APOLOGY ON THE FLIP SIDE

I need to apologize to my business broker, even though he has no idea that I slighted him in any way. Although I never really said anything wrong publicly, my wife and I made comments to each other about his performance. 5 years ago, our business broker sold our business in only 5 days. At the time, we thought, because he never really had any time or expenses invested in the transaction, he was lucky to get the full 100,000 dollar commission. I realize, now that I am an agent myself, how short sited we were.

This misconception became unavoidably obvious the other day, when a client of mine made a comment to me that smacked of that same misguided viewpoint. Of course, being a Realtor now, I find myself on the other side of things. From this vantage point, I can see how easy it is to loose sight of what you’re paying for with a commission. Life is an amazing teacher, isn’t it?

My client made a comment to me that because I managed to sell his house in only a month, I really never had a chance to earn my commission, and because I was the agent bringing the buyer for his home, I was taking him for double.

Before I was an agent, I thought the expenses of being an agent were primarily advertising & time, and because my broker had no time to advertise and no time to speak of invested in our business sale, he had no costs, so I deduced that perhaps he didn’t deserve the full commission.

By being stunned at how fast he sold our business, I lost sight of the bottom line; what we were actually hiring him to do: sell our business. The fact that he did so in just 5 days, for full price... just means, who better to give a full commission to. He not only did the job in record time, but the buyer was qualified and willing to pay what we were asking. That’s miraculous. I’d say he deserved a bonus (if I didn’t have to pay it), but 100 thousand was what he earned, and our undying gratitude is what he deserved. My point is, even before I became a Realtor, I made that same mistake as my client, so I can’t get mad if my clients are going to make the same mistake from time to time.

If an agent sells your home the day it’s listed, they have more than earned a full commission. If they take 2 years to sell your home, will you feel they are more deserving than someone who procures a quick sale? What people don’t realize is that when they hire an agent to list their home, they should not think of that person as the agent who will actually bring the buyer to them. A good agent is the person who will cause their home to sell. A good listing agent is the marketing promoter of your home. Although they might actually bring a buyer, if they don’t, their work is the reason your house gets shown by other agents, and ultimately sold.

So, in case we didn’t say it at the time, God bless you, Steve, wherever you are, and much thanks for getting our business sold in such a short time. It was nothing short of a miracle. You earned every bit of your commission and more. We will always be grateful. Sincerely, Mark & Ginny