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It is one thing to say you're a big believer in karma, and quite another to act as if.
There was a little karmic test put to me a few days ago, and from what I can tell, I passed.
A long-time business associate offered me a listing, but wanted me to cut out my brokerage and pocket the entire commission myself. Well, the what was left of the commission after Business Associate took a generous kickback/finder's fee.
As tempting as it was, all I could think was how, unlike some of my past day job employers, this brokerage had generally treated me fairly. My stomach turned when contemplating how I'd feel if in their shoes and being screwed over by a trusted agent, and how what goes around truly comes around. Just thinking about it was stressful. In situations like this, I do my best to trust my instincts, and my instinct said "No" quite loudly. Problem solved.
So I turned down the opportunity, knowing that hundreds of other brokers would jump at such a chance. They'd see it as a "break" in their careers or as easy money. I don't see things that way. Maybe that's why I'm not climbing some corporate ladder, or why the job of cutthroat CEO isn't in my future. I don't really care. To sleep at night in peace means a lot more to me than some shady deal.
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Okay, loss of dayjob aside, I still do real estate work, representing some properties and clients. This entire week one of the landlords I work with has been in the foulest of moods. This person is occasionally prone to tempermental outbursts, but generally comes around to logic once he's done venting. This week it's entirely different. He's decided to stay angry, and there's little I can do but allow him to vent at me. Which, as you can imagine, is tons of fun. Yelling, fussing, cajoling, lecturing and hectoring. Nasty and/or terse emails. Rambling voicemails. I just adore this.
It's a trickle down thing. For various reasons, the owner of the building has put restrictions on the properties, which The Venter must enforce. Those restrictions trickle down to me, the broker, and hinder my ability to close a deal as quickly as they want. Those restrictions sometimes turn off other brokers and clients. And of course, I promptly get blamed for any and all lack of deals on the properties, even though the restrictions the others have set up have a lot to do with us not getting deals done in the first place. Follow?
Add to the mix the overall softening of the economy and the not-so-great condition of the properties, and the fact that they are currently over-priced, and you have a recipe for threats like the following:
"Well, if all you're going to do to market the property is XYZ, then what the hell do I need you for? It's like I'm paying you guys to do nothing."
Which is, of course, utter bullshit. We are following the same procedures we've always followed in marketing these properties and also trying new angles, but unfortunately things aren't moving as quickly now as in the past. Which leads the Venter to panic and take it out on me.
Every commission we make, we EARN, dammit. I don't appreciate someone alluding to my work and commissions earned as lacking value or worse, bordering on theft. Screw that! For every deal we close, I'd bet my last dime that there have been five to ten that didn't work out. So even if a given deal appears "easy," in the overall scheme of things, it wasn't as easy as anyone thinks.
That's the thing. Brokers can make decent money, and sometimes other parties get resentful of it. Examples: Attorneys at closings. Landlords paying out commercial commissions. Sellers paying out commissions. Renters forking over broker's fees. Sometimes it appears to them that we did little to earn a lot.
The Venter seems to have calmed down for now, but if it comes down to it, I'm ready to fire him. After all, brokers are a dime a dozen, and he thinks he has me by the balls because of that simple fact. He thinks that just because he can take my company off of the listing at any moment, he can push me around. But that's not entirely true. With all the crap I've been through in my work life these past few years, walking away from people who treat me badly has become comically easy.
Further, I will not allow anyone to give the money I earn fairly and squarely any sort of evil eye/juju/bad vibes. It'd be different (and warranted) if I were some sort of thief or scam artist. That not being the case, then anyone who resents my money can put a sock in their piehole.
