The Never Ending Real Estate Debate

It is the never ending debate in real estate.   Agents who have had their licenses for many years think that new agents don't have the experience necessary to succeed.  New agents think that long term agents might not have kept up with how the market has changed. In the end it is the consumer who makes the decision which agent is the best agent to represent their interests.

Some buyers and sellers are going to call someone they have worked with before. They trust you and your relationship is key to working together on a successful transaction. For the buyers and sellers who don't have a relationship with a Realtor® they are going to call you for an appointment and decide after they interview you and perhaps a few other agents whether you are the right person for the job.

In a tough market as we currently have, those prospective buyers and sellers are looking for what you can do for them now. They want to know what makes you different from the thousands of other agents they could call. It isn't about how long you have been a Realtor or how many slow markets you have survived it is about "what are you going to do for me today. "

If they have a home to sell their first concern is how to price their home correctly. They want to know all the different ways to slice the numbers to make that decision. They want to know how many houses you have sold this year, in this market and what your list to sales price ratio was on those sales. They want to know about how you are going to market their home to make it standout from the dozens of homes for sale in their same price range or in their same neighborhood.

For buyers it is about finding a Realtor® who they feel is looking out for them 110%. If they are interested in foreclosures they want to know if you have successful negotiated any foreclosure sales this year. They want to know about bank addendums and what they mean. They need to know how the current owner and listing agent came up with the current list price, they want to know how long the house has been on the market and how many price reductions have occurred.

These and dozens of other questions are the ones we face everyday when we talk to buyers and sellers. In the end it all boils down to trust and confidence. Whether you have had your license for 6 months or 60 years if a buyer or seller doesn't trust you to protect their interests they aren't going to hire you.

As Realtors® we can argue all we want about whether experience trumps some trait another agent brings to the table but it really doesn't matter. Your ability to create the level of confidence needed to get the job done in today's market is what is important. We all bring different skills to the table so let your point of difference be the one that leads the buyers and sellers to you and not another agent.