Monday night one of my top agents, Brenda Fisher, and I attended Night Court.  Now, I know what you are probably thinking, but trust me it isn’t that!  Our local association of REALTORS, The Virginia Peninsula Association of REALTORS, hosted a training seminar that they lovingly call Night Court.  This months topic was Agency.  In Virginia we have the law of Agency; which says that we must disclose to all parties in a real estate transaction who is represented, and by whom.  This can mean single agency, dual agency, designated agency, and limited service agency.  Confused yet?  As I consumer maybe, but as an agent the answer better be no!We had a trainer from a local office discuss the basics, types of agency, establishing an agency agreement, and the disclosure of agency.  He also reviewed with us the duties we have to clients and to customers, and any and all requirements that we must follow.  In essence it was a great way to brush up on our skills in presenting agency to our potential clients.  He followed his discussion with some case studies on video.  This is where the fun began!  In addition to the actors being somewhat amateur, the cases were blatantly obvious violations of agency.   While we all had a good laugh, I certainly hope the point was hammered home on how important this is.  After the laughs, we played a game of jeopardy.  A local attorney reviewed some cases that had been tried before the Virginia Real Estate Board and then we were handed a device that would allow us to play a game.  Here we were given multiple choices on 15 different questions.  The results were interesting to say the least.  The answers were as varied as the crowd in the room on some of the questions.

This is a case in point for why I think training and education should never be missing in the lives of true professionals.  Gary Keller says that the definition of a true professional is knowing what you know, knowing what you don’t know and being able to distinguish between the two.  If you don’t know the answer go and seek the answer or be the source of the source for the answer.  Your clients will thank you and appreciate you for it, and the winning outcome will be satisfied clients and many referrals for years to come.

Mary Beth Pauley
Keller Williams Realty
1709 Laskin Road
Virginia Beach VA 23454
(757) 869-4110
marybethpauley@kw.com