A Fresh Approach to Real Estate Rookie-hood with Jennifer Allan: January 2008

I recently read on another forum where a new agent was heartbroken (and subsequently outraged) that his brother-in-law hired someone else to sell his home. Because he was brand new, he felt his B.I.L. owed it to him to give him the listing so that he'd get some much-needed experience. The new agent was bad-mouthing his B.I.L. to the rest of the family and swearing to avoid him at the next family get-together.

OUCH!

How fast can you say "Kiss Your Family's Business GOODBYE!?"

No one on this planet is obligated to work with us, regardless of any personal relationship. Instead of whining and sulking and pouting about the situation, our new agent should have taken all that energy and asked himself WHY his brother-in-law didn't hire him. And made an effort to do better next time.

Was it personal? Maybe, maybe not.  Although with this guy's attitude, it probably was. The minute I get a sense that someone feels I'm obligated to hire them (or even refer them), I'm turned off. Yeah, I'm contrary that way, aren't you?

Getting business from your SOI, particularly your family SOI is an art that once mastered, will seem oh-so-obvious and natural. But if you approach the people you know with the attitude that they owe you something because you're related or went to college together or because you sent them a pretty calendar last year, your SOI efforts will crash and burn.

What I would have advised the new agent to do (had he asked) would be to graciously accept defeat and cheerfully offer his assistance. I'd have told him to be pleasant, supportive and complimentary of the other agent's efforts. Sweet as sugar. Because... at some point, the B.I.L might just get frustrated with his listing agent and be open to talking again.

But instead, look what this guy did. He alienated his B.I.L. and gave the entire family a great reason to wonder about his professionalism. I'll bet that it will be a long time before anyone in that family dares to talk to him about their own real estate needs!  

*SOI = Sphere of Influence = The People Who Know You

http://www.sellwithsoul.com/

I began my real estate career in August of 1996, in Denver, Colorado. Which was booming. A house I'd bought just two years earlier for $82,000 was already worth $150,000 and going up every day. Amateur investors were everywhere. Any real estate agent with a pulse could have 20 buyers lined up just from holding a few open houses and showing up for floor time.

Sounds pretty rosy, doesn't it? Well, yeah, a market like that has its benefits (and also its challenges), which I discussed in my blog "Were We Old Timers Born on Third Base?" But in writing that blog, the question arose in my mind... "Should New Agents Focus on Buyers or Listings?"

Today's new agent is probably not inundated with active buyers the way we were, although listings are easier to come by. To compare, I didn't even interview for a listing until I'd been in the business for 14 months - buyers were plentiful; listings were not. And I think this experience served me well.

Working with a lot of buyers is quite different from working with a lot of sellers. I'll go out on a limb and say that working with buyers is a better business-building activity for new agents. Why? Several reasons:

•        You typically develop closer relationships with your buyers, thus increasing the potential for referrals.

•       When you work with buyers, you work harder. And that's good? Oh yeah, that's good. When you're new, you need to stay busy.  An active buyer will keep you hopping.  An active listing? Not so much.

•       You learn more about the overall home-buying process when you work with buyers. You're intimately involved in almost every step of the transaction, from showings to offers to inspections to loan approval. This knowledge will serve you well when you act as a listing agent.

•       When working with buyers, if you're observant, you'll see most (but certainly not all) of what a listing agent does. You'll learn a lot about both sides of the deal, where when you list you don't see much of what the buyer agent is doing.

•      You will LEARN YOUR MARKET!!!

What do you think?

www.sellwithsoul.com  

copyright Jennifer Allan 2007