If You Do Something Once a Year, Are You a Professional?
If you are not continuing to grow in your career, you are stagnant. Home buyers and sellers benefit by having a seasoned professional by their side during one of the most significant transactions in their lives. A great agent has more transactions under their belt than any singly buyer or seller would likely ever be able to claim. Each transaction brings its own education because no two transactions are exactly alike. That is one reason that a good real estate agent can remain calm in the face of a multitude of crises on the road to closing.
Today, I was reminded of a startling statistic from my own MLS. In 2011, within Hampton Roads (the area comprised of Norfolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, and Portsmouth Virginia, as well as some areas in North Carolina and Virginia's Peninsula), there are 5849 licensed real estate agents. And of these licensees:
3047 sold 0 homes in 2011
830 sold 1 home in 2011
I am sure that there are some licensees in that number that are really licensed assistants who support a team member who gets credit for a transaction. And there may be a few non-compete brokers in that number as well. Further, a few licensees may just act as referral agents. However, this is almost TWO THIRDS of all licensed agents in my area!
If you are thinking about buying or selling a home, ask the prospective agent how many transactions they participated in last year. Check their references from clients who used their services within the past year. Real estate is a complex business. You deserve to have someone who has their head in the game and can help you navigate any problems that can come up. An amateur agent just doesn't have a clue.
If You Do Something Once a Year, Are You a Professional?
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