The picture below just bugs the fire out of me for several reasons. The names in this photo have been removed for obvious reasons.
It was one of three photos on the MLS promoting a listing. At first glance, the listing agent seems very clever because name recognition is extremely important for Realtors. However, clever like a fox doesn’t make it any better when the fox sneaks into your hen house, kills your chickens and eats your eggs. When any Realtor works with a client, we email buyer reports that contain relevent information about the home. Because WE are working with said buyer, the report does not contain information about the listing agent (name, how to contact, company). When a buyer searches for a home in the MLS himself, then the contact information is of course available.
By blatantly putting a photo of the sign in the yard on the MLS pictures, you’ve shown that you’re doing a runaround of the system because your information will fall into the hands of my buyer when I send them a buyer report. I’d like to think my buyer would be loyal (and I should have the buyer’s representation agreement signed), but this photo puts me at risk of losing the buyer because they may call you directly. I hate to lose them after I’ve sent them homes for months, driven them to ten houses, etc. You get the picture.
But MORE IMPORTANTLY, when you get a listing, you owe it to your client to promote THEIR HOME on the MLS, not yourelf. This agent had two outside pictures of the house and one picture of their sign. Where were the inside photos? The backyard?
Honestly, I don’t think the agent did anything illegal here but it still bugs me.
