It was overheard in our sales meeting this week, that it’s best to be “the first girlfriend, the second wife and the third real estate agent.” The theory being supposedly that at those certain points in time, you get the best of the other person involved. First girlfriends are doted over, second wives get a guy who learned from his mistakes and third real estate agents get sellers who have finally come to see the light of the reality of the market and are willing to listen to their agent’s professional advice.

My thinking is be the third real estate agent first, or don’t be the agent at all. Why waste valuable months of time on the market (not to mention marketing dollars) with a home seller that simply thinks they want to “see what they can get” or “dip their toes in the market”. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong market.

And sellers, save yourself some time and money and hire your third real estate agent first. A little industry (not-so-much) secret: Agents will “buy” your listing by promising you a pie-in-the-sky listing price in the hopes of convincing you that your house will sell for more money if you list with them. It won’t. You will eventually reduce your price and most likely fire that agent and go with the agent who suggested a more realistic price three months ago. Oh, and in that time the market dipped again. The new price might be a little lower. Lost time, lost money.

You all will have to work out your own girlfriend and spouse issues on your own. But for real estate, don’t waste the time and money on going through two agents before you get to the one you need to hire first.