We often get told that real estate agents get paid way too much. If you feel that way then you don't know what our job consists of. Working with a buyer in this type of market is harder than it seems. Considering gas prices you better have a well quallified approved buyer in your car before you take them around to look at properties. Once they have chosen a property (probably after looking at 20-30) then they decide what they want to offer on the property. Depending on if it is short sale or one of the few ones that are owner occupied the waiting game starts. If it is a short sale the wait is as long as 4-6 weeks or if it is owner occupied then the wait could be 1-3 days. After the offer is accepted then the inspections will start out. The termite and home inspections are also critical to a buyer. Depending on what comes out of the inspections the buyer can decide to go through with the purchase of the home or not. Meanwhile this whole time the realtor needs to juggle different people and keep them coming up and down and not let them fall. Everyone is different and the realtor needs to make sure that he/she keeps everything in perspective with every one. When I look at the process of buying (I have not even started to talk about working with sellers), I think realtors don't get paid enough.
I wrote a very lengthy heated debate about this on my outside blog about how we get paid and how much we make. I have to say, boy did I get some nasty e-mails on that one, mainly from a few discount brokers that really didn't like my math!
That is because they don't believe our work is worth that much.
Thanks for commenting Todd
Carol ... I definitely agree. We have to change the mindset of the client who thinks we are just salespeople. I take time during the initial consultation with my sellers to highlight some of the tasks that I would be assisting with. It helps to create a visual of all the steps in the process and show how you provide assistance with each step so as to ensure a successful sale. My background prior to real estate is in Project Management, so I use those skills in managing the sale of my client's house. I highlight those attributes as qualities that make me unique and more than just a salesperson. Many sellers are not aware of all the little details that needs to be managed to ensure a successful sale. Because we don't show them the behind the scenes events, they take it for granted that it's a piece of cake. Kind of like when you see a play where everythng was well executed, but it took a lot of behind the scenes task to make it happen. I use that analogy quite often.
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