So You Can Feel Confident in Our Team’s High Standards
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice has been in existence for over 100 years. In fact, it was pretty much the OG (translation: original gangster – you’re welcome all you grandparents) of any business group’s codification of ethical standards. Now before you fall asleep on us, we want you to know, the NAR Code of Ethics is something we take very seriously, and we think it’s important for you, our clients and potential clients, to understand. Because, really, it’s actually all about doing what is best for you. So we’re going to break it down in a way that’s easy to understand.
There are three main sections to the NAR Code of Ethics, and those are what we’ll be highlighting today.
Duties to Clients and Customers
The opening line to this section in the NAR Code of Ethics says,
“When representing a buyer, seller, landlord, tenant, or other client as an agent, REALTORS® pledge themselves to protect and promote the interests of their client.”
AKA, we aren’t just in this for ourselves or to make a pretty penny.
For example, if a client came to us and said, I want to offer x amount for a home because they’ve gotta have it, but we knew it would be a terrible investment, it is our duty to let them know that fact. We can’t just look at the commission dollar signs. We want our clients to make wise financial decisions.
When we agree to list a home for a client, it is in our Code of Ethics that,
“REALTORS®, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value.” (Standard of Practice 1-3)
In other words, we won’t convince you that you need to list your home for more than market value, just to gain a big commission check. There are clearly other checks and balances in place like appraisals, comps and more that would expose that as well, but we don’t even want our clients to have any suspicion that we have anything but their best interest in mind.
This section covers other key topics like how offers are submitted and handled, how confidential information is treated, how we are compensated, how we are to communicate and much more.
Duties to the Public
This section is essentially our non-discrimiation clause – both to clients and employees.
“REALTORS® shall not deny equal professional services to any person for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. REALTORS® shall not be parties to any plan or agreement to discriminate against a person or persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” (Article 10 of NAR Code of Ethics)
This is very important to the Dani Beyer Real Estate team. In the past, we’ve been a pretty female-strong team (and still have kick-ass females on our team!), but we are working hard to diversify our staff in both race, ethnicity and gender along with many of the other statuses mentioned above. 
This section also covers how we are to prepare opinions on property value, how we present information from a consultative standpoint, how we are to communicate in our marketing and advertising efforts and more.
Duties to Realtors
The relationships and interactions we have with other realtors is just as important as how we treat our clients and the public. Take away that it’s required in our Code of Ethics; it’s foundational to the success of our business.
According to Article 15 in the Code of Ethics,
“REALTORS® shall not knowingly or recklessly make false or misleading statements about other real estate professionals, their businesses, or their business practices.”
You should never hear a Dani Beyer Real Estate team member bad-mouth another realtor or real estate team. Do we know of realtors that are challenging to work with or feel like they don’t know what they’re doing? Of course. But it should never be made known to you. We always aim to provide a professional and trustworthy demeanor and experience.
That being said, will we mama bear and fight for our clients? Will we be strong negotiators and confident representatives for our clients? You can count on it. And it will all be done ethically.
We hope that you feel empowered now and in your next real estate transaction, to know if your realtor is keeping your best interest in mind and acting in a professional and ethical manner. And anyone can access our code of ethics, so if you need some light reading, feel free to check it out and make sure we (or whatever realtor you’re working with) are keeping our end of deal.
Doing the right thing for our clients is one of the Dani Beyer Real Estate team’s core values. It’s what gets us out of bed each day (and keeps us staying up all night!), and it’s what motivates us to work hard for you, our beloved clients. If you ever have concerns or questions that someone representing our team is breaking the Code of Ethics, please reach out to Bridget Rodewald, our Director of Operations at bridget@danibeyer.com or 817-709-9411.