Since the market has changed from a seller's market to a buyer's market I feel that I am getting more respect from the public for the skills that I bring to the table. Over the past few years where all you had to do was put a house on the MLS, advertise a bit and buyer's would come and bid and buy and even fight over properties skills were not as important. I believe that some portions of the public didn't understand where education, code of ethics or designations came into play. Anyone could sell a house and they did.
Some agents knock the REALTOR Code of Ethics. I believe it to be an important document. A road map of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable behaviors for agents. Do all agent follow every aspect of it all the time probably not. I do believe that a great majority of agents pay attention to it, follow it, expect other agents to follow it. Agents who do not follow it should be brought to task. Challenged for not following it. I don't see another way to set down rules. The best way to insure that the Code of Ethics is if each one of us worries about ourselves and follows the Code of Ethics. We can't control what others do but we can control what we do.
The initial licensing education we receive simply teaches us the laws in our individual states. It doesn't train us to become REALTORS. It is only the beginning. The training we receive after that is, I believe, our responsibility. It is our business. While brokerages provide "training", it is lacking. When I began in Real Estate and I realized that getting my license had nothing to do with being a competent agent, I started to take courses, designations, to learn as much as I could about my choosen new field of real estate. Those courses coupled with on the job and supervised training started to teach me how to market and sell real estate. When buyer brokerage started to take hold I took the ABR(Accredited Buyer's Respresentative) courses so that I would better understand what it is and how it worked.
Individuals who knock designations and training, who think that the Code of Ethics is useless and believe that we are not respected probably should look to another form of earning a living. The agents who are successful and have negotiated a good position with their brokerages, good for them. Neither the agents nor the brokerages are dump, they all know what they are doing. You need to respect yourself and build your business based on that respect, follow the Code of Ethics and learn all that you can. If you have previous degress that is great however, that is no longer your field so it is time to learn and respect your new field. Putting us all down is really unacceptable.
This is in response to another post on AR. A post that pulls us down and disrespects our profession. No link needed.
Miriam Bernstein, CRS, ABR, GRI, e-Pro, SRES
Associate Broker, Licensed in the State of New York
RE/MAX Prime Properties, Westchester County, New York 10583
www.MiriamBernstein.com
"Content of this blog is solely my opinion"
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