Hello, I’m an experienced Realtor and you’re an idiot…

Did you ever hit one of those long-term Realtors who thinks that everyone else in real estate is an idiot because they don’t all do it the way he/she does? It’s particularly maddening when they are also the type that starts most sentences with “I’m not going to let my buyer(seller) do that… or maybe I won’t even show my buyer (seller) your ridiculous offer, unless… or maybe I would never let my buyer (seller) use that type of mortgage company, I’m going to require them to get pre-approved by…


Some of the Realtors that I’ve hit lately, especially in the short sale market have been condescending to the point of being just plain rude. It’s certainly true that I don’t know everything about short sales, but I do think I know right from wrong and how to advise my clients to do what’s right – for them. Perhaps that is the issue; it may not be “right” for these old timers’s clients, at least not in their minds.

This is really a form of bullying, which many Realtors use as what they believe is a negotiating tactic. It’s as tiresome as the agent who whines their way through a litany of issues large and small that they have with the property that you represent as preparation for some low-ball offer that they may have advised their client to thrown in. Both waste time and both are really ego-driven attempts at misdirection to see if they can get the other side to blink or tire out and capitulate.

I’ve even had one of these prima donnas dress me down in front of her client because I didn’t have my client offer the best home warranty for her client – not the one that she always offers her clients. HELLO. I represented the other side, honey. I did the best I could for my client. You saw the warranty well ahead of closing, why didn’t you advise your client to upgrade it, if it wasn’t what you would have offered.

I guess it’s all just human nature. There will always be people in any profession who see it as a zero sum game – in order for them to win, you have to lose. I hope that I try to play the game such that everybody can feel like they won.

I’ve only been at it for 10 years, so I guess that old school agent with 20-30 years in the business will always see me as an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s doing or who is doing it wrong. So, I smile and try to stay calm and let them rant and rage and vent until they’ve run out of steam…and they always run out of steam, because once the hot air is gone, so is the steam. There. See, I feel better already.

Just say no to a part-time effort…

It’s bad enough that 30-40% of the agents that you’ll meet in this business are only part-timers, now more and more of the small franchise operations in the area are becoming part-time companies – open for business only 5-6 days a week. Real estate is a seven-days-a-week business and the majority of the potential buyers only have weekends in which to look for a new house. It’s also an impulse-driven business, with many on-the-fly requests for showings.

So, as you re trying to choose a Realtor to list your house, ask your potential listing agent if his/her company is open seven days a week, with a real, live person on duty who can set up appointments to show your house. If the answer starts out “No, BUT,” run, don’t walk in the opposite direction. There are no "BUT’s" that really make sense or which will really do the job.

Many of the little, under capitalized franchise offices can no longer afford staff to answer the phones, especially on the weekends. Almost none of the little 1-2-man operations that are picking up lots of the foreclosure business these days have weekend hours. Call one of them to set up a showing on a Sunday and you’re likely to run into some telephone answering message that drones on about whether or not you know your party’s extension. The same thing happens when other agents from other companies try to set up appointments with them, too. Whose listings do you think get shown? Not theirs. Not yours, if that’s who you have representing you.

The same is true if your Realtor tells you that he/she has a day job (most times they won’t tell you that unless you specifically ask, and sometimes not even then). Having a part-time Realtor might not be as critical as finding out that the surgeon you’re scheduled to be operated on is only a part-timer, with a real job as a sales clerk at Macy’s or as a hair dresser at the Golden Locks Salon; but it does mean that he/she can’t possible react to the “I’m sitting in front of your listing and wondered if I could see it now?” calls that are so much a part of this business. You just aren’t getting what you deserve with a part-timer.

It’s a tough time in the real estate business and I don’t recall that famous saying (to paraphrase it a bit) going – “When the times get tough, the tough close up for the day.” As a consumer or a seller you deserve a full-service effort from your Realtor and the company that he/she works for. Ask the tough questions and don’t put up with the BUTs for an answer. It’s noon on Sunday afternoon, do you know where your Realtor is? Is he/she working for you? Is their company open and setting appointments for your home? Or, can you only leave them a voice message, if you know your party’s extension? Just say NO to a part-time effort.