If I have a client who is looking to buy a home in Vancouver, I will do some work to try and find my client a real estate agent that I think they can fit in with in Vancouver. I’ll find some real estate agents, ask some questions, look at their production level, talk about the neighborhoods they’re active in, that sort of thing. I will do a job for my client to help him connect with a real estate agent in Vancouver and then usually that real estate agent pays me a referral fee. Almost a “thank you”, but it is a bonus in the business and a professional courtesy. Where I will not accept a referral fee, is if I have a client who is looking for a mortgage broker or a property inspector or a professional service here that offers a “bribe” … I will not accept it. That is not in my business model.

I know a lot of really cool and fantastic real estate agents who get referral fees from these companies and they agree with that, and I’m not here to condemn that. I’m not here to say they’re wrong, it’s your individual decision … this turns out to be mine. If I am referring a client to a mortgage broker or other professional, it is because I believe it is the best for them … period. Not because I have a free hibachi, or a free barbecue, or some kind of point system where you get a free trip to Mexico for a certain number of people that I recommend, it’s just not my thing.

I never ever, ever want a client to think in the back of their mind, not even for a second, that they may have been referred to someone else because I was getting something out of it. The only exception to referral fees for me is when I am referring someone to another real estate agent in another location. Other than that, I don’t take any.