Do You Really Have to List to Last? A Free SWS Teleseminar with Guest-Host Jim Kimmons

When a baby is being formed in a womb, there comes a point when the sex is determined...the fetus will either be a male or female.  I have always thought that agents first entering the business also reach a point where they make a decision to be a listing or buyer agent.  Buyers are tempting due to the thought of a quick commission, sellers are tempting due to the possibility of getting both sides. 

Whether the agent chooses to concentrate on buyers or sellers, it does take a lot of learned skills and techniques combined with God given talents, to be good at it.

Overall, the listing agent requires a few more skills than the buyer agent, and therefore it may be one of the reasons why agents may choose to work strictly with buyers. Of course, having to tell sellers what they need to hear and not what they want to hear is a whole different issue.

So it comes down to this...agents do choose to become proficient with either buyers or seller.  Yes, some agents claim to be comfortable working with both, but the truth is every agent favors one or the other. 

Think about this.....Beth does a wonderful job helping Bob and Mary find a house.  When it comes time to move and sell their house they remember Beth, even though she has not stayed in touch with them, they still list their house with her.  To their dismay, something has happened! Beth is not the same agent she appeared to be when she was helping them purchase. All the other houses seem to be selling but Bob and Mary's house is not. 

What Just Happened:  Beth's strength is being a buyer agent not a listing agent. Beth acutally hates the thought of having to make a call to the seller every week to tell them bad news. Beth is not good at marketing and does not have good tools set up on the internet or any where else to capture potential buyers for the house. Beth does nothing to market to the other Realtors. Beth is a terrible listing agent, but she was not about to pass up the possibility of earning a commission. 

There are exceptions to everything, and yes, there are some agents out there who do work well for both, but very few.

So, does an agent have to list to last....Let's look at it this way, the majority of Mega Producers in the industry are Top Listing Agents...they realized that listings are like trees. Trees have branches and so do listings.  If worked the right way, a listing can become a giant oak tree and can produce multitudes of buyers and listings for years to come. 

A listing agent can go on vacation and still make a lot of money because thousands of Realtors are working for the listing agent while he or she is on the beach.  When you are a buyer agent and you go to the beach.....you're earning power has shut down. 

A good buyer agent can do well in real estate, but I would put a strong buyer agent up against a strong listinging agent any day of the week, and when all is said and done.....the listing agent is going to make far more money!