Welcome to the last installment of our blog series on the Top Ten Realtor Myths. On Monday, we addressed the myth that a Realtor should be hired on the basis of his or her marketing skills. If you missed that installment, you can read it by clicking here. Now, let's move on to the number one Realtor myth.

Myth: A Realtor is a Realtor is a Realtor.

Fact: The Realtor designation merely indicates that the real estate agent is a member of the National Association of Realtors. It is not an indication of skill, experience, training, or background.

At first glance, you might be confused about why we listed this as the number one myth. After all, it seems kind of obvious. No one actually thinks all Realtors are the same, right?

Unfortunately, even if buyers and sellers know in their heads that all Realtors are different, their actions consistently contradict that knowledge. Take, for example, the National Association of Realtors study that found 64% of sellers and 80% of buyers hired the first, and only, Realtor they interviewed. What an astounding statistic, especially given that a house is usually a family's single greatest asset.

To be perfectly honest, however, we're not all that surprised by the number. We can't count the number of times we've heard someone say they were going to hire a friend, neighbor, friend of a friend, or relative "because she's a Realtor". Now, don't get us wrong. We're not saying your friend or neighbor isn't the right person to represent you. We're merely saying she's not the right person to represent you solely because she's a Realtor. There's more to it than that.

First of all, there's absolutely no training involved to become a Realtor. Let us repeat that. There is NO training involved to become a Realtor. You pay some money, attend an ethics class, and you're in regardless of skill, knowledge, or background. Granted, you have to become licensed first, but in Florida that merely involves passing an exam on real estate law.

Second, Realtors have vastly different specialties, fees, skills, and business philosophies. One Realtor might work primarily with investors, another strictly with buyers, and yet another might only handle bank-owned properties. More to the point, most Realtors have experience selling homes in an extremely limited number of communities in a given city or town.

The point we're trying to make here is that Realtors are not like doctors or lawyers. You can call any doctor or lawyer and know they have at least attended several years of schooling and passed a rigorous exam to enter their profession. Not so with Realtors. In fact, someone with no high school or college education and no work experience could become a Realtor without much difficulty.

So, if Realtors have vastly different skills, experiences, and business models, how do you choose the best one for you? Well, check back on Monday when we'll discuss our recommendations for finding and interviewing Realtors. Thank you to all those who have already provided us feedback on our Top Ten List! Keep the comments and questions coming!