I Add Value

I am a real estate agent. It's been seven years this month since I got my license. It's taken me this long to see the value in the service I have to offer. I think it's taken this long to earn the value.I can't remember why I decided to get a real estate license. I remember clearly when I decided to make the jump, and why I decided then, I just don't remember why real estate. I know that one of my favorite past times was going through open houses and model homes, but I have a hard time believing that I would have been ignorant enough to think that would be a good reason to get a license. Statistics say that only ten percent of new licensees will still be in real estate after five years. Statistics are famous for saying whatever you want them to say, but I would guess that's probably true. I remember being so excited in my first training class after getting my license. There were about twenty of us new licensees in the class and our new broker gave us the staggering statistics, after five years there will only be two of you left in real estate. I was shocked! I looked around the room trying to figure out who the other one would be. We actually beat those odds. After five years, there were still three of us left working full time in real estate. The market has taken a huge blow over the past couple of years, and now I'm the last one standing. I'm also busier than I've ever been. When I had been in the business for three years, there were so many new agents that three years was considered a long time. Now I've been in for seven and I'm a baby in the industry. So many agents have left that most of what's left are people that were selling caves. I like it! They handle themselves professionally. We were sorely lacking professionalism for awhile. I read somewhere during the boom years that one in seven people had a real estate license. That seems high, but it was true that everyone had a brother/cousin/uncle selling real estate. There is a lure of part-time, easy money. What I see is people starting out with a white picket fence fantasy about finding the perfect house for their client, their clients buy it and live happily ever after, and they skip merrily to the bank with their huge commission check. If it were that easy, there would be no need for real estate agents in the first place. The reality is that you go into homes that take your breath away from the stench of cat urine, or you find plenty of homeowner notes telling you about the friendly puppy in the back yard, but not one of them mention the semi-comotose, naked man on oxygen that is upstairs. The couple that was going to live happily ever after calls you a couple of years later because they are getting a divorce. Escrows fail at the last moment, after you have already spent the commission check that you are not going to get. When they don't fail, it's because you were up at 10:00 the night before and at it at 6:00 this morning, after a sleepless night worrying, scrambling to put back together what is falling apart. When you do get your commission check, and your broker has gotten his share, and you've paid your board fees and MLS dues, your desk fees, your copy fees, your E&O insurance, your continuing ed, your post licensing, your marketing and advertising, your signs and lockboxes, etc., you realize you worked for about $5 per hour. Then you give Uncle Sam his share of that. I understood going in that it was going to be hard work and take time. It's after years of experience that you can foresee problems and get in front of them before they happen. You learn that the offer with the most money isn't always the best offer if the buyer is skittish and may not make it to the closing table. You learn how to read buyers and sellers and the agents on the other side. You pick up small inferences of potential issues and are able to ask the right questions. You know what problems you will encounter with a house if the buyer has FHA or VA financing. You know what red flags to look for with lenders to make sure they aren't giving preapproval letters to buyers that can't get funded. You know how to interview your buyers so you don't have to show them 50 houses before they find the right one. You know how to interview your sellers and price their homes right so you aren't fielding phone calls on why their house isn't selling and spending marketing money on an unsaleable listing. You eliminate all the fluff of your marketing efforts and have laser focus with your time and money on what actually produces the results. It's there that you provide value to a client. You are able to create what looks like a seemless transaction because you eliminated most of the problems before they happened and the ones that can't be eliminated, you knew how to address effectively and professionally. Some agents think their clients are looking for a best friend to hold their hand and protect them like a mother bear. They aren't. They are looking for a professional to use their experience, resources, and expertise to help them navigate the purchase or sale of real estate. I like showing up to work everyday, being that person, knowing that what I know makes a difference in the end result, that I am adding value to the transaction.The industry has had huge changes just since I started. I started in a strong market that moved into a booming market, to a slow market, to a declining market. I have seen the financing go from traditional FHA, VA, Conventional, to designer loans that the only thing needed was a pulse, back to the financing like when I started. I have seen the internet go from a small presence to the primary tool in marketing, researching, tracking, and communicating. When I started, pricing a home was strategic. During the boom years, it was more like comp it, double it, and throw it on the MLS. Now it's the lowest price wins. It's an ever evolving industry and I'm looking forward to learning and experiencing the next evolution, and applying that experience to create even more value to my clients.