Just heard from a friend and fellow real estate agent today. She got a phone call from a couple that she considers close friends. They told her they had done a real estate transaction in the past using a close friend as their agent and it turned out to be a bad experience, so they decided they would never use an agent who is already a friend.
They just listed their home today with another agent. So she loses out on listing their home and helping them find a new home. Some friendship.
Naturally, she feels as if she has been socked in the stomach. I think we all know the feeling.
But I wonder how many times we have been the agent chosen because we were not the close friend and the buyers or sellers wanted a purely professional relationship.
I remember a few years ago when the Phoenix-area inventory was so low that there was practically a feeding frenzy whenever a home priced under $150,000 listed. We got a new client who dumped his grandmother (yes, his grandmother!) to use us because he kept losing out on bids and she was too slow in finding new listings and submitting offers. We found him a wonderful short sale and did what it took to win the bid. Sorry Grandma!
So it goes both ways, I guess. But, still, we real estate agents have a hard time not taking it personally when a friend or relative uses another agent.
