What is a Realtor, really?

Hi, I'm Tamara Deering and I want to be your Realtor!

I'm fairly confident that when asked what we wanted to be when we grew up that very few of my peers said "Realtor". Personally I wanted to be a vet until my Mom told me that animals bleed too, seeing as how seeing blood makes me queasy that fact pretty much killed that aspiration.

All Realtor's are different.  We come into the profession for different reasons at different times but there are a few things that most of us have in common.

1. We are caretakers and problem solvers. We are truly excited to help people find their dream home or transition from their current home to a home that suits them better.

2. We are independent. Being a Realtor is hard work without a guaranteed income. How many other people do you know that will put weeks or months of effort into a project with no guarantee of pay at the end. We are the ultimate "show me" profession, unless you buy or sell a home with us we don't get paid. But we would still rather risk that than put up with the restrictions of a "job".

3. Many of us love houses. We understand neighborhoods, architecture, design style and how a house that fits or doesn't fit into it's environment affects it's value and the value of surrounding properties.

4. We know that a house is many things. We understand that purchasing or selling a house is a big deal, there are financial, emotional and psychological forces at work that all have to be balanced to make a transaction work. We also understand that there are many people involved in the transaction that may have different agendas, there are the buyers and the sellers of course, but in each of those sides their could be spouses and kids and grandparents weighing in.

5. We are professionals. We are trained on real estate laws, real estate transactions, negotiating tactics, sales and marketing skills, banking regulations and interest rates, communication and a whole lot of other things that we forget that we know until we need it. We also have groups of dedicated people who work with us that we trust to ensure a real estate transaction successfully makes it through to completion.

In short a Realtor is an advisor, a coach, a consultant, a confidant and a loyal ally who's legally obligated to work in your best interest.