For those of you who maintain contact only with one agent in a particular RE office, think about this story that I heard from a REA recently. Her office was pretty gung-ho, with a few high flyer type REA's. There were also greenies, such as herself. Naturally, when commissions are involved, their are limitations to "sharing" in RE offices. The very nature of the fee structure lends itself to secrecy amongst colleagues, withholding of information, contacts etc. Not all offices are like this however, so I've been told. This particular REA was telling me that, after taking an enquiry on a newly listed particular property, she went to look for the paperwork only to find it nowhere to be found. The listing agent (no doubt hoping to make as big a commission as possible by getting listing and selling fees) had locked it away and subsequently made it so difficult for this greenie agent to obtain the details, that the end result was the buyer gave up and the listing agent ended up selling it to someone else shortly afterwards. Lesson to be learnt from stories like this- don't rely on the one agent, especially if it's taking longer to get inspections/paperwork organised. With my clients, I aim to always contact the listing agent, as it's they who usually hold the most sway with the vendor. However, if this isn't possible (they're uncontactable, too busy or simply not returning calls) contact another REA in the office and give them the opportunity. You might also be surprised at what other information you can often pick up
