Experiences are what people remember most, and agents – and the industry – can suffer from a few bad apples. While most agents work to make every experience enjoyable for their client – and for themselves – there are some agents who are making some transactions impossible to enjoy, much less complete.

You could be doing all the right things, but if the agent you’re working with is dropping the ball and not behaving professionally, how do you get through that situation? Unprofessional behavior can range from being unresponsive and hard to get a hold of to not keeping you in the loop about a deal, bringing in a third party and cutting your commission.

Before going further, I have a disclaimer: there are vast numbers of professional, exceptional agents out there. We hear about them every day at Chicago Agent, and every person interviewed for our cover story said (and are quoted as saying, in the story) that there are several upon several outstanding agents who are wonderful to work with. This issue is not about them. Rather, it is about the others who are less competent and less ethical. Those who work with these agents, even if unethical agents are in the minority, tend to remember experiences with them well, and it paints a bad picture for Realtors and the industry.

How people present themselves matters. Not only how people look, but also in how people treat others. Chicago Agent put this issue together because we found that the biggest complaint among agents was other unethical and unprofessional agents. More specifically, agents who knowingly or unknowingly make a bad name for the industry by doing things such as attempt to steal another agent’s listing, or hide a leaky water pipe and not have any intention of telling buyers about it. No, really, it’s happened – read about that story and a few other agents’ not so great experiences with unethical Realtors on here. And if reading this note has made you stop and wonder if you’ve ever acted unprofessionally, you might want to read our guide, “Are You the Problem?”.

The only way to improve everyone’s experience is to continue to be vocal in demanding better, calling Realtors on unethical practices and behaviors, and encouraging other agents to do the same.