Billings-Market
The Proper Care And Feeding Of Realtors
01/04/2007
Speaking from the standpoint of experience I am going to educate you as the public. Realtors are not super human; we are not perfect, flawless beings. Realtors are people and are bound to make mistakes. During the course of my career I have learned many valuable things about the Realtor – Client relationship. Below I will list some tips on how to properly “feed and care for” your Realtor to ensure the best transaction possible.
1. FEED YOUR REALTOR! I don’t mean you should take your Realtor to lunch everyday, I mean feed them with information. The most effective Realtor is an informed one. You are more likely to get the most out of your agent if you give them all the information they need. Moreover, when you view a property tell your Realtor what you liked and didn’t like. A good agent will make a mental note of that and not show you properties that you will not be interested in. If you have listed your house with a Realtor share your ideas with them. If you see something on TV or have a thought about a unique way to market your property let your Realtor know. A good agent will take your suggestions and use the ones that will help sell your home.
2. WATER YOUR REALTOR! If you have a good, ethical, honest agent; tell them so. Shower your agent with praise if they deserve it. Let them know when they are doing a good job and making you happy. On the other hand, if you are unhappy with your Realtor you should let them know. A good agent will take constructive criticism. This will help an agent learn how to better serve you as their client.
3. SHELTER YOUR REALTOR! I don’t mean you should let your Realtor move in with you unless you have a really nice house…I’m just kidding. I mean don’t assume that everything that goes wrong in your transaction is your Realtors fault. Agents are human and will make mistakes but a good agent will own up to it and apologize. There are times, however, that the problem was out of your Realtors hands and, as a client, you must understand that a truly good Realtor will look out for your best interest and do their best to make you happy and keep you safe in the real estate transaction. Sometimes it is not possible to shield the client from the harsh realities of real estate. There are unethical Realtors, there are Realtors who will lie-cheat-steal to get what they want, there are Realtors who do not care about anyone but themselves and the money they can make. Don’t just assume your Realtor is a bad egg; ask them. If you think your agent may be unethical ask them for some references, but give your agent the benefit of the doubt. If you don’t, you may walk away from an honest, ethical Realtor.
4. GIVE YOUR REALTOR A NAP! By this statement I mean respect that your Realtor is a person with a family and, most likely, some modicum of a life. You shouldn’t call your Realtor after 7:00 pm or before 8:00 am. A good Realtor will work very hard for you, but you can’t expect them to work 24/7. I do not have office hours; I work on my cell phone any time of day or night. This usually means that I work 12-hour days trying to make my clients happy. I do, however, get frustrated (like anyone else would) when a client calls me at 9:30 pm and wants me to get something done. Think about your job…would you be happy if someone expected you to be doing your job at 9:30 at night? And what if that person was angry with you for NOT doing your job at 9:30 at night. Here is a good rule of thumb when dealing with your Realtor – Only expect your Realtor to give you what you would expect to give one of your clients. If you wouldn’t like to be called outside of business hours then your Realtor doesn’t want to be called late at night either. If you wouldn’t want one of your clients to ask you to give up time with your family to do something for them, don’t expect your Realtor to abandon their family for you. You should respect your Realtors time as much as you would like your time respected. Now, I am not saying you can’t call your Realtor outside of business hours. Again, I don’t have any office hours so I expect my clients to call me when they get off work. What I don’t appreciate is intolerance. Be tolerant of your Realtor. If you call at 9:30 pm, don’t expect them to return your call that night, it isn’t fair and you wouldn’t want someone to expect it of you. So, again, ONLY EXPECT YOUR REALTOR TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT TO GIVE ONE OF YOUR CLIENTS.
Now that you know the proper way to care for your Realtor you should implement those tools. If you find that you have an unethical Realtor, a just plain bad Realtor, or no Realtor at all then call me. I would be glad to have you as a client and I would work very hard to make you happy, including taking your calls at 9:30 pm if you need me to.
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