A Nice Voice with a Dangerous Motive

A recent posting of mine created a firestorm in an online real estate forum that highlighted a critical industry blind spot. The debate centered on the follow-up phone call or automated form and why providing detailed showing feedback to a listing broker is a dangerous practice that can compromise a buyer’s leverage and violate an agent's fiduciary duty before an offer is ever written.

The "customer service" crowd of listing brokers predictably pushed back. Several brokers chimed in to defend the practice, arguing that sellers invest time, money, and emotion into preparing their homes, and that constructive feedback is an essential part of a marketing program. One broker even noted that they routinely use feedback to convince stubborn sellers to lower their price or address property flaws.

Wow, just think about that for a minute. You list a house, then call someone who wants to buy it for less than full list price; they tell you it's overpriced, and then you have to go back to your seller-client to get a price reduction. Hello!

The entire point is being missed by this group of brokers.

They are looking at this as a convenient way to get competing brokers to do their difficult work for them. They want to collect outside comments, not knowing whether they’re based in fact, so they can pressure their sellers into making price reductions that might not even be warranted.

When I called a buyer’s broker after they showed one of my listings, it wasn't to find out what they thought about the house. I already knew what the house looked like and had a seller-approved marketing plan in place. I called to see what that broker would tell me about their client.

I looked at it differently than the checklist models. I was doing the broker work to truly benefit my client: I would ask a simple question of the showing broker, and then listen to them go. I’d learn all about their clients, what they were looking for, and whether they were inside or outside of their price range. Their help with my listing was never my motive.

In this business, many agents will answer almost any question if they are asked politely enough. They think they are building industry rapport, but they are completely blind to the fact that they are leaking negotiation currency for absolutely nothing in return.

When a listing agent calls a showing agent, they use the standard industry script: "Hey, thanks for showing 123 Main Street today. Just checking in to see how it went!"

Then, they shut up and listen.

Nice and polite. Nine times out of ten, an untrained or just eager-to-please broker will immediately walk their client right into a trap. They won't just say the carpet is dated. They will say things like:

• "Oh, my buyers absolutely loved the backyard, but they are a little tight on their down payment, so we're looking at a few others." (The financial boundary is now known.)

  
  

• "They really want to be in this school district before September, but they think it's priced a bit high." (Now the strict timeline and exact emotional target are exposed.)

  
  

• "It's their favorite house so far, but the husband is worried about the roof." (Now the listing side knows exactly which objection to prepare to defend when the offer comes.)

The buyer's negotiation position is handed over on a silver platter. It's given away for absolutely nothing in return, except for the pleasant sound of a voice on the other end of the phone.

By the time a written offer hits the desk forty-eight hours later, the listing side already knows the buyer's budget, motivations, timeline, and emotional attachment.

This is the exact danger agents need to guard against. Information is leverage, and in a fiduciary relationship, leverage belongs exclusively to the client. It is not the broker's to spend on a casual phone call just because a peer asked nicely. It is entirely professional to say “None of your business” and then laugh it off with the other side.

For anyone representing a buyer, the only official feedback to a listing broker should be a clean, written contract. If a client doesn't want the house, a simple, non-disclosing deflection is all that courtesy requires. And remember, buyers often say they don't want what they end up buying, so what you say may come back to bite you.

For anyone representing a seller, do you really think the buyer brokers are giving you truthful feedback that justifies you pressuring your client to reduce their price? What buyer broker wouldn't tell you your listing is overpriced! Of course, their buyer wants the price lowered.

The newer office models and modern team systems treat real estate like a data-entry game. They want checklists and automated feedback forms because they make their job easier. But a real broker isn't about feeding the machine or building easy rapport with the competition at a client's expense. Stop giving them feedback, stop doing their work for them, and be a fiduciary to your client!

The next time the phone rings after a showing, remember that the person on the other end has a legal obligation to repeat to their client everything said during the conversation and to use it to beat the competition in a negotiation. A client's negotiation currency belongs to the client, and their agent shouldn’t spend it unless explicitly authorized.

Personally, I think this is one game the industry should just stop practicing.

Professional courtesy doesn't mean discussing your client's thoughts with the other side before the negotiation even starts.

Until soon enough,

Jeff.

Championing the Human Parts of Real Estate Since 1979™

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About the Author: I am a self-retired real estate professional with a career spanning 47 years. Throughout decades of market changes, I remained dedicated to the idea that real estate is about more than square footage—it’s about the human element. Today, I write about the lessons learned from a lifetime of helping people find the place that truly feels like home, hoping that sharing these insights will help the next generation of agents better serve their clients and find fulfillment in their own careers.

(C) 2026 Jeff Sorg

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