A real estate agent is a person who is used as an expert to facilitate the sale of real estate. In my opinion, a real estate agent should be open to new things, including innovative marketing ideas and recent changes that impact buyers and sellers. A real estate agent must be someone who listens to buyers, sellers, and renters to find out what the public hates about agents and proactively make changes in their own business plans. Real estate agents must have working hours applicable to other professionals who are paid thousands of dollars per transaction.
A real estate agent must practice their skills by using them every day. Real estate agents may not be part-time in the business. This means they shouldn’t have full-time jobs and sell real estate when they need extra money. A real estate agent must be skilled at keeping their cool when things go wrong. A real estate agent must be professional and never hang up on clients or other real estate agents, no matter what they say or do.
Real estate agents must be responsible for studying, understanding, and following all the marketing tools that can and may have to be used in selling or buying a home. The fact that real estate agents are “uncomfortable with the Internet” when most homes are now being sold via display on the Internet by buyers is no longer an excuse. Real estate agents must diligently understand the modes of communication and marketing through every type of medium from which buyers can search for and eventually buy a home.
A real estate agent doesn’t have to turn on their fax machine when they come back from the store. They must be in business, full time, and arranged to conduct business at any time of their day. A real estate agent should never leave town without a backup and just leave the deal hanging as a result. No one cares that the real estate agent is on vacation more than the agent himself. Real estate agents shouldn’t tell sellers that open houses aren’t working, when in fact, open houses sell properties, every day. A real estate agent shouldn’t be so busy that they laugh at someone for discussing using the St. Joseph. They shouldn’t scoff at the fact that the smell of apple pie may or may not sell the house just because they don’t want to go to the trouble of explaining what may or may not work to the seller.
A real estate agent should never cry when a seller tells them that they no longer want to sell their home or that they will not use it to sell their home. A real estate agent may not steal a yard sign from a lawn or a directional sign from a subdivision just because someone didn’t choose to register the house with them but a competitor. Real estate agents should not undermine other business models. They just have to point out the things they bring to the table and why they feel their business model works better.
A real estate agent should never open a house to a buyer and let them live there alone, just because the buyer looks good. Real estate agents should always look at the identity of the buyer because they recognize that they are responsible for the property of the seller. A real estate agent should always be grateful that someone was willing to pay them thousands of dollars for a job that was never fully explained to the public about how little knowledge the agent needed and how little you were trained when getting your license.
Unfortunately America is the only place where all of these standards, or should I say lack of standards, are lauded every day as good and acceptable behavior. The public needs to be reminded that a large number of inexperienced part-time real estate agents hold the fate of most people’s greatest assets in their hands. When are we going to put our feet down and say enough is enough… real estate is a real profession that requires skill, knowledge and constant reach to execute strategies and results for clients.