Washington REALTORS®

In this week's episode of Professionalism: For the Broker Who Wants a Career & Not a Job, Annie Fitzsimmons (WR's Legal Hotline Lawyer) and series guest, Camden Schutte discuss issues in the market surrounding VA Buyer offers and views of financing and loans for VA Buyers.

Annie and Camden are back this week with another episode from the Legal Hotline Series, Professionalism: For the Broker Who Wants a Career & Not a Job. In this video, they discuss your reputation in the real estate industry and how that can affect your business, as well as, your relationships with fellow colleagues. Listen and share!

In this week's episode of Professionalism: Multiple Offers From The Same Buyer. Annie Fitzsimmons (WR's Legal Hotline Lawyer) and series guest, Camden Shutte discuss issues in the market related to buyers making offers on multiple properties at the same time, and the legal ramifications for the broker.

Scam Alert!

There's a new kind of scam to be wary of and Annie Fitzsimmons, WR's Legal Hotline Lawyer, breaks it down for us. This latest scam involves online ads advertising homes for rent that are actually in the process of being sold... getting as far as a lease agreements with tenants, now occupants. Listen in as Annie explains this latest grift and what you can do to help prevent it.

In the final video from the Professionalism series, Annie Fitzsimmons (WR's Legal Hotline Lawyer) and series guest, Camden Schutte talk about Buyer Broker Commissions in this quickly changing market. Watch, share, and subscribe!

Today’s podcast marks the start of a new Legal Hotline Series called “Professionalism: For the Broker Who Wants a Career and Not a Job.” Annie Fitzsimmons, WR’s Legal Hotline Lawyer, is joined by Camden Schutte, Designated Broker for Coldwell Banker 360 Team & 360 Property Management, to discuss important aspects to establishing professionalism for your career path… in this first episode Annie and Camden talk about “Area of Expertise.”

In the current Seller's market, we are seeing Buyers writing huge, non-refundable checks to the Seller that are released to the Seller up front... in this episode of Legal Hotline, Annie Fitzsimmons (Washington REALTOR'S® Legal Hotline Lawyer) goes over the risks and implications of this home-buying strategy.

Managing a short-term rental, such as a VRBO or AirBnB, is not uncommon for Brokers, but is it possible for them to do this apart from their Firm's license? Watch along as Annie Fitzsimmons, WR's Legal Hotline Lawyer, explains how this would work and what pitfalls to expect.

** ATTENTION – NEW REAL ESTATE FRAUD ALERT **

In today's important Fraud Alert, Annie shares with you the details of a new scam that has been popping up in regards to foreign-owned real estate... the scam breakdown is like this: a person contacts a listing broker

(in the U.S.) asking if they will help

them sell their U.S. real estate... this U.S. property is owned by a

non-U.S. citizen that lives

outside of the country... they purchased the property

intending to use it, but then they,

for whatever reason, they had to move

to the U.K. ...they (falsely) identify themselves

as the seller of the property, utilize an email address with the real owner's name, and provide a [new] phone number... they then successfully engage the listing broker into selling the property to complete the scam. Annie continues the discussion with the best way to handle a situation like this. Watch now!

Brokers, Do you ever give instructions to escrow to pay

a third party (from escrow)before the commission check

is cut to the firm? WR's Legal Hotline Lawyer, Annie Fitzsimmons, dives into this topic to clarify a broker's potential liability and more.