That’s right, release a buyer from agency to another agent with a smile. What? Did I hear that correctly?

After all, a six month agency contract means you're entitled to work with the client and get paid. So why would you release your client from agency to another agent — and with a smile, no less?

Scenario: My client, who has been looking at homes with my buyer's agent, e-mails me how she would like to be released from contract. Instead of e-mailing her back, I call her immediately. (Good agents always call the client immediately instead of e-mailing whenever there is a concern.)

She tells me she is thinking of looking in a different area and would like a different agent. She wouldn’t admit it or be straightforward but I later figured out she just wanted to have a woman agent show her around. So I agree to release her from contract and I get another agent from a different brokerage to help her. So, she starts working with another agent.

The alternative: The client and her husband end up shopping lenders. The lender they were first talking to doesn’t want to let them out of using them. The lender starts to threaten