What is a Realtor Worth

I had a very interesting chat this evening with a close friend of mine and past client who I will call Jeff.  He and his wife Judy moved out of the area and I referred them to an agent to sell their home.  While the home was being marketed for purchase, one of Judy's former colleagues approached her and asked if she could rent the home until they found a buyer.  In the market that we are currently in this is not a bad idea.  They called me to see if they still had to pay the Realtor even though they found the renter themselves.  I told them that I didn't know what their arrangement was with the other agent because every transaction is different.  I did ask them if they felt that their agent earned his keep.  I was taken back but not surprised when they told me that there was no Realtor who earned the money they made. 

Now, Jeff's wife Judy is a nurse and I thought I would have a little fun with him on this.  I said "you know, I don't think nurses deserve the money they make for what they do.  All a nurse  does is pass out some medications and fluff a pillow here or there."  I can tell that Jeff was a little miffed about my reasoning.  He stated that nurses have to know so much about so many things and that's why they get paid what they do.  I responded back with " well, why should I have to pay for what they know if they are only using a small percentage of what they know on me?" Because this is the logic I have gotten over eight years in this business.

I should come clean at this point.  My wife is a nurse and I see how tired she is when she comes home every night.  I hear her stories of how difficult her job can be.  I hear how she busted her hump for someone only to get a complaint from a patient because she didn't have time to fluff a pillow. My wife earns every cent of what she makes and I'm certain that Judy earns every cent she makes as well.  There are good nurses and bad nurse along with good Realtors and bad Realtors.  There are people who don't see all the things a nurse does for a patient in a 12 hour shift and their are people who don't see what Realtors do for their clients over a six month period. 

If you see a Realtor that's worth his or her weight in gold, tell them and everybody you know that will listen.  If you see a Realtor who is not worth his or her weight in gold tell them that as well.  If people sit back and don't express their true feelings, the problems they had with a Realtor may never go a way.  There is a good amount of the nations population that don't realize a Realtor only is  compensated for their services when a transaction comes to a close, whether it be finding a home for a buyer or obtaining a renter for an investor.   There are things that are done before, during, and after two parties agree to sell or lease their properties. Realtors, myself included, need to do a better job at communicating with our current clients and our future clients of what we are doing and what we are planning to do.