Knowing What you Know....AND What You Do Not...
Good advice here from Sally.... don't be tempted to cross the boundary line.... you're "practicing" and rolling the dice with someone else's life savings....
Far too many times with an ear to the marketplace...if it is your own....or you are on an internet forum....you hear/read
that an agent just got a listing that is.....name that special area of practice....luxury, short sale, commercial, relocation, vacant land, new construction, agricultural, investment....and they have no idea how to market it or what is involved in that particular area of our industry....they know they have a listing...and dollar signs overtake reason. You have to wonder why the Sellers would hire someone who has no experience in a
specific area...maybe they "assume" that when an agent is licensed it is an "all encompassing blanket of knowledge" with training in every possible area of real estate....we all know that isn't true. Not all of the general public knows that...and we as Agents AND Brokers have an obligation...moral, ethical, conscience-driven to explain that to them.
If someone mentions one of those terms and listing in the same sentence...there is the impulse by same agents to grab the opportunity...without the benefit of the education or successful experience that will market the property and take it to a successful closing.
From our perspective....as well as the NAR Code of Ethics, no field of real estate should be treated like a science experiment with the distinct opportunity for things to go horribly wrong and the injured party is the Seller. If as an agent you have not had experience...don't have the education ....and are asked by a Seller to list a property...do the ethical thing...the right thing....and refer it to someone with the specific expertise required to take the Sellers to a successful closing.
The reputation you have....the one that the industry sometimes is referred to as a "Used Car Dealer" is largely due to lack of education and experience with agents practicing outside those areas....and should not. Does a Broker have an obligation to "spot" those listings as they are entered into the system of the brokerage...we think so....and go beyond spotting and step in and put the interests of the Client before the commission of the brokerage.
The brightest people we know...know what they don't know and put their own interests aside to best serve the client...to further their own reputation and the reputation of the people in the industry who work hard to earn the education and acquire the experience in specific areas of practice. Amen and Women.
This has been a professional service post brought to you by Sally K. & David L. Hanson, Broker Associates honored to be of service in southeastern Wisconsin.
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