Seattle Times Article
Today’s Seattle Times Real Estate section’s feature article is titled “Real Estate: Sellers, buyers should make sure they’re comfortable with the agent.” The gist of the article is to impart on readers the need to evaluate and choose their agents carefully:
Many people have heard a horror story about a bad real-estate agent: a young agent who butchers a deal because of poor negotiating skills; an agent who lies to prospective buyers about a home’s leaky roof; or one who pressures clients into buying a home they can’t afford.
Bad agents may be few and far between, but prospective buyers and sellers should take steps to ensure that they get one of the good agents and one they feel comfortable working with.
Membership in the National Association of Realtors has jumped 44 percent since 2003, from 876,195 to 1.26 million, the Washington, D.C.-based group said.
That means there are a lot of fairly new agents and even more reason to be picky, said D’Ann Jackson, president of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors
Of course the part that was of particular interest:
Seattle-area John L. Scott agent Ben Kakimoto, who volunteers at the Seattle Animal Shelter at Interbay, donates a portion of his commission to the Seattle Animal Shelter or to a charity of his clients’ choice.