Recently there was a business-for-sale transaction where the listing sales person (not me) said to me (the broker bringing the buyer to the table) “drive for the higher price as it is a higher commission for you.”
I was appalled. Perhaps in the minds of some I would be considered naive or stupid.
It is good for a buyer and seller to understand in a business-for-sale or other transaction what the basic driver is for the broker. Is it to have a fair transaction? Is it to earn the highest commission possible?
When there is a duty to the seller, as often there is in such brokering transactions, where is the fairness for the buyer. Is the highest price the only right answer for the seller?
My personal values hang in the arena of “do the right thing for the client and you will find ultimately you will have the right balance for yourself as well.”
My response to the broker mentioned in paragraph one above was “I won’t press the issue for myself. I won’t do that.”
Was that the right response, naive, or stupid?
