Real estate agent trust gap points to commission incentives

Gallup’s latest survey of how Americans rate the honesty of different professions produced a number that has become a fixture of industry conversation: only 17% of Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of real estate agents as high or very high. Agents quoted in recent industry coverage of that finding offered thoughtful advice about explaining compensation early, giving counsel that holds up even when it costs a commission, and committing to continuing education. Every one of those prescriptions treats the trust gap as a problem of individual conduct, something a more careful generation of agents could close one conversation at a time. As a licensed broker, I understand why that framing is appealing, though I am less convinced it fits the evidence, which reaches back further than any of us have practiced. A number that has barely moved in almost 50 years Gallup first asked Americans to rate real estate agents in 1977, when 13% gave the profession high marks. Through the following two decades, the figure hovered between 13% and 16%, according to Gallup’s historical trend releases, which ranked agents among the professions the public considered merely average. The rating ...