Before I begin, let's take a look at an article from Business Insider that I think sums up why Real estate has earned such an infamous reputation. Here's a short quote:
"In my experience, lying is the #1 problem I’ve had with real estate agents. Reason # 2 would be when they flirt with my husband and act as if I’m not there."
Every year, Forbes magazine and many other websites come up with a list of the most disliked industries and every year, real estate makes it up towards the top of these lists. Why is this? Has real estate done something to make it to the top of such an infamous list?
Most of the problems lie with the agents, unfortunately. When agents first get their license, the first problem that they have is where to practice real estate. Many places end up focusing their attention on hiring agents just to cover empty seats and collect fees from them. They makes promises of training, mentorship and opportunity. Unfortunately few actually follow up on this promise and the industry is left with agents without the skills, training, confidence, and competence to do their jobs. The biggest losers in this scenario are not only the end clients, but also the agents who do not have the skills to serve in a responsible manner, and thus, who end up earning the ire of the clients.
Most of the time, real estate agents lack the necessary customer service skills needed to handle the customers, which often times means they can't become the amazing realtors they need to be. People generally fear the unknown, and they also hate situations where they cannot get what they want. Selling or buying a house is a very big purchase for people and usually it becomes personal because it is so close to their hearts. Oftentimes when expectations are not set, they usually lead to some of the parties involved being disgruntled. This can often be avoided if the agent had received some basic customer service skills to handle situations like this.
Many people also say that the real estate industry is riddled with lies and dishonesty. Agents wanting to make a sale will resort to guerilla tactics of forgetting to disclose important information about houses that can potentially turn off prospective buyers ( important things like mildew, pipe problems, etc.).
So, who is to blame at the end of the day? Is it those who are supposed to be training these realtors for not supplying the agents with adequate training, or is it the agent's fault for not wanting to demand the training they need?
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