Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The course should be way longer than the 64 hours...
Realtors IMO (not all of you but most of them) should throw their ego's out the window and stop belittle people like they don't know anything and the realtor is almighty....
Call back and/or email back, it is so easy and it will be appreciated!
Realtors IMO (not all of you but most of them) should throw their ego's out the window and stop belittle people like they don't know anything and the realtor is almighty....
Egos's ? We are the most powerful and important people in the industry and these low life buyers and sellers who know absolutely nothing, do nothing but whine and complain. How dare they waste our important time.
Just kidding.... BB, we don't always agree but I appreciate your conservative viewpoints.
Let's look at the criteria being used by many consumers to evaluate an agent performance:
Sellers want an agent who can get them the price they expect out of the sale of their home and do so in a reasonable timeframe, not so quick that the sellers think they sold too low and not too long that the process killed them. If the listing agent encourages them with the facts of the market to accept what the seller's feel is a lowball, many sellers perceive the agent as being interested in a quick commission.
Buyers want an agent who can get them a steal of a deal. When buyers have to pay more than they expected or reduce their requirements, some feel the agent is not fighting hard enough and just wants an easy commission check.
Normally I have a lot of respect for your opinions MOM but on this one I think you have missed the target completely. The real issue is on your first point about Sellers is most agents not only fail to educate about proper pricing, they are so interested in just getting the listing they will write it for anything just to please that Seller. They seem to look at it if "I don't list it", someone else will. They act afraid to explain the facts of life so as not to offend the potencial client. If there is any doubt about my point, go through your local MLS and see all the vastly over priced listings. What are these listing agents and their brokers thinking?
This is the same for Buyers, a realtor needs to be knowledgable enough to lay out a range that they could reasonably expect to fill the request. Our experience, generally speaking, is most of the realtors we have dealt with shotgun MLS listings to their client that "could possibly" fit (or not)the bill. Very little time if any is spent by the agent on office time trying to understand exactly what their client is looking for, what they reasonably can afford, the plus's and minus's of certain areas and what it will cost. After all this is done and each has a clear understanding of their expectations, then possibles can be looked at. If the agent finds that their client is completely unreasonable in what they want versus what they are willing to pay, they do not have to represent them.
Don't get me wrong, their are some excellent realtors out there but trying to sort through the MLS senders, those that do not want to take the education time with their Buyer/Seller, those that are afraid that they will lose a listing/client, and those that really simply hardly have a clue is difficult at best. Those that have brought up just how easy it is to be a realtor, hit the nail on the head. Being a realtor ought to be a profession like a doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc, not a part time job as some see it.
The prerequisites to become a Realtor are way too low. The education requirements and examinations need to be more rigorous. I'd like to see extensive mandatory training in contract law before licensing and periodic refreshers for license renewals.
Our state does include an overview of contract law in our 90 hour pre-licensing requirement, but not nearly detailed enough. Also a 3 hour contract law continuing ed requirement every 2 years (out of 24 hours required). I'm just glad I had extensive exposure to contracts and legal issues in my previous corporate job.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,313,597 times
Reputation: 6471
I just had an agent tell me she was leaving our company. She's bright, well educated, a licensed general contractor, and quite frankly, a horrible salesperson.
In the short time she was here, she managed to close one transaction with a very (and I mean VERY difficult buyer). She really doesn't need to work, and her experience in that one deal was so exhausting, she found out the hard way what we deal with all the time. She really doesn't like people and doesn't smile easily. Could she be a good real estate agent? I think not, because IMHO being personable is the first requirement of a successful agent. She certainly could be competent in the detail work and never run afoul of the law, but talking on the telephone to clients just wasn't her cup of tea.
As far as reputation is concerned, I don't think she would find many folks wanting to deal with her a second time. So, the original question about improving our reputation with the public is interesting to me. I think being able to interact with clients by listening, listening and listening to their feedback and responding in an accurate, honest and forthright manner without regard to the monetary rewards of this business is essential and if we all practiced that way, eventually our reputation would improve.
Well that and we would still have to stop eating our young
One of real concerns is the agent who IS doing some volume and doesn't take CE until the very last week of the CE year.
They are the ones who send you documents on expired forms, and aren't up to speed on rules and forms changes until other agents with whom they do business educate them to some degree during the course of transactions.
I agree. Out here principal brokers can mandate certain trainings, like the forms training every January where they go over the changes. It is the most packed CE class because most brokers require it for agents.
We have a two year license renewal with 30 hours CE in that time frame. They could go to annual renewals but a lot can happen in a year...take this year for example, with financing changes. Out here after you have been an agent for 3 years and you take the 40 hour class you can be a principal broker. I think we need to toughen those standards if you are going to be supervising other people.
Bentlebee we are a 120 hour class with a heavy emphasis on contract law, then a 200 question state test. Many people fail the test, but I I didn't think it was hard enough. Seriously there was a gal in my class who had failed in twice. Clearly it weeds out the worst, but you can still have no ethics and pass the test.
Then we have a mandatory 30 hour class in the first year that goes in more depth.
I do agree with DMen that you have to be somewhat personable to be successful as an agent. Those people that are detail oriented, but not as personable make great assistants!
I really think the bottom line is that real estate brokerages have to be invested in the reputation of their companies. The state licensing board can't do all the weeding out for our industry. At some point we need to be responsible for our actions too.
Because too many of us have dealt with realtors who are only there to cash in and not do ANY legwork or not listen to the buyer.
I did all the legwork when we bought our current home. Other than shuffling papers and getting us access to the house [we looked at 4 homes total] the real estate agent did precious little.
I ask another agent about zoning on an adjacent property [she did not know the neighborhood was adjacent to a property zoned industrial development and one with trailers on it]
My tip to realtors if you want a referral is to work for the person you represent and listen to their needs more than your own agenda. I felt and have heard so many others state, that they felt the agent was working for the buyer. Like Dmenscha says being personable should be a requirement for the job. Our agent was at least competent but her "used car salesman" tactics that sometimes surfaced were a real turn off!!
I came out of retirement to become a real estate broker. When retired I invested in real estate and had hired a few good but mostly poor realtors.
There are good realtors who are good honest people but overall, I find the level of ethics is poor. Try a pop quiz of the NAR code with anyone in your office - you will see what I mean!! Additionally, I find realtors fail to LEARN their business. All too often, Cont. Ed. courses are nothing short of a joke. Seldom is there a test. Usually the test is seldom more than 10 questions, 7 correct answers for a passing grade. Come on!
I have truly enjoyed the real estate business. As an investor, landlord and realtor. Realtors will be respected when they (collectively) have earned the respect. I'm sorry to say I don't see it happening anytime soon.
As for this market - Yes, it will wash out some. In our city about 400 agents dropped out. That's all fine but only means there's a few less agents. It's no assurance that the "bad" ones are gone.
Wow, we think alike. You are my type of person and I would love to work with a person like you....
I agree also that not all the bad ones left although many rotten apples did leave, but unfortunately I have seen people becoming an agent after they were one of the bad mortgage agents and now stepped into real estate...Just take a look on the public records and see what they do and how they live....I have 3 living in my street right now and not one of them should be in this business....
My tip to realtors if you want a referral is to work for the person you represent and listen to their needs more than your own agenda. I felt and have heard so many others state, that they felt the agent was working for the buyer. Like Dmenscha says being personable should be a requirement for the job. Our agent was at least competent but her "used car salesman" tactics that sometimes surfaced were a real turn off!!
Yes, if you have a BUYERS agent agreement act like one!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
