Suicidal Real Estate Agents
A first time home buyer that I've been working with for a while now gave me a call today about a property he's interested in. We went over some numbers, options, and ways we can get him approved - best & worst case scenarios - his approval numbers are tight, but if the proverbial $%*# hits the fan, we have options to ensure if he goes under contract, he'll be able to close.
He then took the conversation to an unexpected place, asking "What does a 
real estate agent do?".
"Nothing at all", I replied, as any honest person would.
Kidding. Totally kidding - hope you're still with me ; )
I began to explain that a good real estate agent does a whole heck of a lot, and is worth their weight in gold, especially to an inexperienced first time buyer with a limited budget in the very competitive Orange County Real Estate market.
"Is it normal for an agent to not offer any info and just tell you to go look at properties and tell them when you want to write an offer?". He went on to tell me that he expressed he was a first time buyer and wasn't sure of the process, and that the agent he was trying to work with simply directed him to go look at homes he found online and call her if he wanted an offer written.
From talking a bit more, it became clear that the agent he was "working" with was suicidal, at least in her business. Today, many agents just want their business to die, and die quickly. It seems they WANT technology to take their job, and their income, and push them out of the business. How else can you explain agents pushing business away, giving lackluster customer service, and completely ignoring client needs?
This wasn't the first time I've heard from a client that had a "professional" real estate person brush them aside. What's ironic is that I also hear from real estate agents about how so many companies are working to replace them kill them by automating all things real estate. Well, I'm here to say, if you're not providing the level of service that a computer algorithm can't, then you're opening the door and inviting this technology to kick your ass to the curb. I don't know how else to put it.
I'm not going to mention the names of companies trying to automate the real estate process and squeeze the agent out, because I love real estate agents and know the vital role they play to people buying and selling real estate - frankly, I don't want to give a slimeball company that puts real estate agents in a bad light the benefit of their name on yet another web page - but they're out there. They're here already, and more are coming. Thankfully for you, they haven't mastered the process, and they haven't been able to hook consumers completely, but they're getting closer.
Technology isn't slowing down. In fact, it's picking up rapidly, and every day there's someone trying to come up with a way to take your commission and put you in line for unemployment benefits. If you're being lazy, not caring for the opportunity to help qualified buyers and simply directing people to the internet, then you're basically putting a gun to the head of your business.
For those agents out there kicking ass and working hard to not only find clients but to serve those clients well, I commend you - you are needed, and you're invaluable to people in a way that technology cannot replicate. Not now, not ever. For everyone else, you're suicidal. The disservice you're doing yourself, your colleagues, and your industry is going to be the undoing of the entire industry. Tech companies are trying so incredibly hard to lift the gun to the head of real estate agents everywhere. Lazy, incompetent agents are going to be the ones that pull the trigger.
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