Today I want to share a unique experience I had recently that will give you a little insight about what goes on behind the scenes in the life of an agent.

 

The real estate market continues to be very, very active.

Inventory is very tight in the under-$300,000 range, placing us firmly in a seller’s market. Above that range, we’ve noticed that there’s been a shift toward a buyers market. Rates are going up, and whether you’re a buyer or a seller, I think you’ll regret not locking in a low mortgage rate this year. For sellers, you’ll have a larger pool of buyers to access when rates are low, since homes are more affordable with lower rates.

However, instead of focusing on market trends, today I want to talk about what goes on behind the scenes in real estate.

Real estate is a very unique business. We have competitors in the field, but we also have to collaborate to sell homes with those very same competitors. This week, I had a competitor say some very rude things to me; he hung up on me twice. In my 25 years in the business, this is very unusual.

One of my listings was under contract; we were waiting for the revised contract to come in from this gentleman. In the meantime, I was able to produce a better, stronger offer for my client. This competing agent, who had said that the offer that was taking too long to get to us, unfortunately got bumped. I have a fiduciary responsibility to produce the highest and best offer I can for my clients, so we went with the second offer.

The agent of the first offer disagreed, and he had many not-so-nice things to say, dropping the F-bomb repeatedly before hanging up on me—twice.

“I always have the duty to my sellers to produce the highest and best offer that I can, and our team will always honor that.”

There were a couple takeaways from this experience:

  • The agent utterly lacked professionalism. In the real estate business, the barrier to entry is very low, and I’ll admit that the encounter got my ego up. I was upset; I had done the right thing for my client, but this agent didn’t seem to think so. Rather than judging him and getting angry at him, I should have stepped into a mode of curiosity—I have no idea what’s going on in his life.
  • Anger is not the best response to a situation. Anger didn’t produce the results that he wanted, even if the transaction I have going now were to fall apart. Going back into business with him won’t likely be in the best interests of my client.

I always have the duty to my sellers to produce the highest and best offer that I can, and our team will always honor that, regardless of the agent on the other side.

If you have any questions about real estate, please feel free to reach out to me. I’ll help in any way I can to ensure your continued success in real estate and life.