When you’re just getting started in your home-buying process, you may feel excited and just a little overwhelmed. Buying or selling Colorado real estate should be a fun process! The truth of the matter is that you really need the help of an expert Realtor to guide you through this process in order to protect your financial future. The agent you choose to work with can make or break your entire deal, so it’s vitally important that you feel fully comfortable with the person you choose to represent you whether you’re purchasing Denver real estate or a condo in Aspen.
When I’ve talked with people over the years, I have found that there are great misconceptions about the various aspects of buying and selling Colorado real estate. One of the first is that one can easily navigate the home buying or selling process without a Realtor acting on his or her behalf. Another very popular misconception is that a real estate agent and a Realtor are one and the same. Not true. Before making the choice about who will represent you in the home-buying process, understand the difference between the two.
A Realtor has much the same training as a real estate agent right out of the gates; but a Realtor will continually take steps to obtain continuing education. The most notable difference between the two is that a Realtor is an agent who has joined the National Association of Realtors. As such, these individuals have willingly committed to follow the stringently enforced Realtor Code of Ethics. This code of ethics focuses on conduct, rather than the various state laws surrounding the buying and selling of Denver real estate.
A Realtor promises to:
- Pledge to put the interests of buyers and sellers ahead of their own and to treat all parties honestly.
- Refrain from exaggerating, misrepresenting or concealing material facts; and is obligated to investigate and disclose when situations reasonably warrant.
- Cooperate with other brokers / agents when it is in the best interests of the client to do so.
- Disclose if they represent family members who own or are about to buy real estate, or if they themselves are a principal in a real estate transaction, that they are licensed to sell real estate.
- NOT provide professional services in a transaction where the agent has a present or contemplated interest without disclosing that interest.
- NOT collect any commissions without the seller’s knowledge nor accept fees from a third-party without the seller’s express consent.
- Refuse fees from more than one party without all parties’ informed consent.
- NOT co-mingle client funds with his or her own.
- Attempt to ensure that all written documents are easy to understand and will give everybody a copy of what they sign.
- NOT discriminate in any fashion for any reason on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.
- Be competent; to conform to standards of practice and to refuse to provide services for which they are unqualified.
- Engage in truth in advertising.
- NOT practice law unless they are a lawyer.
- Cooperate if charges are brought against them and present all evidence requested.
- Agree not to bad-mouth competition and agree not to file unfounded ethics complaints.
- Agree to not solicit another REALTOR’S client nor interfere in a contractual relationship.
- Submit to arbitration to settle matters and not seek legal remedies in the judicial system.
The National Association of REALTORS® was founded in 1908 and has more than one million members.
