Let’s say you were the owner of an electronics store and some guy came into the store and told you he had this little product that people will want to buy because they wanted to be able to take their music with them when they leave the house.
He tells you this little gadget is all the rage. He tells you that a lot..a whole lot , of your customers will want to buy this thing called an Ipod. That simply by carrying this item and its many accessories, you would increase your revenue and store traffic.
Would you carry it in your store? I can’t see why you wouldn’t. Your research tells you that people want this product. You find that there is a growing demand for the product. You can see that this is the future of electronics. Portable music devices.
You, as a business person can see that this really could help you sell other products like Ipod boomboxes, Ipod cords, Ipod holders and even non-Ipod items because obviously once they are in your store you have the opportunity to feature your other products..you expand and open a service center for repairs and installations. You see the dollar signs in your eyes and you realize I gotta have some of this!
Then your wife nudges you and you realize that you were dreaming. You’re just a Realtor and you were only dreaming. Time to wake up and go knock on some doors chasing down some lame listings because you don’t sell Ipods!
Shame on you! You call yourself a professional? You have customers just BEGGING to pay you for your product and you have decided instead of stocking Ipods, you’d rather stick to your guns and sell Close ‘N Play phonographs. You really call yourself a professional? A professional what?
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How do you do business on a day to day basis in a market that demands attention and delivery of a product, that you CHOOSE ignorantly not to carry and call yourself a business person? That my friend, is the paradox of the real estate industry.
In an economy wherein 45-60% of all the real estate sales in the Country are foreclosures and short sales, yet you choose not to be in that market, then you sir or ma’am deserve to be broke.
Tell me an industry…any industry…any successful business…wherein the operators conciously decide not to carry goods and services that drive as much as 60% of the sales of the revenue in that industry.
Yet in real estate it’s commonplace to hear the ramblings and proclamations of the herd that:
1. I don’t like short sales
2. Banks are a pain to work with
3. Short sales take too long
4. You work and work on a short sale and it just isn’t worth it (that’s my favorite!)
I could literally write 50 or so whiny complaints I have read about short sales and REO’s. It’s pathetic! I often get comments about being too hard on real estate agents. Well too friggin bad!
I make my living in the real estate business and I for one am sick and tired of the broad based cover-up that is going on in this industry. I am over the BS “we’re all in this together crap” where no one likes to single anyone out for their lack of competence.
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the real estate industry is a major reason the housing industry is in the shape that it’s in. We all know it, but no one wants to do anything about it.
Think I’m lying, go ahead..pick up the phone and call 20 real estate agents. Let me know if you get more than 3 of them to actually answer the phone. Drive up to a few listings and call the agent and ask them some pertinent questions beyond price.
Hey Mr Agent, can you tell me the last time the house has had the roof replaced? Hey Mr. Agent, it looks like this house has been updated, did they update the electrical service..if so what did they upgrade it to?
I can walk into best Buy and get more information on Guitar Hero from an $8 an hour clerk than I can get from an agent selling a $300,000.00 house.
Yet nobody has a problem with that. Want a real challenge. Here’s one to ask a “professional”. Hey Mr. Agent, I’m sure you have been reading the news, can you tell me if this home has Chinese Drywall in it?
Then just stop talking and listen closely to the weasely answer that you get. Like I said…pathetic! Yet where’s the public outcry? Where are the top people in the business at in demanding change? I can’t find any.
Check this out. Yesterday a couple was out looking at a home to buy. They called the agent listed on the sign (their first mistake) and could not get anybody on the phone. No surprise there at all. So they called an agent who I work with who drove out to the home, showed them the house, and last night they signed a contract.
The agent who didn’t answer the phone cost himself $6,000.00 because he didn’t answer the phone. But here’s the rub. He completely ignored the customer, did a huge injustice to his Seller client, and will still make $6.000.00 because he had a sign in the ground.
To make matters worse, he has an addendum that says submit the offer, but don’t ever call me. In fact he says in the addendum we may never even respond to your offer. Yet this is not unique, we run into this all the time. Yet no one says anything about it. Why?
Can you imagine calling Macy’s and having no one answer the phone? Can you imagine going to Macy’s and picking up some items walking to the cashier and her never even acknlowledging you as a customer? Think she’d have a job for long?
Yet real estate agents think nothing of being losers at customer service. It has to stop and it has to stop soon.
How about beginning by learning how to be proficient in what 60% of the market tells you what they want? How about actually being the professional you purport to be by having a clue about how to handle REO’s and short sales?
How about knowing something beyond price and rug colors in regards to a home you are showing? how about simply picking up your phone? Hey listen I know times are ahrd for some realtors out there. But do you think they are going to get any better by your service and knowledge getting worse?
Yes, we offer a short sale training course but so do a lot of people. Take one, take something and learn how to be successful in an industry that has forever changed. Stop waiting for the good old days to return. They’re a memory…just like the Close ‘N Play I used to have as a kid.
But as the Good Book says, there comes a time when you have to put away childish things…unless you’re a Realtor I guess.
Atlanta Real Estate Firm Ranks #1 in 2009 for Listings and Buyers Newswire Today (press release), on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:27:28 -0800 This was 29 percent higher than Harry Norman, Realtors and 36 percent higher than Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Brokerage. With regard to buyers, …
Seacoast Realtors predict housing rebound in 2010 Seacoastonline.com, on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:10:53 -0800While short sales may be attractive to buyers, Rice said foreclosures are bad for the value of neighborhoods and towns and help keep prices low, …
Slowdown signs – US home sales in January slump to 7 month low SteelGuru, on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:33:46 -0800The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes dropped 7.2% to an annual rate of 5.05 million units last month, the lowest since …
In New Jersey, the Telephone Challenge New York Times, on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:05:02 -0800When client anxiety is peaking, e-mail seems to pale as a tranquilizer, said Kim Panes, a Weichert Realtors agent based in Short Hills. “They call me! …
I had a Close N’ Play! I loved that thing (which of course, is not the point).
This kind of behavior drives me insane. (Not your behavior Barry, the behavior you write about).
It’s no wonder the general perception of agents in the public’s eye is dismal, at best.
It’s equally annoying being on my side of it too. What blows me away are agents that won’t return a call when they get a message like, “I’ve got a very well qualified buyer interested in your listing and I have a couple of questions for you. Please call me back quickly as we’re also looking at other properties.”
I left a message just like this two weeks ago on a home at over 2x the area’s median home value.
**4 DAYS** later, the agent calls back and seems stunned (and quite sad) that my buyer had moved on and was under contract on a different home. “But, but, I was really busy!” He says. Really? Too freaking busy to make a 5 minute phone call to sell the home YOU listed. Tell it to your client and see what they think about that….
Hi Jay…thanks for stopping by. It absolutely is mind blowing. Have you run into the REO debacle yet? You’re gonna love it when you see that listing that says don’t call me, don’t ask how things are doing and I may or may not get back to you!
Yet somehow these people stay in business..amazing!