Cabela’s Putting the Arm on Real Estate Agents

By Bill Schneider, 1-30-08

For thousands of real estate agents and brokers affiliated with Cabela's Trophy Properties (CTP), it's now The Cabela's Way or The Highway.

That's the strong message I heard this morning during a long phone interview with Cabela's Senior Vice President Mike Callahan. Some detractors have scoffed at this notion, doubting Cabela's will actually do it, but I can assure you that the company is smarting from the recent criticism and has turned deadly serious about not only making sure their brokers list properties correctly on the CTP website, but going a step further and requiring them to do all of their property transfers The Cabela's Way.

	We understand that the bigger you are, the bigger the bullseye on your back. This is not our first rodeo. -- Mike Callahan, Cabela's

Speaking exclusively to NewWest.Net, Callahan said he was disappointed with recent press coverage of his January 17 presentation to the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission where he presented a $50,000 check, promised $12,000 more per year for six years, and explained how the company plans to create a "model for recreational land transfers," not only in Montana, but nationally.

"Our message was not well communicated," he said, referring to the press coverage.

"We've had stern conversations with our brokers and told them that our rules don't just apply to our listings but all of their other listings," he said. "We expect our code of conduct to be followed by our brokers 24/7, not just the letter of our law but the spirit of our law."

This means, according to Callahan, that the affiliated brokers must reflect the core values of Cabela's in all of their everyday activities. No legal requirement to do this, of course, but the brokers must do it or lose their CTP affiliation. "We did this because some people don't seem to make the distinction between what the brokers are doing and what we are doing."

The company hasn't terminated any agreements, yet, "but we've come awfully close," Callahan said. "We believe in giving people a second chance."

Based on the dozens of comments (out of about 300) I've received from affiliates on my Cabela's postings on NewWest.Net, I'd have to chime in and say the brokers are likely to tow the line because the CTP affiliation is clearly working well for them, financially, by speeding up the process of matching the right buyer with the right seller.

Callahan used a recent Montana CTP listing for a ranch in the Missouri Breaks to illustrate his case. The ranch is currently enrolled in Montana's block management program, which provides public hunting access, and Cabela's made it a condition of sale that the buyer must continue the program as long as he or she owns the property. If the property is re-sold, Callahan concedes, this requirement could end, unless the next transfer also goes through a CTP-affiliated broker in which case, Cabela's would impose the same condition of sale.

"I can guarantee you that no other brokers out there are saying that if it's in block management it has to stay there," he pointed out. "And now, the buyer has to contact the wildlife agency. This presents a good opportunity for maintaining public access, and that hasn't been done before."

"We're new in the real estate business," Callahan admits, "and we were slow to react to this controversy, but now, we have responded and put our money where our mouth is. The shock collar button got hit a couple of times, and now we're trying to do whatever we can."

In talking to Callahan twice now, it's obvious to me that Cabela's isn't accustomed to and doesn't like criticism. "Our core values are honesty and integrity," Callahan emphasized. "We always do what we say we are going to do. I'm disturbed by the fact that people think we are being deceptive. That's not the nature of Cabela's. People are trying to turn this into a big class war, and it isn't.

"We understand that the bigger you are, the bigger the bullseye on your back," Callahan explained. "This is not our first rodeo."

Regardless of what some doubters might believe, according to Callahan, the company's response is working. "We've received many favorable letters and emails, some from people who aren't even Cabela's customers."

Callahan said the controversy hasn't really spread to other states, and if it did the company would do the same thing--tell people it's trying to develop a model for recreational land transfers.

"These properties are going to sell anyway," he concluded, "but now there are at least some guidelines and policies in place from somebody (Cabela's) trying to do it right."

Footnote: To check out the rest of our coverage on Cabela's, go to the Cabela's Chronology. Clarification: This story has been altered to change mentions of Realtors to real estate agents. [End of article]