Chances are you already have a trusted Realtor and I’m a big believer in loyalty, but there may be times when you need to find ANOTHER trusted Realtor. For example, what happens if you’d like to buy or sell a cottage property?  Or how would you sell the home of an out of town parent? Several clients of mine found themselves in these kinds of situations recently and approached me for advice about finding another trusted Realtor. As in most cases, there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about things, so here’s some helpful information to keep in mind in case you ever find yourself in this kind of situation.

Some people look for a Realtor by driving around the area to see which Realtor has the most signs and others look for their Realtor online. My own personal preference is to seek out first hand recommendations from friends or relatives who have worked with a Realtor in the area. If that’s not possible because you don’t know anyone who lives in the area, then I’d suggest you ask your trusted Realtor (like me) for a Realtor referral.

How do Realtor referrals work? When Realtor A sends clients to Realtor B, we say that Realtor A is giving a referral and Realtor B is getting a referral. Realtor B’s love getting referrals because getting new clients is the hardest part of our business. Realtor A’s love giving referrals because it’s standard in our business for Realtor B to pay Realtor A a referral fee.

This custom of referral fees made no sense to me when I began my real estate career because in the legal world from whence I came lawyers referred clients to other lawyers with no expectation of receiving anything, let alone a fee, in return. Although I don’t agree with referral fees, I still pay and receive them because they’ve been part of the business longer than I have. However, when a contractor or banker or mortgage broker offers to pay me a fee when I refer a client to them, I politely decline and tell them that all I care about is that they take great care of my client and that they should just deduct the referral fee from the amount my client would otherwise have to pay them so my client gets the benefit of the referral fee.

So how does Realtor A determine to which Realtor B he or she should give the referral? It might be someone they met at a conference. Or it could be a Realtor with whom other clients of theirs worked when they lived in that area before moving to Realtor A’s area. Or perhaps Realtor A works for a national company with an office in that area and simply calls that office and asks for a Realtor B. The options are endless, especially now that there are so many ways to connect with people all over the world.

When I’m looking for a Realtor B to recommend to my clients, I look first for Realtors who I may have met or worked with personally at some point in time. Then I rely on input from friends, relatives or clients who live or have lived in that area. And thirdly, if I still haven’t found a suitable Realtor B, I’ll ask my circle of Realtor friends who live all over the world.

My main objective is to make sure my clients are well looked after. I never refer them just to earn a referral fee. My relationship with them is worth much more than that. If I don’t know Realtor B, I speak to them on the phone to get a sense of whether they’ll be a good fit for my client. I’m also very honest with my clients. I tell them that I’ll receive a referral fee if they work with Realtor B and I tell them how familiar, or unfamiliar, I am with Realtor B. At the end, I tell them that they should only work with Realtor B if they’re 100% confident in his or her abilities and that they should feel free to work with any other Realtor of their choice. The fact that I stand to earn a referral fee in some circumstances but not others shouldn’t factor into their choice at all.

Once you’ve identified a few potential Realtors, however you’ve found them, it’s time to determine who will be the best person for the job. Stay tuned for my next blog post when I’ll give you a list of questions that’ll help you choose the best Realtor for you.

As always, if you know of anyone who’s looking for an honest Realtor who really knows his stuff and doesn’t pressure his clients, Please Don’t Keep Me a Secret. I really appreciate your referrals. Thanks for reading and don’t be shy if you have any questions or comments!