I have been seeing the advertisements since before I entered the business, "Buyer Agency with no cost to you." To be totally honest with you, I bought into this theory for years. As this industry becomes more and more competitive I have had the opportunity to re-think alot of my "philosophy" about what real estate is. Today I had the pleasure of meeting with a Title Rep who offered me a refreshing breath of humble and honest conversation. We spoke about doing business with people that we want to do business with and about the business in general.
In the market that I am experiencing, (I say that because some of you may be selling the lights out of real estate) I have found my moment of clairity and I am going to run with it. I share this with whomever is reading not because I want to change anyone, but because I want to change me. I never thought of myself as being about the paycheck, but living by commission alone one cannot help but live under that cloud at one point in time. Now is my time for that and I am making a conscious effort to right my own ship.
I represent the transaction and my clients passionately and without compromise to my own integrity, it is all we truely have to offer that is ours alone. With this I want to be the one to state that representation for buyer clients is not always a free proposition. I want buyers to know that the cooperative commission is being paid by you when you are purchasing a home. The money was never in the seller's checking account and the seller never cut a check to the selling agent (now there may be some cases that a seller brings money to the table because they have paid themselves their equity in advance, but on most occurances this does not happen). I want to further state that unless I have otherwise made the negotiation in advance, I would like to be paid for my experience and expertise. This means that I want to negotiate with a FSBO if I am representing a buyer, for a commission; and if you the buyer are purchasing what was negotiated then you still are paying the commission.
Just thoughts that I had about representing myself in a manner that I feel is in keeping with the professional standards that the Real Estate Industry deserves. I want to represent my clients with the utmost care and professionalism possible. This "dry" season I have been experiencing has caused me to reflect and I think I will be a better Broker for my agents and a better Representative for my clients and customers.
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