real estate agents: Is Your Real Estate Agent a Liar? How to Avoid Working With Dishonest Agents
- 07/09/08 02:01 AM
In the neighborhood where I primarily sell homes in Land Park, it's not uncommon to find agents putting up sign riders on their sign posts that announce to passersby that they are an area specialist. The problem is some of those agents have never before taken a listing in Land Park and have never sold a home in Land Park. I call that dishonest marketing. If I were a seller or buyer, I would not want to work with an agent who is lying to me. A consumer might wonder what else the agent is lying about. Typically, there are three … (10 comments)
real estate agents: Why Aren't Agents More Supportive of Each Other?
- 07/05/08 06:01 AM
I'm constantly being told by my company's management team (and other agents in my office) how appreciative they are that I share real estate tips and my experiences with them. If I received these types of comments only once or twice, I'd think nothing more of it, but it's repetitive. This blows me away because sharing comes naturally to me. Its implication makes me suspect that maybe other agents aren't willing to come forward or share with other agents, and I don't really know why. What comes around, goes around. There aren't really any secrets in this business. And there's no … (111 comments)
real estate agents: Newest Internet Fraud Affecting Real Estate Agents on CraigsList
- 02/01/08 05:56 AM
Yesterday, I received a pile of emails and numerous phone calls from potential Internet fraud victims. I'd like to alert you to this scam, because it is unlikely that I am the only real estate agent whose identity has been compromised in this manner. Here is how it works. A woman in Africa goes to Yahoo.com and sets up an email using your name. She used my middle initial, which I use solely for the Department of Real Estate and MLS, which is how I know she did not pick up my name from the various web sites where I post … (47 comments)
real estate agents: Procuring Cause Disputes
- 11/11/07 09:23 AM
When a real estate agent asks a buyer if he or she is working with another real estate agent, it's not out of idle curiosity. For one thing, the Realtor Code of Ethics, to which Realtors subscribe, very clearly states that a Realtor is not permitted to interfere in the relationship between another Realtor and her client. However, another reason that agents ask this question is because of commission disputes. If a buyer has established a relationship with another agent -- perhaps was shown a home by the listing agent, for example, and then tried to write an offer through a … (3 comments)
real estate agents: Agency Relationships in Real Estate
- 11/11/07 06:22 AM
In California, real estate agents are required to give sellers and buyers an agency disclosure notice. This notice doesn't specify the type of relationship between the agent and client, it merely points out the various types of agency relationships that are possible. However, it is up to the seller or buyer to determine the type of agency relationship each prefers. Some sellers do not want the agent to represent both the seller and the buyer, especially since it generally will cost the seller the same amount of money either way. Yet, few sellers (and even fewer buyers) realize that they have … (2 comments)
real estate agents: Top 10 Myths About Real Estate Agents
- 11/11/07 02:00 AM
Once upon a time, a seller stood on her front porch watching me as I pulled over to the curb, got out of my car and made a call on my cell. When I finished, the seller walked down a few steps of the porch and yelled at me,"Hey, are you a real estate agent?" Turned out she wanted to sell her house. I took the listing and sold it. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Later, when I asked this seller how she knew I was an agent, she replied, "Because you looked like an … (17 comments)
real estate agents: Real Estate Agents vs. REALTORS®
- 11/11/07 01:52 AM
If you ask the average Joe on the street to explain the difference between a REALTOR® and a real estate agent, it's highly unlikely you'll get a sufficient answer. What's even more astonishing if if you ask a REALTOR®, you might not receive the whole answer. It seems everybody knows there is some sort of difference, but few know what it is. On top of that, even when I've explained the differences to agents, some will retort, "Oh, but nobody takes any of that seriously. We don't act any differently being a REALTOR® than we do as a real estate agent." … (2 comments)
real estate agents: Why Do Real Estate Agents Quit?
- 11/11/07 01:37 AM
The real estate business has been rough on many agents this year. It's been rough since the fall of 2005. Agents who rushed to get a real estate license when the the market was hot -- because it looked like an easy business to get into and sales happened faster than you could stick a for sale post in the ground -- are suffering. I hear managers talk about the number of agents who are facing foreclosure and trying to keep their heads above water because the business isn't beating a path to their doorsteps any more. This made me think … (7 comments)
real estate agents: What happens to plagiarizers?
- 09/18/07 01:59 PM
I always wonder where they go. Do they start over like a Phoenix? Do they learn from their mistakes and rise again? Do they ever apologize or do they feel victimized, like somehow they were entitled to steal the information they so blatantly claimed as their own? In some ways, I am sorry that their careers were dinged or damaged. Most likely it's due to stupidity but in some cases it's carelessness, maybe looking for a short cut, the easy way out. Still, it generally sums up to mean stupidity and falls into that category. Every time I find that someone has copied … (17 comments)
real estate agents: Live By the Gizmo - Die By the Battery
- 08/24/07 11:10 AM
Talking to my 15-year-old niece, Laura, is like being in a time warp. She said, incredulously, “Aunt Lizz, did you know that when I was born, cellphones did not exist?” Yeah, well, how about this for one-upmanship: when I was a teenager, I didn’t have an iPod. If I wanted to hear Monster Mash, I had to slap a 45 on my record player and try not to scratch the vinyl. If I wanted to hear the song again, there was no back button. I had to pick up the needle arm and carefully set it down at the beginning of the … (10 comments)
real estate agents: How Many Years is Your Real Estate License Issued For?
- 07/05/07 10:01 AM
I'm working on an article about real estate agents who leave the business or, for whatever reason, decide they can't make it in real estate. I'm suspecting that last year's fallout numbers will not even come close to this year's attrition figures. Which in many ways is a good thing because it weeds out the ineffective and non-producers.
The word on the street often heard with regards to agent experience is "Don't Hire an Agent With Less Than Five Years of Experience." I've been wondering about that statement. I think you hear that more in California because licenses need to … (4 comments)
Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold, Midtown and Sierra Oaks Sacramento office. Co-partner Weintraub & Wallace Realtors. Selling since 1974. Homebuying expert at The Balance. Weintraub & Wallace sells homes from Galt to Lincoln. <
Author Bio: Elizabeth Weintraub is a Sacramento real estate broker, author, home buying expert for The Balance, a Land Park resident, who specializes not only in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento but sells extensively from Elk Grove to Lincoln. Weintraub is prominently known as the #1 Sacramento Short Sale agent throughout the Sacramento four-county area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 40+ years of real estate experience to work for you.
In the neighborhood where I primarily sell homes in Land Park, it's not uncommon to find agents putting up sign riders on their sign posts that announce to passersby that they are an area specialist. The problem is some of those agents have never before taken a listing in Land Park and have never sold a home in Land Park. I call that dishonest marketing.
;)
;)
;)
