Realtors® have, and always will, provide the indispensable service of connecting buyers with sellers.
But since our skills and expertise are needed infrequently, we’re often thought of as interchangeable, as if one of us is just like another, as though we each have identical resources and provide the same levels of service.
This assumption wasn’t true before the Internet, when a Realtor® was just about the only source for buying and selling real estate. And it isn’t any more true these days, when technological advances have made ‘virtual house shopping’ a snap.
Yet, with all the new gadgets, fancy Web sites, and accessibility to information, buyers and sellers still need a real live person—a professional—to connect them with each other.
Choosing the Right Realtor®
The task of choosing the right Realtor® is as important, or possibly more important, than ever before.
Why?
The distinction between yesterday’s Realtor® and today’s Realtor® widens as words like ‘foreclosure’ and ‘short sale’ become commonplace; when the economic principles of supply and demand intrude on our everyday lives; as pricing structure and negotiations become increasingly complicated; and when contracts thicken in the number of forms, addendums, disclosures, and overall complexity.
Today’s Realtor® must be everything to everybody: advisor, educator, consultant, market authority, numbers whiz, and eMarketing expert. Additionally, she must be available at the speed of an e-mail or cell phone call. On top of that, she must also be an economist AND have an accurate crystal ball.
Okay, I can’t claim to be an expert on everything, especially when it comes to crystal balls, but I can and do try to have a full grasp of the important facts my clients need to successfully buy and sell real estate.
Keeping It Simple
In my estimation, the most important quality I can have as a Realtor® is this: to be one per
son communicating with other persons ... to understand where my buyers and sellers are coming from, what their most pressing needs are, and which financial concerns are uppermost in their minds.
Therefore, whenever I work with a client, it’s important for me to put on all my hats, try my very best to provide informed answers, and do my utmost to address every concern.
In the end, that’s all I can do, except to conduct myself by the Realtor® Code of Ethics, be there whenever a question or problem comes up, and listen, listen, listen.
