Who Would You Hire?

There are two types of real estate agents:

1. Those who tell you the current state of the market and?
2. Those who tell you what they think you want to hear about said market.?

Agent 1 wants your trust.?

Agent 2 wants your listing.?

Agent 1 is confident in their expertise.?

Agent 2 is afraid they won’t get hired.?

Agent 1 is interested in taking on the right assignment.?

Agent 2 is interested in taking on any assignment.

Agent 1 is qualitative and wants to build a reputation of being insightful and an expert in the industry.?

Agent 2 is quantitative and wants as many listings as possible hoping that some will sell.

A seller interviews agents and hires one to sell their home based on personal criteria. Just like any profession, these reasons to hire someone can vary from substantive to silly.?

Reasons like…

Their track record?

Their family connection?

Their looks?

Their Instagram following?

Their referral base?

Their salesmanship?

Their knowledge?

Their integrity?

Their work ethic?

Both types of agents get hired and both types of agents can be successful and make money.??It usually takes Agent 2 longer to sell a home, and only after they have worn their seller down by calling for additional price drops.?Agent 2 is the agent that sells the seller the dream.?Agent 1 is the agent that offers them honesty.

It’s a small consolation to Agent 1, if and when, Agent 2 is fired because a property doesn’t sell. Oftentimes a seller will fire Agent 2 only to hire another Agent 2.??Let’s be honest - it takes a particular type of seller to be attracted to Agent 2.?They buy the hype and ignore reality.?They hire another Agent 2 – with the same result -?only now the property sat, became?stale and?is ultimately devalued.

Our industry would look vastly different if agents were awarded assignments and compensated based on how closely they predict the ultimate sales price of a home and not their ability to bullshit.

Wouldn’t you rather pay for sales over salesmanship??

Side Bar:

As we head into the Fourth of July weekend, I look at how the country has changed since I arrived in the early 90’s.??I’ve witnessed Americans unite with unwavering patriotism in the face of unimaginable tragedy, only to viciously rip each other apart at the voting booth and leaving over half the population with unequal rights under the law. I have never seen our democracy tested more than it is now. Newly retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said it best when he explains how our democracy is an experiment and up to the future generations to determine if we have fail or succeed. His speech is eloquent and worth watching here:?Justice Stephen Breyer's Retirement Speech on the Great American ?

Let’s do this.?

Shaun