The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is an organization that represents professionals in South Carolina and throughout the United States. These professionals include real estate brokers and agents, as well as property managers and other industry experts. Buyers and sellers of residential or commercial properties will want to be aware of the NAR Code of Ethics before entering a real estate transaction.
When you work alongside a real estate agent to buy or sell a home in South Carolina, the agent must never put personal interests or commission above your best interests as a client. In fact, this is a primary rule in the NAR Code of Ethics, that an agent must always protect and promote a client’s best interests. Keep reading this post to learn more about the ethics that guide agents who provide services to buyers and sellers throughout the state.
Protecting the interests of buyers and sellers
If you’re selling a house, you might decide to work with a listing agent. This agent must represent your best interest by providing information regarding the benefits and costs of all available marketing tools. The NAR Code of Ethics prohibits and agent from demanding a specific amount of compensation in exchange for making your home visible (via marketing) to buyers.
As a buyer, your agent is obligated to inform you of all available homes for sale that meet your criteria. It is unethical for an agent to choose only the homes that would yield the highest compensation. You can be proactive by asking whether the agent has made you aware of all homes for sale that fit your stated needs.
Contracts help prevent wrongful steering
Under the NAR Code of Ethics, real estate agents may not wrongfully steer a client toward or away from a specific home for sale because of how much money the agent will earn in a transaction. In other words, if you’re buying a house and your agent is hiding specific properties from you because the agent’s compensation will be low, that is unethical. Likewise, if the agent is guiding you toward specific homes that will earn a higher compensation, this is “wrongful steering.”
Signing a written buyer’s agreement helps protect your interests when purchasing a home in South Carolina. Such an agreement typically includes an itemized list of services your agent will provide, as well as the amount of compensation the agent will receive. Buyers and sellers who believe an agent has violated the NAR Code of Ethics may report the issue and request an investigation.