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So it seems I have offended a few people, I respect your input and viewpoints but certainly may not unilaterally agree with what you have to say. Opinions vary; and that is exactly the magic about discussions and our business.
My business is doing just fine, thank you for expressing vicarious concern. I will not pander to someone's ego and when I started many years ago, I certainly was not going to be pushed around and antagonized like a minnow in a real estate pond. Many experienced agents like to belittle, challenge and condescend new agents and cast doubt about their abilities upon potential clients whenever possible - come on, admit it, we all do it as part of objective handling techniques to make us look better and you were once subject to it and lost listings and buyers because of it. Its referred to as business and some people will jade someone with slight of hand without an infraction of so called precious "code of ethics" ... Common denominator of such mindset usually arises from seeing inside of others or the agent as a person somesort of a threat upon their business and livelihood; so the remarks I rebutted with back then was to put them in their place inorder to get the job at hand, done. Some would want to dictate to how a transaction was to be and ignore the fact that a) everything is negotiable b) the decisions are between our sellers and buyers as clients. You may not agree to choice of words I once used but one has to select vocabulary to get the message across in a fashion only they can understand - even if it entails stooping to their petty level. Communication comes in 2 levels - you either step up or down to someone's comprehension. Often I have had to step down to theirs. Like many of you, I have dealt with great agents, and some who are not capable finding their a$$ to wipe with paper during a trip to the restroom. With the latter, that is why I am very concerned about what offer is presented because frequently it is a lawsuit begging to be occur because of carelessness or someone is trying to plum the feathers with ambiguous verbiage in the offer.
You may call what I deemed in my prior post as childish petulance, but I look back to then as mirroring their behavior. It may come across as brash, assertive or caviler ... its been called and chastised worse. I have had praise from clients and colleges alike for my candidness, even if I am calling out someone's bull, and if its in tone which may offend, well c'est la vie. You and I do have reputations (ones we like to believe and others manifested, some more accurate than others but the rumor ones tend to be based on fabrication). Contrary to what you may think, I never instigate games in transactions but I may respond to raise to such call and participation but that depends on how the initiating party opens. If its thrown in my court, I have the discretion to be able to make such determination. All too often I see agents who will take the path of resistance for the sake of not offending the other agent or under a self belief of being in their good graces; but there is a cost detriment assessed (often thousands) on their clients because they didn't want to push the concern of their client for fear of how they may be perceived afterwards by contempories and community. Well, overall, Realtor Jones doesn't give two hoots about you because the only thing they care about is ... themselves. I am promoting and advocating the wishes of my client and represent them to the fullest as though I were the one purchasing or selling the property as it were my own. I have built my business on such proclamation. I only wish that other agents cared more about their clients as they would if they were exchanging their own personal property rather than how someone's tone is to them. The ones who are willing to sell their integrity for a mere few hundred dollars in a deal are the ones who put a bad light for our industry. Those are the ones you should condemn and vilify - it is ever so convenient to vindicate ourselves. No-one is perfect inclusive of you or I, and its a delusion to think otherwise. I am pretty sure that many of you here have once been at such crossroads and had a voice on the other shoulder whispering temptations in your ear to get the deal done loooong before reading my post and getting up in arms over what I once would say.
. All too often I see agents who will take the path of resistance for the sake of not offending the other agent or under a self belief of being in their good graces; but there is a cost detriment assessed (often thousands) on their clients because they didn't want to push the concern of their client for fear of how they may be perceived afterwards by contempories and community.
So, by your own statement here, if I fail to get snarky or "take the low road" with another agent then its a "cost detriment" to my client?
Again, its about PROFESSIONALISM. Your statement above is completely absurd. Childish petulance? Absolutely. Ever heard the phrase "be the bigger person"? "Never wallow in the mud with pigs. You get dirty and the pigs like it".
I'm going to be honest, you sound like one of those "new agents" who think they need to be the "alpha" going up against the seasoned vet because they have something to prove and mistakenly THINK being a bit of a jerk is how to "play" things. When I get those, I just roll my eyes and cruise along with a smile, they will learn eventually.....and they learn the best lessons from us seasoned agents. Maybe the NEXT time I have to deal with them, they will have picked up some pointers.
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” Jim Rohn
Last edited by LCTMadison; 04-15-2014 at 05:25 AM..
Since when did protecting your clients interests and being professional/pleasant become mutually exclusive? All of us in the real estate profession have encountered jerks or other agents who are out on an ego trip. I disagree 100% that the only way to protect your clients interests is by fighting fire with fire. My clients appreciate my professionalism and one of the reasons they work with me is BECAUSE I am polite and professional. Some have directly witnessed me respond to behavior like yours by rising above it. I should note that I am also relatively new and MUCH younger than the average agent. I take my share of abuse and inappropriate comments about my age. When I respond with professionalism and manners along with proving myself and capable and knowledgeable about real estate, I prove these bully agents wrong.
No one has ever made himself great by showing how small someone else is.
Treat everyone with politeness. Not because they are nice but because YOU are nice.
Success is the best revenge.
If you don't believe you can achieve success without poor etiquette, I am very sorry for you. I truly believe that this tactic, while possibly okay in the short term, will destroy your business in the long term.
So it seems I have offended a few people, I respect your input and viewpoints but certainly may not unilaterally agree with what you have to say. Opinions vary; and that is exactly the magic about discussions and our business.
My business is doing just fine, thank you for expressing vicarious concern. I will not pander to someone's ego and when I started many years ago, I certainly was not going to be pushed around and antagonized like a minnow in a real estate pond. Many experienced agents like to belittle, challenge and condescend new agents and cast doubt about their abilities upon potential clients whenever possible - come on, admit it, we all do it as part of objective handling techniques to make us look better and you were once subject to it and lost listings and buyers because of it. Its referred to as business and some people will jade someone with slight of hand without an infraction of so called precious "code of ethics" ... Common denominator of such mindset usually arises from seeing inside of others or the agent as a person somesort of a threat upon their business and livelihood; so the remarks I rebutted with back then was to put them in their place inorder to get the job at hand, done. Some would want to dictate to how a transaction was to be and ignore the fact that a) everything is negotiable b) the decisions are between our sellers and buyers as clients. You may not agree to choice of words I once used but one has to select vocabulary to get the message across in a fashion only they can understand - even if it entails stooping to their petty level. Communication comes in 2 levels - you either step up or down to someone's comprehension. Often I have had to step down to theirs. Like many of you, I have dealt with great agents, and some who are not capable finding their a$$ to wipe with paper during a trip to the restroom. With the latter, that is why I am very concerned about what offer is presented because frequently it is a lawsuit begging to be occur because of carelessness or someone is trying to plum the feathers with ambiguous verbiage in the offer.
You may call what I deemed in my prior post as childish petulance, but I look back to then as mirroring their behavior. It may come across as brash, assertive or caviler ... its been called and chastised worse. I have had praise from clients and colleges alike for my candidness, even if I am calling out someone's bull, and if its in tone which may offend, well c'est la vie. You and I do have reputations (ones we like to believe and others manifested, some more accurate than others but the rumor ones tend to be based on fabrication). Contrary to what you may think, I never instigate games in transactions but I may respond to raise to such call and participation but that depends on how the initiating party opens. If its thrown in my court, I have the discretion to be able to make such determination. All too often I see agents who will take the path of resistance for the sake of not offending the other agent or under a self belief of being in their good graces; but there is a cost detriment assessed (often thousands) on their clients because they didn't want to push the concern of their client for fear of how they may be perceived afterwards by contempories and community. Well, overall, Realtor Jones doesn't give two hoots about you because the only thing they care about is ... themselves. I am promoting and advocating the wishes of my client and represent them to the fullest as though I were the one purchasing or selling the property as it were my own. I have built my business on such proclamation. I only wish that other agents cared more about their clients as they would if they were exchanging their own personal property rather than how someone's tone is to them. The ones who are willing to sell their integrity for a mere few hundred dollars in a deal are the ones who put a bad light for our industry. Those are the ones you should condemn and vilify - it is ever so convenient to vindicate ourselves. No-one is perfect inclusive of you or I, and its a delusion to think otherwise. I am pretty sure that many of you here have once been at such crossroads and had a voice on the other shoulder whispering temptations in your ear to get the deal done loooong before reading my post and getting up in arms over what I once would say.
Frankly, it sounds like you're in business to validate yourself, not to serve others. I'll spare you the psychoanalysis, but I'm probably not the only one who sees what's really going on with you. It's not about real estate, it's something else, some deep seeded unmet need.
I wish you the best and invite you to see if you can look at the real estate business through a new set of glasses. It's not about butting heads, it's about trying to get shoulder to shoulder and pointed in the same direction with others, that direction being a successful closing.
So it seems I have offended a few people, I respect your input and viewpoints but certainly may not unilaterally agree with what you have to say. Opinions vary; and that is exactly the magic about discussions and our business.
My business is doing just fine, thank you for expressing vicarious concern. I will not pander to someone's ego and when I started many years ago, I certainly was not going to be pushed around and antagonized like a minnow in a real estate pond. Many experienced agents like to belittle, challenge and condescend new agents and cast doubt about their abilities upon potential clients whenever possible - come on, admit it, we all do it as part of objective handling techniques to make us look better and you were once subject to it and lost listings and buyers because of it. Its referred to as business and some people will jade someone with slight of hand without an infraction of so called precious "code of ethics" ... Common denominator of such mindset usually arises from seeing inside of others or the agent as a person somesort of a threat upon their business and livelihood; so the remarks I rebutted with back then was to put them in their place inorder to get the job at hand, done. Some would want to dictate to how a transaction was to be and ignore the fact that a) everything is negotiable b) the decisions are between our sellers and buyers as clients. You may not agree to choice of words I once used but one has to select vocabulary to get the message across in a fashion only they can understand - even if it entails stooping to their petty level. Communication comes in 2 levels - you either step up or down to someone's comprehension. Often I have had to step down to theirs. Like many of you, I have dealt with great agents, and some who are not capable finding their a$$ to wipe with paper during a trip to the restroom. With the latter, that is why I am very concerned about what offer is presented because frequently it is a lawsuit begging to be occur because of carelessness or someone is trying to plum the feathers with ambiguous verbiage in the offer.
You may call what I deemed in my prior post as childish petulance, but I look back to then as mirroring their behavior. It may come across as brash, assertive or caviler ... its been called and chastised worse. I have had praise from clients and colleges alike for my candidness, even if I am calling out someone's bull, and if its in tone which may offend, well c'est la vie. You and I do have reputations (ones we like to believe and others manifested, some more accurate than others but the rumor ones tend to be based on fabrication). Contrary to what you may think, I never instigate games in transactions but I may respond to raise to such call and participation but that depends on how the initiating party opens. If its thrown in my court, I have the discretion to be able to make such determination. All too often I see agents who will take the path of resistance for the sake of not offending the other agent or under a self belief of being in their good graces; but there is a cost detriment assessed (often thousands) on their clients because they didn't want to push the concern of their client for fear of how they may be perceived afterwards by contempories and community. Well, overall, Realtor Jones doesn't give two hoots about you because the only thing they care about is ... themselves. I am promoting and advocating the wishes of my client and represent them to the fullest as though I were the one purchasing or selling the property as it were my own. I have built my business on such proclamation. I only wish that other agents cared more about their clients as they would if they were exchanging their own personal property rather than how someone's tone is to them. The ones who are willing to sell their integrity for a mere few hundred dollars in a deal are the ones who put a bad light for our industry. Those are the ones you should condemn and vilify - it is ever so convenient to vindicate ourselves. No-one is perfect inclusive of you or I, and its a delusion to think otherwise. I am pretty sure that many of you here have once been at such crossroads and had a voice on the other shoulder whispering temptations in your ear to get the deal done loooong before reading my post and getting up in arms over what I once would say.
I do not stoop to other people's level. "Lie down with dogs and get up with fleas" as the old saying goes.
(In my best Yoda voice.) Amount of business does not alone a good agent make. Professional you do not appear. Agents avoid you they will. Hurt your clients it does.
Seriously though, you don't have to be a B to "stand up" for your clients. I get my clients close to value often and am considered an excellent negotiator. I'm also considered one of the nicest and hardest working agents in my market. As the old saying goes you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
Your bad attitude can come back and adversely affect your client because you have to act "snotty" and not just keep things professional. Again, just because another agent acts like a jerk doesn't mean you should. Not a smart business move.
Amen. Could not agree more with you and austin-steve. This is where all the trite (but oh so very true) sayings come into play.
Really sad to know this kind of attitude is coming in the door.
(I really considered it was a troll posting, but I do not believe it is)
I do not stoop to other people's level. "Lie down with dogs and get up with fleas" as the old saying goes.
And an island cannot survive in real estate. Self-ostracization is one heck of a way to shorten what could be a fabulous career.
I rarely have seen anyone make it to the top without humility, grace and compassion added to the determination to succeed. I don't see any hint of these qualities, with the exception of drive. And that's sad, because that tells me someone doesn't care how they get there, which means it comes at the cost of others.
What's Zig's mantra? Your attitude, not your aptitude will determine your altitude. I'm sorry, but there's a toxic attitude at work.
With the latter, that is why I am very concerned about what offer is presented because frequently it is a lawsuit begging to be occur because of carelessness or someone is trying to plum the feathers with ambiguous verbiage in the offer.
I rarely find this to be the case. The majority of agents are well schooled in not practicing Law. Our Contracts and addendums are put together by the state for us to simply fill in the blank.
Ambiguous verbiage would fall under the "Practicing Law". If they cross the line, it is easy for an agent to explain to their client and scratch out the wording.
Must be a lot of poorly trained agents in his area. (But I doubt it)
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