Ethical code & rules of professional cooperation

Not every cooperation between two real-estate professionals is the same.

Sometimes one partner has a client and is looking for someone to whom they can hand that client in trust. At other times one partner has a client and the other has a suitable property, but both want to work actively on the deal.

And that is why REALNYX distinguishes two basic models of cooperation: TIP and AGENT.

Because every office and every professional needs something different.

Imagine an office that holds a large number of quality properties. It has products. It has listings. It may not, however, have a sales team large enough to actively serve all potential clients itself.

For such an office it may be ideal to open its listings to partner REALNYX agents and say: Bring your own client. Look after them yourself. We will provide the product and, for a completed deal, you will receive the AGENT commission agreed in advance.

On the other side there may be a large office with an extensive sales team that has sufficient capacity to look after clients completely. Such an office may not need another agent in the business process. It needs new clients.

It can therefore offer partners: Hand us a relevant client. We will look after them completely and, for a completed deal, we will pay you the TIP commission agreed in advance.

And a third office may need both. It can therefore offer TIP and AGENT at the same time, each with a different level of reward.

REALNYX does not tell offices what type of cooperation they must need. It gives them a tool so they can set it according to their actual business situation.

For a specific listing a partner may offer TIP only, AGENT only, or both options.

The reward may be set as a fixed amount in EUR or as a percentage according to the conditions of the specific cooperation.

The partner therefore knows from the outset what is expected of them, what work they are to perform and what reward they are entitled to for it when the agreed conditions are met.

Because handing over a contact and looking after a client completely are not the same service.

If a partner only hands over a client and another professional takes over all further work, costs, time and responsibility, it is not automatically fair to demand half of that professional’s commission merely because the contact originally came from them.

It is equally unfair to expect that a partner who brings their own client and then actively guides them through the entire transaction will receive the same reward as someone who only handed over a contact.

Everyone should be fairly rewarded for the value they actually bring to the deal.

Many conflicts in real-estate cooperation do not arise because of the money itself. They arise because it was not clear in advance who brought the client, who is looking after the client, who is providing the property, who is performing the individual parts of the work and what reward belongs to whom.

REALNYX wants to remove this uncertainty before cooperation begins. The conditions of cooperation are to be known in advance. The partner then freely decides whether they suit them and whether they want to use the listing.

This model did not arise merely as a theoretical software function. It is based on long-standing, almost thirty years of practical experience with the real-estate environment and on recurring situations that truly arise in cooperation between brokers and offices.

Its aim is not to tell partners how much they should earn. Its aim is to give them the ability to define in advance the value of the individual forms of cooperation.

A partner should have the certainty that, when the agreed conditions are met, their contribution will be respected and rewarded. At the same time they must respect that the work of the other side has the same value.

Each receives payment for what they bring to the deal.

The client has professional service. The agent has a clearly defined reward. The office knows what it is paying the reward for. And the conditions are known before cooperation begins.

A partner may insert into REALNYX systems only content for whose use, publication and possible sharing they have the necessary rights or authorisations.

This applies in particular to photographs, videos, floor plans, texts, documents, trade marks, graphics, database data and other materials.

The partner is responsible for the accuracy of their assertion that they are authorised to use the given content.

Without the necessary authorisation it is not permitted to copy another partner’s presentation, take over their photographs or present their listing as one’s own.

Information obtained in partner cooperation is used for the purpose for which it was provided.

Non-public contact details, business terms, information about a client, internal documentation or other confidential information must not be arbitrarily used for another purpose.

Duties arising from legal regulations on the protection of personal data are not affected.

REALNYX supports resolving problems first between the partners concerned.

A misunderstanding is not automatically a breach of the Ethical Code.

If, however, REALNYX receives a specific and credibly documented report concerning a possible breach of the Global Catalogue rules or of the Ethical Code, it may initiate an internal review within the scope of its contractual and technical competence.

The partner concerned may be invited to provide an explanation or supporting materials and to remedy the defective situation within a reasonable period.

The aim is first a remedy, not an automatic sanction.

REALNYX may hear or request the position of both sides, but does not thereby act as a court, arbitral body, lawyer or state supervisory authority.

Decisions on private-law claims, ownership, damages or other legal claims belong to the relevant parties and authorities.

The regional catalogue of an individual office is administered by the relevant independent partner.

The REALNYX Franchise System does not provide day-to-day editorial, legal or commercial control of individual regional catalogues and is not automatically a party to deals presented through them.

For the content, listings, photographs, descriptions, prices, commercial communication, lawfulness of advertising and other conduct in a regional catalogue, the entity that operates the given catalogue or publishes the relevant content is responsible, according to its legal position and the applicable legal regulations.

REALNYX does not replace a partner’s legal oversight of their own business.

The provision of technology, a licence, a brand or access to the network does not in itself mean the assumption of responsibility for the specific legal or commercial conduct of an independent partner.

Conduct incompatible with the Ethical Code may, according to the circumstances, include in particular: deliberately circumventing a partner in order to avoid the agreed reward; misuse of a non-public contact or information obtained through partner cooperation; unauthorised copying of photographs, texts or listings; presenting another partner’s work as one’s own; knowingly stating substantially untrue information; repeated failure to observe written agreed conditions of cooperation; misuse of the REALNYX brand in a way that may mislead clients or other partners; discriminatory, fraudulent or otherwise unlawful conduct related to the use of REALNYX systems; serious or repeated conduct damaging the security, integrity or credibility of the shared network.

Each case is assessed according to the specific circumstances and the available supporting materials.

By accepting the applicable contractual or licence terms and activating a product to which this Ethical Code applies, the partner confirms that they have familiarised themselves with the Ethical Code and undertake to respect it to the extent set out in the relevant contract.

The Code applies in particular to the use of the shared REALNYX systems, the Global Catalogue, cooperation between partners and the use of the REALNYX brand.

It forms part of the rules of the REALNYX ecosystem for active licences and products, including the relevant variants of I ♥ REALNYX, where the applicable contractual or licence terms refer to it.

In the event of a conflict between this Ethical Code and an individually concluded contract, mandatory legal regulations take precedence and then the relevant contractual provisions according to the rules set out in them.

REALNYX does not want to decide how much you may earn.

It does not want to build its success on a percentage of every one of your deals.

We want to create infrastructure in which an independent real-estate professional can grow locally and cooperate globally.

That, however, requires balance.

Freedom without responsibility does not create trust.

A network without rules does not create cooperation.

And cooperation without respect does not last.

That is why we protect the principle on which REALNYX stands: