The process of selecting a Realtor is one that has always fascinated me. Frankly, when selling a home it is one of the most important decisions a consumer can make yet many do not take the necessary time or effort to make a great choice.
I am going to bet that most top producing Realtors that are interviewed probably get the listing somewhere between 85-90% of the time. What about the other 10-15% of the time when a seller makes a poor selection?
Unfortunately the barriers to entry in the Real Estate industry are very low. Anyone can become a Realtor pretty easily. The educational requirements are next to nothing. Pass the test to get your license and you are in business! This creates an environment where it is very easy for a consumer to have a poor experience with a Real Estate agent.
There are some outstanding Realtors and some that could be best described as Realtor clowns!
Working as a Massachusetts Realtor for the past twenty five years, I have learned that people make decisions on who they hire to sell their home for a multitude of reasons. Some choose an agent based on a connection or the personality of that particular agent. Seems simple enough as most people like to work with others they feel may be easy to get along with.
There are some sellers who pick a Realtor based solely on the fact that the agent has told them what they want to hear. In order words, the Realtor has misled them about the value of their home.
In Real Estate circles this in known as “buying a listing”. Despite the data that is sitting under a sellers nose, human nature often times gets the better of people. Everyone wants to believe their home is worth more money than the next guys down the street. Part of this phenomena is due to emotional attachment.
The last factor that guides many sellers thought process is what the Realtor is charging for a commission. People can really get short sighted with this one. Many mistakenly believe that a lower commission charged is money in their pocket. In most cases that is incorrect thinking. A great agent can easily make up a commission savings charged on paper with their skill level, marketing expertise and overall Real Estate knowledge.
This is not to say that a great agent may decide to charge a seller less but for god sakes don’t choose a Realtor just for the mere fact the commission rate is lower!
Sometimes it is something as simple as total incorrect thinking of the seller’s part. What do you mean by that Bill? When most people need surgery they seek out the doctor that is best qualified to handle the surgery. Typically that is the person that has done the particular surgery successfully numerous times. In the case of a lawyer, most people would seek out the one that wins the majority of their cases. The same could be said for almost any industry. For some reason in Real Estate people do not always think this way.
There are times where seller’s will choose a Realtor specifically because the agent has no business. The thought process is that the top producing realtor will be TOO BUSY and they won’t get good service. This is rarely ever the case. There is a reason why the other Realtor has no business. Nobody else wants to hire them!
Over the years there have been times where I have done a presentation for someone selling their home and did not get the listing. In my early years, I would be so upset it would nag at me for days. This is not to say that I still do not get disappointed. I think anyone that considers themselves good at what they do should have pride in their performance.
There are times when you lose and it is such a hard pill to swallow because you know without question that the seller has just made an awful choice.
While looking on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) you notice the home which you interviewed for has just been put on the market. You check to see who has listed the property and your immediate reaction is ….Are you kidding me???
If you are a top producing Realtor reading this article you can probably empathize with me.
You look at the Realtors name and you either have never heard of the person before or you know they don’t do a lick of business.
Just to torture yourself a little further you check out the listing and see the following:
- There are only a few photos of the house posted in MLS.
- The quality of the photo’s absolutely SUCKS. It is obvious the agent picked up a disposable Kodak camera on the way to take pictures or is using a camera from the 1980′s.
- You read the description of the property posted and there is barely anything of value. It clearly looks like the agent didn’t care and just wrote anything to fill the space. Of course there is also either bad grammar, spelling mistakes, or the use of abbreviations that buyers have no clue what they stand for.
At this point you may be in a state of shock but you decide to Google the agents name. Clearly you are expecting to see at least a Real Estate website the agent owns that markets their listings to potential buyers. NOPE…you see nothing…ZIPPO.
You don’t even bother but you know if you head over to some of the most visited Real Estate sites on the internet like Realtor.com, Zillow.com or Trulia.com, the agent will not have done anything to “enhance” the listing by adding extra photos, having detailed descriptions showing off all the best features of your home, as well as adding a video tour.
Unfortunately this is what has happened to the home seller that has chosen the Realtor because they either did one of the following:
1.) Lied to you about the value of your home and you believed them.
2.) They charged you 1/2 percent less on the commission everyone else was quoting you. You think you saved money but you just cost yourself BIG TIME because you always get what you pay for in life.
You see a REAL good Realtor doesn’t need to do these things to win business. A true professional goes the extra mile in everything they do. They have a passion for their work and it shows.
So if you are going to be selling your home and meeting with a Real Estate agent you better ask good Realtor interview questions. Don’t get stuck with the Realtor clown above! Do your home work. I can almost guarantee you things are going to get worse from here.
I think most would agree having a burger from a steakhouse is better than McDonald’s. It works the same way picking a Realtor as well.
_________________________________________________________________
About the author: The above Real Estate information on picking a top producing Realtor was provided by Bill Gassett, a Nationally recognized leader in his field. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-435-5356. Bill has helped people relocate in and out of the greater Metrowest Massachusetts area for the last 25+ Years.
Thinking of selling your home? I have a passion for Real Estate and love to share my marketing expertise!
I service Real Estate sales in the following Metrowest MA towns: Ashland, Bellingham, Blackstone, Douglas, Framingham, Franklin, Grafton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, Natick, Northboro, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Southboro, Sutton, Westboro, Whitinsville, Worcester, Upton and Uxbridge MA
Very good article with substantial content but I would like to comment on the Top Producing definition that you describe.
I have been a Realtor with RE?MAX since 2003 in the Montreal area. Not a Top producer but a top quality service and expertise to my clientele.
I can relate to your analogy about a hamburger at MacDonald (top producing) compare to the Steak House, (I’d be the Steak House!)
To my humble opinion Top Producer does not automatically = Top quality service!
Thanks Louise! I agree there are different definitions in people’s minds about what a top producing Realtor should be. I think the best of both worlds is providing outstanding service while also generating a decent volume of business.
First off I want to say I am a fan of your blog. It encourages me to step my game up and improve for my clients. I do think it’s a fair argument for newer agents who are building their resume’s/business’s or older agents who are semi-retired but still working referral business to argue their case against a top performing agent by stating the merits of having less clients. But you have to really crunch the numbers and look at it case by case. There are some bigger listing agents where I service that are carrying 20-30 listings with only a couple or handful pending at any given time. That’s a problem for sellers, if the “Top Producer” isn’t producing. But if you have 25 listings 10 pending listings and 20 closed in last 6 months for example, the ratios are well above average and you’re business model is clearly winning for individuals despite servicing a wider expanse of clients. IMHO Bill.
Matt thanks for the compliments on my blog I really appreciate it. I know there are some agents that don’t have the same number of transaction sides per say as the so called “top producer” but yet do a great job for their clients. What I am referring to in the article is an agent that does very little business because they lack the skills, knowledge and acumen to do so. If you have been in the Real Estate game any length of time I am sure you have come across a few agents that clearly don’t have any business skills. We both know this is one of the easiest industries to gain entry into. There are some really good Realtors out there but unfortunately for every good one in my opinion there are 4 more who aren’t that great. This makes it really tough on a consumer because the percentages favor them picking a Realtor that may not be all that skilled.
Agreed!
]
Bill,
Great article. I agree with you on all points about seller choosing the right agent. I also agree when they choose someone and you see the name and wonder ????
I wish all sellers would understand the difference between the High quality, passionate,experienced Realtors who would go beyond the service call and the ones who just want the listing with no intention of helping or assisting the seller in educating them about the process of how the right price and the staging of the home enhancing features of their home will get them what the home is worth…
Thanks Maya & Heath for your compliments on the article. It can be frustrating at times when you have gone on an interview and know in your heart you are head and shoulders better than the Realtor that has been chosen but the seller listens to their pie in the sky evaluation of the property.
Very nicely said and organized. I couldn’t agree more. This year has been a record year in my business for receiving offers from agents who do not fill out the contract fully, listing agents who do not send disclosures and more….it’s really ashame when it becomes obvious that Brokers are not educating their agents at an alarming rate. And yet, buyers and sellers are hiring them.
The old adage of you get what you pay for also goes well with… you get what you haven’t searched and Googled…
Gena there is no doubt some seller’s do not do the proper research when selecting a Realtor to work with. Those that don’t are almost always disappointed in the services they receive.
You also have a portion of individuals that pick the first agent they talk to. Which can be good, but in some cases it’s one of the reasons consumers have such a bad experience. What do they do when the listing expires? They interview more than one agent. it’s too bad they didn’t do that the first time around. I think the other issue is that agents don’t spend enough time explaining the market conditions of the potential client’s neighborhood. Instead they go into their sales scripts and marketing pieces.