Someone asked me this question last week, and after a bit of deliberation and thought, I think that the argument could be made that a Realtor “buying a listing” – telling a Seller what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear – could be considered a breach of the Realtor Code of Ethics .
…The services which REALTORS® provide to their clients and customers shall conform to the standards of practice and competence which are reasonably expected in the specific real estate disciplines in which they engage; specifically, residential real estate brokerage, real property management, commercial and industrial real estate brokerage, land brokerage, real estate appraisal, real estate counseling, real estate syndication, real estate auction, and international real estate.
…The challenges to a viable Code of Ethics are (at least) two-fold: 1 – The system is self-enforcing (and I could make the argument that if I were to file a violation against another agent, I could be violating my fiduciary duty to a future client) 2 – Few members of the public know that they can file a violation and don’t care enough to do so. … This is one of the many reasons that I share all market data with my buyer and seller clients – I want them to be educated, informed and competent as to the decision that they are making based on my professional advice.