Home Girls: Real Estate Brokers

Welcome to the Home Girls team - a trio of real estate brokers who will be posting columns on the real estate business and market in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park.  First up is Nan Skinner, an active community member in North City and a long-time Shoreline resident.

Real Estate Brokers
By Nan Skinner

As real estate brokers our job and duty is to represent our clients in their best interests as defined in the Washington Law of Real Estate Agency pamphlet. For example, if we have a listing agreement with a seller, we represent that seller. If we are showing homes to a buyer, we represent that buyer. The pamphlet is 7 pages in length and describes in detail our duties and other laws pertaining to real estate.

When you see a sign go up in your neighbor’s yard that means that neighbor has signed a listing agreement authorizing the brokerage firm and listing broker to represent that seller by marketing their property, negotiating offers, and making sure all paperwork and tasks are done within the time recorded (time is of the essence). 

When you see a broker showing your neighbor’s house to a buyer, that broker represents that buyer. During the process of working for buyers or sellers, we assume many roles: Educator, negotiator, counselor, administrator, coordinator, consultant, and whatever else we need to do to help our clients. 

One of the most important aspects of our job is customer service. We strive to keep in contact with customers and clients and answer calls and e-mails promptly.

As with any profession, we are held to high performance standards, especially in the areas of honesty and ethics.

Every two years on our birthdays, we renew our broker licenses by taking 30 hours (during that 2-year period) of training. 

Since most classes are worth 3 hours, we take a lot of training; mostly in a classroom and a few online. There are usually a few classes that offer up to 15 hours which helps reduce the number of classes we need to take. 

Then there is the training we have to take to stay up-to-date on new forms, changes to current forms, changes to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, and more. These changes are usually the result of laws passed by the Washington State Legislature and most of the training does not give us hours. We are constantly learning and growing.

As a member of the real estate industry, we have the opportunity and need to become members of professional organizations. To call themselves a REALTOR®, brokers must join the National Association of REALTORs®, their state association and their local association of REALTORs®. They must abide by The REALTOR® Code of Ethics. 

To announce and advertise our listings to other brokers, we must belong to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service and know and abide by their rules and regulations. Other professional organizations we can belong to include Women’s Council of REALTORs®, buyers agency, and others that align with a broker’s expertise and training.