Being a Real Estate Agent is Scary Enough this Halloween

Needless to say, I have been in some bizarre situations during showings in my real estate career.  You do this long enough, and you come across all kinds of, shall we say, “interesting” things.

I have to admit though, the “dead clown in the garden” problem just hasn’t happened.  I guess I should consider myself truly fortunate.

So in the spirit of Halloween (nice play on words, huh?), here’s one of my favorite real estate videos.

Honestly, if I were these buyers, I would be more terrified about how the agent continually changes the subject and ignores his concerns than I would be about the “foreboding sense of evil”.

But hey, if you are looking for a house nowadays, congratulations… you definitely don’t scare easily.  And we should talk, because I can help make sure your purchase doesn’t become a nightmare.

It’s Not a License to be Repulsive… When Agents Cross the Line

Those of you who know me remember the personal debate anguish I went through when I was evaluating the professional options in the real estate industry. Like lots of folks, I had an unfavorable perception of many in the industry. In fact, I am definitely not alone as the results of this Harris Interactive Poll of professions shows. (Hint: Agents don’t rank very well). But I really liked helping people with what was likely their largest personal investment. And there was a real, palpable sense of accomplishment in bringing buyers and sellers together to accomplish mutual goals. However, there was that pesky Washington Real Estate law that prohibits an individual from earning compensation without being duly licensed, which provided, shall we call them, challenges to doing things any other way.

Now mind you, I did have choices. I could a) do all the real estate activity I wanted, helping tons of folks along the way, for free, or b) get licensed, become a Realtor and actually keep my wife and three kids clothed and fed and all those other basic things that for some reason I felt an obligation. So, Realtor license it was.

Fast forward to the present. After seven years and helping hundreds of people (those are called transaction sides by some in the business), I understand that I made the right choice (the “work for free” part was really unappealing), BUT I still have to deal with that negative stereotype that unfortunately many licensees perpetuate.

Example “A” for the Prosecution is this unbelievable “marketing strategy” employed by one agent in Florida.

This from TMZ.com via the TheRealEstateBloggers:

TMZ got an unbelievable pitch from a big-time Florida Realtor, and here it is, verbatim – “I have a FABULOUS piece of property for sale DIRECTLY across from Tiger Woods new property on Jupiter Island (Being built) When a tabloid pays JLO $6mil for photos of her first born, I would think that $4mil for a fabulous piece of property for unlimited photo opts of Tiger would be quite valuable!”

Ugh. Now look, my sellers know that I will likely do more for them in my efforts than any other real estate broker in town… but I would simply call “no mas” on this one. I realize that it is a competitive world out there, both for sellers and for agents, but c’mon, a guys gotta be able to sleep at night.

Please know, I have come to find that there ARE – really – loads of great people out there in this profession, (if you don’t believe me, scroll through my Blogroll someday). But unfortunately it comes back to the old adage that one (or many) bad apples can spoil the bunch. All I can do is continue to pursue my goal of changing people’s perception one person at a time.

Methinks thou Doth Protest too Much…

Look, I am big fan of the glass-half-full, rose-colored-glasses concept. I appreciate folks at the NAR (National Association of Realtors) are doing spending my ever increasing dues. I applaud the efforts of the local builders and their association who scream (not so subtly) that NOW is the time to buy.

But really, to paraphrase Billy Shake, “methinks thou doth protest too much”.

Sorry, but to the average Jane homebuyer out there, the Association of Realtors and the Builders sitting on loads of inventory are not the greatest, most credible source for, shall we say, unbiased information. They want houses to sell, NOW. And don’t get me wrong, so do I (and Mrs. Broker would like me to sell a house or two, as would baby, who needs a new pair of shoes.)

But you can’t push a string. You can lead a horse to water, but… Well, you know the clichés. And I think you get it. Not sure I can say the same for those with the much deeper ad pockets than me.

Candidly, it may get worse before it gets better. I don’t know for sure. Anyone who tells you they know for sure that NOW IS THE TIME to buy… well, I’d say “run Forrest, run”, away, as fast as you can. I’m not going all negative here, but call me a realist.

I will say, the one thing we know we have little (any?) control over is the future. Are interest rates going up? Will that house you absolutely love still be on the market in six months? My point is, while I don’t think you can make a blanket statement that NOW is the time to buy, if you find the right home, at the right price and you can get the right financing (read: NO teaser rate, negative amortization deals) then sure, it would be the right time to buy. But NOT because someone else told you to.

So despite my words of caution, there are deals out there. But what I am finding is that only the very best deals are getting done. Priced really right, staged right, marketed right, managed right. No room for errors. But I’m all good with that, because that’s how we’ve always done things. We just find we’re now doing more work, for a longer period of time, than we were in the heat of that unhealthy frenzy of 2003-2005.

But fortunately, since we removed those rose colored glasses, we think we can better assist those folks who need straight answers, not just a well-tuned and deep-pocketed marketing message.