ethics does not specifically address inclement weather, there are several aspects of the Code that popped into my mind, as Realtors proceeded with business as usual, despite a few hiccups in the weather last week.
As a manager of a downtown firm, our usual daily pace was a little slower but there still was lots of activity in the marketplace. On Wednesday, one of my agents had a buyer ready to make an offer on a property. Since it was her first time to write an offer, we met and I guided her through the process. The Realtor Code of Ethics requires that we present offers “as quickly as possible,” so our meeting to get this done was a top priority despite icy roads and below freezing temperatures.
As I drove to check on a couple of my vacant listings, I was reminded that the Code requires “Realtors who are employed to maintain or manage a client’s property shall exercise due diligence and make reasonable efforts to protect it against reasonably foreseeable contingencies and losses.” I am sure there were many Realtors like myself who ventured to vacant listings and managed properties to ensure that the heat was working and to leave water dripping to prevent pipes from freezing.
And while many consumers were home playing in the snow or cozied up by a warm fire, they were window shopping online for available properties. I know I am not the only Realtor who was responding to calls and emails from potential purchasers to set up showing appointments. With a lower than desired inventory in our market, buyers are anxious to look sooner rather than later before a property goes under contract with another buyer.
On Facebook, I observed agents posting and responding to each other about specific parts of town and road conditions. When working with an out-of-town buyer with a short window of time to view available properties, we can’t let the weather be a deterrent. It made me smile to see many agents from competing firms chiming in to the social media conversations about the roads in their respective parts of town to aide one another in showing properties. Per the Code, “Realtors shall cooperate with other brokers,” and I see evidence of that every day in this business. Ours is a unique business of cooperative competitors, who work together to bring parties to the transaction. This cooperative spirit is one of the many reasons I love being a Realtor.
And did you notice that the inclement weather hit during real estate’s busiest week of the month? Closings typically are scheduled for the last week of the month. Going back to social media, I noticed fellow agents posting about bundling up to go meet their client at a closing. And thanks to technology all the closing preparations were proceeding as planned via email and electronic signatures. Just another day in the life of a Realtor.
Many refer to our industry as making possible the American dream of home ownership. I whole-heartedly agree, but it’s more than that. It’s about helping our clients and customers to protect their investment, and cooperating with fellow Realtors to keep the transaction moving forward.
The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors, a regional organization with more than 1,400 members, is one of more than 1,800 local boards and associations of Realtors nationwide that comprise the National Association of Realtors. The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors services Hamilton and Sequatchie counties in southeast Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in northwest Georgia. For more information, visit www.gcar.net.