Chattanooga Real Estate Blog

Standard of Practice 1-5
REALTORS^® may represent the seller/landlord and buyer/tenant in the same transaction only after full disclosure to and with informed consent of both parties. (Adopted 1/93)

This one is all about dual agency.  With full disclosure to both parties in the transaction and their consent a REALTOR® can represent both of them in the same transaction. 

My personal opinion on this is that it can’t be done.  If I represent a buyer I have pledged to them that I will assist them in getting the home they want for the least amount of money and at the best terms for them.  If I represent a seller I have pledged to them that I will assist them in getting the most money they can from the sale and at the terms best for them.  I see this as a huge conflict of interest.

Tennessee practices "designated agency".  I will be going into agency at a later time but a quick lesson on this follows:  When you list your home with me or enter into a buyers representative agreement with me, you are actually hiring my firm, Happy Home Realty.  The firm in turn designates me as you representative to the exclusion of anyone else.  No one in my office is privy to our conversations or contracts.  If I represent you as your buyers agent and you decide to make an offer on a home that is listed by another agent in my firm, I still represent you and the agent who is the designated agent for the sellers represents them.  This way there isn’t a conflict of interest.   More to come on agency at a later date.

Moving right along.

Standard of Practice 1-4
REALTORS^®, when seeking to become a buyer/tenant representative, shall not mislead buyers or tenants as to savings or other benefits that might be realized through use of the REALTOR^®’s services. (Amended 1/93)

A REALTOR® can not mislead you by puffing themselves up.  For example:  I can’t tell you if you that if you buy this house thru me I will get you a huge price reduction in order to entice you to work with me when in fact I have no idea if I can help negotiate a reduction at all.

I guess most everyone knows that back in June the Supreme Court decided, in a 5-4 decision,  that government can take your  property for private development.  So when that large store that I refuse to speak of, decides they want to build on your property and you don’t want to give it up.  Too bad.  Our government has decided you can’t say "no".

Lauren Canario was arrested on September 22 for peacefully protesting the seizure of a home in New London Conn.  She has been in prison since then with no visitors allowed.  Well, Monday, she appeared in court and was ordered held indefinitely for trial at an unscheduled future date as reported at Homeland Stupidy.  This is ridiculous.  The last time I checked we were in the United States and had rights given to us by the Constitution. 

Protesters arrived early Monday to support Canario. But, according to Free State Project member Kat Dillon, “They told us she wouldn’t be brought in until 2 p.m., so we went out until about 1:30 p.m. When we came back, it was done and no one got to see her.” 10-year-old protester William asked his father, “Why would they trick us like that, Dad?”

An anonymous source at the courthouse said State officials were heard laughing about the demonstration. — Michael Fisher

“This is a wake up call for America,” said John Connell, who traveled from New Hampshire to join the protest. “You’re supposed to have a speedy and public trial in this country. The portion of the public that was there specifically for this trial was known by the court officers, including the pompous court jester in the black robe. . . . [McMahon] gave this prolonged speech about the right to remain silent, and then punishes a person for doing it.”

“What Lauren is doing is exposing the brutality of the system,” Connell said. “Today’s [court proceeding] was a subtle brutality, things you will never read in the newspaper. If you want to exercise your rights, you’re going to get punished for it.” — Michael Fisher

We need more more people like Lauren and John to stand up and fight because our rights as Americans and now even our homes are being taken away for the all mighty dollar.

I have just spent an hour putting together a post on eminent domain and the travesty going on in New London, Conn with the imprisonment of Lauren Canario.  I LOST IT!!!!!!!!!!!  I’m too tired and it’s to late to start it over but I’ll post it tomorrow.  She was in court yesterday and was ordered held indefinetly for trial with no date set.  This after being imprisioned since September 22 with no visitors allowed to see her.  All this for a non violent protest of the city taking property for private development.  Check back tomorrow for more info.

I was watching TV last night and saw an ad for one of my favorite progams as a child, "It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".  It’s second only to "Frosty the Snowman".  Where has the year gone?  Halloween as snuck up on me.  I see the neighbors Halloween decorations every day when I leave home but I guess it just didn’t sink in till I saw this ad.  So, I’ve pulled some great Halloween information together. 

A Google search for "Halloween Fun" returns more sites than you will have time to visit but here are a few of them:

How about some Severed Fingers with Toxic Dip or Bloody Punch with Floating Hand of Death?  Get these and more scary Halloween recipes at Kaboose.

BlackDog has lots of Halloween games.  I must have no imagination because I can never see the image in stereograms and it’s no different here

Halloween Fun 4 Kids has tons of kid safe Halloween links, games, costumes, tips and crafts.

Enchanted Learning has instructions for creating great crafts, cards and decorations!

Just a few more days and we’ll have kids hyped up on sugar for the next 2 weeks

When I’m not working I spend a lot of time online reading.  Mostly real estate news and blogs.  I ran across one today from Inman Consumer News about trying to find a bargain in our current market.  So many people think because we are in a buyers market there are bargains everywhere.  Inman did a good job of explaining why it isn’t necessarily true as well as some pointers on buying in this type of market.

"Last year, good real estate deals were few and far between. This was due to the fact that inventories of homes for sale were at record low levels. And, there was an abundance of buyers, all looking for the same thing.

Today in most areas, buyers have the luxury of choice. So, there’s less of a chance you’ll overpay because you have to outbid another buyer. However, even though there is a lot to choose from, this doesn’t mean that it will be easier to buy a property at a bargain price."

OK, we’re up to Article 1 SOP 1-3

Standard of Practice 1-3
REALTORS^®, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value.

What can I say?  A REALTOR^®, will not tell you your house is worth more than they believe it is or less than they believe it is.  Not to gain the listing, in contract negotiations or at under any circumstances.  This is just not acceptable.