As the Forrest Gump saying goes... Life is like a box of chocolates... You never know what you're gonna get. Perhaps some real estate agents can be lumped in the same box.
Chronology of an Agent:
You graduate from real estate school. You take the exam and pass. You get your license and you go to work for franchise XYZ. You order those nice glossy business cards and then sit in your office and wait for the phone to ring. And bingo, it does. You write your first offer and it gets accepted. You're on top of the world! You decide to work some floor time and you get a walk-in. Somebody wants to sell their house. You lucky dog!
Up to this point, all is well in your real estate world. But then, your luck begins to run out. You realize no-one has really showed you the ropes on how to create a successful real estate practice. You struggle with writing a good offer with legitimate language that protects your client. You've never negotiated a thing in your life, so you know very little about how to get your client the best possible deal. You ask, what's a Preliminary Title Report and/or what does it mean? You quickly realize that there's so much they didn't teach you in real estate school, and you really know very little about selling real estate.
You fudge a bit, and you tell people you're a neighborhood expert, when you've never sold anything in that neighborhood. You figured out that many buyers want rural properties in your area, so you advertise that you're a rural properties expert (when you've never sold a rural property). You're a step ahead of the competition when you take a one-day education course and earn an xyz certificate. Now you call yourself an xyz expert. Who knew?!
Okay Active Rain Professionals, what's wrong with this picture? Besides the obvious deceptive practice of saying you're something that you're not. How about the public's perception that all Agents are alike? Do they really know what they're gonna get when they call us?
Real Estate Agents are Like a Box of Chocolates... You Never Know What You're Gonna Get!
Melinda, I agree with you, a little bit of knowledge does not make an expert. Much of the knowledge and skills come from experience but a solid foundation of the basics are an absolute must and not only for the new agent but also for one who has been around for a while as things are constantly changing. By the way, I would go nuts over a chocolate dipped strawberry!
Oh Melinda, my week has been summed up by your post, how timely! My findings regarding this topic--The People Who Think They Know, But Don't, Scare Me Way Worse Than The People Who Don't Know- And Ask!
About the only thing I'm an expert in is knowing I'm not an expert. I'm always learning something new about the business or my area. Hopefully I will continue until I give it all up and head to the beach....permanently.
I love being in a large office so I can ask those questions of agents who actually know some of the answers.
Being in this business as long as I've been make me look back and wonder about myself - way back when. I'm so thankful I had an excellent broker to show me the ropes over and over. Now it's my time to teach and show the ropes to my agents - and thankfully they ask a lot of questions and dont' have that know-it-all attitude.
Love this pos Melinda! Great pic too!
Melinda, I've never really believed in the word expert anyway. There are those that are knowledgeable or have much experience...expert is a word I shy away from. But what I have been told in the past is to become the expert in this area or market; customers don't know you so tell them you are the expert in a given niche...that's just not me.
Cindy said it best in her response above..."About the only thing I'm an expert in is knowing I'm not an expert".
Now how about one of those strawberries?
Silvia ~ You are right, a good solid foundation of the basics is key!
Love the quotes Wanda & Cindy ~ Excellent points and so true!
You guys are awesome! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Michael & Anna ~ I am sure we didn't have all the answers when we were new agents. Nor are we "experts" at everything now. It certainly helps to surround ourselves with exceptional agents and brokers who can continue to teach us. Likewise, it is important to give back what we have learned by mentoring new agents.
Nick ~ I also, do not like to use the word "expert" as it packs a powerful punch of expectation. Specialist is a softer synonym. Buy in either case, the word must be back by substantial experience, honesty and integrity.
Thanks for your phenomenal feedback. Enjoy the chocolate dipped strawberries!
There are a lot of experts in our field... its amazing how little they know?
Hi Melinda, I'm with Johnny and Nick. The word expert and even "specialist" make me cringe sometimes. If you are these things you better provide the proof when another realtor or the public make a complaint.
You have raised so many great points. Real estate school gives you your license then you have to go out and earn ( and learn) it.
BTW - great pic but a tip if you don't want your words edging right up to the photo. When you insert it go to Appearance - you will see vertical space and horizontal space - you can put in any number - 4 or 5 or whatever number of spaces you want the words to be away from the photo.
Also underneath that is "border" should you ever want to put a border around your photos. Of course I learned this all right here at AR.
So true Johnny! Wow Jenny, you learn something new every day! I love the space and border idea. I will try staging my blog with these new ideas :) Thanks for the tip!
I'm trying to sell a piece of waterfront property with dock rights. I'll be the first to admit that there's a learning curve. Now if only I could get TVA to call me back, I might be an expert by the end of the day. =)
Goodmorning Melinda
ABout the expert idea - I forget the man who wrote the book but it's fairly current. He talked about one is an expert when they have 10,000 hours (or maybe it was 5000) in their respective field. That would make quite a few of us veteran brokers experts for sure - BUT - always alwasy learning new things every day. I need to find out who that guy is so next time the expert thing comes up I can referr back to it!
I don't think the experts are experts, Melinda, and those so called "experts" are not sitting the open houses and going that extra mile that we "lesser" mortals do. So, don't sell yourself short. What you don't know you can certainly learn. There are always colleagues to turn to, and you have Active Rain :)
Real estate is a big field. There is plenty of room for specialization and service (like product) differentiation. But nobody is an expert at every aspect of real estate....unless the town (market area) is very small.
Claiming to be an expert is making a claim yo both knowledge and experience. It is a claim made far to often...and not just in real estate.
Of course all this "specialist" and "expert" also has something to do with each individual's meaning of the words, right? What I think a specialist is and what you think they are could be two different things. Sometimes the activity is fairly new or at least more intense now than it was in the past, like short sales for instance. I have more experience in listing and selling short sales than any other individual agent in my market. Does that make me a specialist? I think so. I also gather data about subdivisions, everything from CC & R's to photo's and data on house sales. Does that make me a specialist on that subdivision? I haven't sold homes in all the subdivisions, let alone multiple homes, but I think so. Just my opinion.
Julia, Anna, Jane, Jim & Evelyn ~ Great thoughts from a great group of Agents! Thanks everyone :)
I can't tell you how many agents I've talked to in the course of running my real estate PR/marketing consulting business who say the basic pre-licensing course did not come close to preparing them for selling real estate in the real world. That's where real estate associations and even real estate companies like the large franchises must really step in and develop a series of post-licensing courses and mentoring programs. I've definitely seen newbies succeed better when paired up with the right mentor/experienced Realtor.
I think the expectation needs to be set with the new agents as well because they often mistakenly think they're ready to sell real estate the moment they get their license. Then harsh reality sets in and far too many give up after the first 3 to 6 months. After all, one can only go so long without a paycheck.
Maybe that's why buyers ask so many questions!!! There's no substitute for experience!
Very well said TC. I think NAR's statistics show that 95% of all new Agents quit in their 1st year! There is something to be said for mentoring... if the mentor has the time and energy :)
So true Marilyn. Experience is priceless, and those of us who have it, should be tooting our horns about it!
Those sure look delicious, dark chocolate please. So, how was your visit to Southern California. It appears as though you got to enjoy the heat wave.