I am a real estate agent, and so is my lovely bride. I happen to think we are pretty good at it. Helping people buy and sell real estate is our job. It’s how we pay the mortgage and feed the children. Given that, it’s important that we do it well. So we always “give it 110%”.
There are a lot of real estate agents. Something like 9,000 in the Phoeinx area. That’s a lot of competition. Competition is good–it encourages everyone in the profession to do better.
Why then are there so many lousy, horrible, lazy, no good agents out there?
Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that it’s far too easy to get a real estate sales license. Ididn’t know diddly squat about real estate when I went to real estate school. 90 classroom hours later (I did it in three weeks. 2 classes a day, 3 days a week. It sucked, and I don’t recommend it. Francy took her course over a more reasonable 6 week period). Anyway, after three weeks of class, I sat for the real estate licensing exam. Passed both parts the first time. (you don’t have to be a genius, you just have to listen in class). Found myself a broker, signed a form, went to the local MLS and REALTOR associations, filled out a couple more forms, wrote more checks and BANG! I was a licensed real estate agent–I could call myself a “real estate professional”.
But let’s face it. Other than learning some obscure real estate law that I haven’t used since, and other than learning that there are 43,560 square feet in one acre (which I do use), real estate school really didn’t teach me squat about selling real estate. Real estate school has one purpose–to take people at $350+ a pop and teach them how to pass a test. And they do a good job at that. But they DO NOT teach you how to help people buy and sell real estate. They DO NOT teach you how to do this job!
So there is the primary reason there are so many bad agents out there. People get their license, make NO EFFORT to learn thier profession, and the next thing you know you’re trying to get a tricky deal closed with an agent who is completely clueless.
A total lack of common sense seems to also be the norm in this industry. I can’t begin to tell you how many agents I’ve dealt with that didn’t have a lick of common sense. OK, I’ll admit that the language in the Arizona Residential Real Estate Sales Contract can be a little tricky. It was written by attorneys in that way that only attorneys can write. But here’s some freindly advice for real estate agents out there:
READ THE CONTRACT! When you are done reading it, read it again. Then, take a highlighter (that’s a thing like a pen that you can color over printed text and still read it. Available in many colors at any office supply store) and READ IT AGAIN, highlighting the parts you don’t understand. Then take your highlighted contract to your broker and sit down with him and have him/her explain the colored parts to you. What, your broker doesn’t have time for you? Find another broker. They are everywhere and some are horrible and some are great. Find a great one. You’ll know they are great after a 2 minute conversation.
It’s incredible, unbelievable, amazing how many agents haven’t read the dang contract. Ever! That contract is your lifeblood. You should understand EVERY LINE OF IT. Wouldn’t good old-fashioned common sense tell you that if you’re going to take a job that involves filling out a bunch of paperwork, THAT YOU SHOULD AT LEAST READ THE PAPERWORK??? Apparently not…
Other than understanding the contracts, there is one more thing that aspiring (and seasoned) agents need to know……
You really, REALLY, need to answer your phone. If you don’t know how to turn on your phone, ask any eight year old to show you. It is absolutely incredible how many agents are simply horrific at answering their phone or returning messages. If you don’t want to have to answer a phone, then you need to get the heck out of real estate.
True story #1 : Francy and I have a client interested in a large parcel of land. List price is $1.25 million dollars. The listing agent puts right in the MLS, “To show, or for questions, call listing agent”. Fine, no problem. I understand. We want to see the land and we have some questions. So, as instructed, we call the listing agent. He doesn’t answer the phone. So we leave a message. He doesn’t return the call. We call and leave several messages over several days. The initial call was placed 4.5 days ago. He **STILL** hasn’t called us back. It’s a freakin’ $1,255,000 dollar listing, we have a client that will write an offer on it if we can get some simple answers and this clown won’t call us back!?!?!????!????!!??!? Someone PLEASE explain that to me.
True story #2: I have a client very interested in buying an apartment complex and converting it to condos. We want a copy of the leasing agreements–a reasonable request if you are going to be spending over $8 million dollars. So I call the listing agent. Of course, she didn’t answer the phone. So I left a message… guess. Called again and she answered!! Yoo hoo! I’m thinking we’ll get somewhere. I asked her for some leasing info. *Really* basic stuff she should have known off the top of her head since she was, after all, the listing agent. She didn’t have a clue. So I asked her to GET the info and fax it to me. “Oh yeah”, she says. “I can do that!” She said she’d get it, “as soon as I can”. 48 hours later I still don’t have it. Called her (no answer, leave message, no return call. Repeat 4 times). Finally reach her after 5 or 6 days. She has NO IDEA who I am. None. So we go through it all over. NOTHING. Get her again, and at least this time she remembers me. “Oh, sorry I didn’t gat that info to you. I’ve been busy”. Busy???? Too busy to put 10 pages on a fax machine, punch some buttons and hit SEND???
I never did get that info. That was almost three months ago. That $8M complex is still listed for sale.
Bad real estate agents. They are EVERYWHERE. Please, if you need an agent, try to avoid these dolts. Here are some tips to help you weed out these idiots:
Ask your agent what kind of training they’ve completed since real estate school. I don’t care if it’s been 40 years since they went to school (trust me, experience does not equal ability in many cases). There are a TON of formal course REALTORS can take. But I’d rather see informal training: mentoring with a broker or experienced agent. Shadowing another agent, inter-office training classes, etc.
Test your agent by trying to call them. Does their cell phone go straight to voice mail? Do they answer email in a timely fashion? Do they return phone messages quickly. Do they ever even answer the phone? No agent can always answer the phone when it rings. I usually don’t answer my phone if I’m with a client. A lot of times I’m looking at land and am out of cell phone range. But I ***ALWAYS*** return a message or an email. Sometimes within minutes, sometimes hours. But all calls and emails get a response. Period. If you are thinking about working with an agent and YOU can’t reach them, how will anyone else?
Whew, that was a looooong post, and I have more to say. But I’ll save it for another day.
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
Well said my friend. Well Said. 🙂
Hey Jay,
I like your blog. I run a site realtorweekly.com. I would like to add your blog to the site. Here is the website for some more info. You wouldn't have to do anything different just post to your blog as usual. I will pick up your new posts. You will also have the option to post directly to your realtorweekly blog. All I ask is for a link back to realtorweekly.com. Let me know what you think. Thanks…
Chris
I like this blog too, but it's very hard to read with this color scheme.
LMAO…..I love this post! Had me lauging since I can relate to all the "idiots" in this business.
Many days I shake my head in wonder…wondering how it was possible some of these people got a
real estate license when half of them don't know their head from a hole in the ground! LOL!!!!
I'm going to add your blog to my favorites!
Glad you enjoyed it Becky. I wish this post was just a figment of my imagination, but it's all
the sad truth…
Jay
Rick –
I'm sorry to hear of your bad agent experience. It's agents like this that give realtors in general a bad name.
I know exactly the kind of site you're talking about, but I don't know of one that exists for agents.
Have you considered talking to your agents broker? Your listing agreement is really with the broker, not the agent, and I bet if you expressed your concerns to the broker, he/she just might do something about it. I don't know if it's true in every state, but in Arizona the broker can assign another agent to work with you. A good broker will address your concerns.
Glad you enjoy the blog, and I really hope you can get things worked out…
Regards,
Jay
I am a Phoenix realtor and am offended by your post here! I work very hard to get my license!
That test is not easy, a lot of people do not pass. I –AM– a professional! How can yuo say it is easy to get licensed! You should be ashamed to slam everyone in your profession! You must be a bad agent to if we are all bad!
Anonymous –
Didn't mean to offend anyone, but to be honest, I don't really understand why you're offended. I didn't say ALL agents are bad. Of course they aren't. There are some brilliant agents out there. But there are some horrific ones too. A lot of them.
As for the test, yes many do fail. Some multiple times. And let's face it, passing that test does not make someone a good agent. Someone who passes the test the first time may or may not be smarter than someone who takes ten times to pass it.
It IS easy to get a real estate license. It takes less "school" than getting a license to cut hair. There is no apprentice period. None. Someone can go to real estate school (all they have to be is 18 years old with a clean criminal background) spend nine days in real estate school and pass a test. That's it, and that is far easier than getting any other license or credential I can think of. And personally, I think it would do the entire industry a lot of good if it were more difficult to obtain a license.
there are actually a lot of bad real estate agents out there and many of them are unethical as well. They lie, cheat, and steel. We dealt with more than 20 agents over the years and only one or two of them are good.
Great post! I'm glad to hear there are many bad agents out there, because that gives me a better chance as a new agent to prove my worth =P! J/k.. I do feel bad for whoever these "bad" agents have worked for. These agents seem to lack common sense and good manners.. I mean.. come on! Maybe some brokerages need to have higher standards for the agents they allow to represent their company! I know some do train and mentor, but I've come across some that just want as many agents as they can hire – good or bad.
Great blog. I could have written it myself. I deal exclusively in luxury residential and I can't tell you how many times I've called other agents to show their multi-million dollar listings (to qualified buyers) and they just can't seem to figure out how to return my calls. Truly unbelievable.
I totally see your point. They are some bad real estate agents all over the US. The most import thing people must do is there home work. Ask questions about there reference. Talk to the people they have sold a home to. If you do your home work first, you will find a great one.
**jones94´s last blog post..Pawleys Island</abbr></abbr>
A good blog and one i understand as when i first passed mt exam i knew very little. I may not be the best agent but have had brokers i could allways go to to chase down my questions and allways answer my phone and email even if it is to say – i do not know 🙂 bruce
Oh my God, is there an honest, capable agent in the bunch? I am ready to select a house on my own and then deal directly with the selling agent. The buyers agents waste so much time and provide false information — typically designed to ensure they get hthe highest commission and close as quickly as possible, regardless of whether the house is a fit or not. The lies, deceptions, incompetence of these people in mind boggling. Why do we need them? Can't we find our own homes and then connect our attorneys to the seller's agent to negotiate the deal.
Lind – yes, there are bad real estate agents. There are also a lot of great ones.
If you are a buyer and you chose to work with the selling agent, just remember — that agent works for the SELLER, and has the sellers interests in mind, not yours.
It's like getting a divorce and using your spouses attorney to represent you. Makes zero sense to me….
WOW, lost of cool posts here. I've been licensed for about 1.5 years and the things I hear about are really mind boggling. The Broker I work for is a very nice and honest lady. All her agents are honest. But she struggles because we also need to deal with the ones that don't do the right thing. The things I hear about that I learned about what not to do in my pre and post license classes. The one thing that I was taught was honesty and reminded throughout the entire course was honesty and doing the right thing. What I see is not doing the best you can for your buyer or your seller but doing for yourself.
XXXXX and XXXXX of XXXXX are also known as big scam artists. They duped my mother a few years ago and then just duped a friend of mine. These people cannot be trusted. They continue to dupe/fraud out/take people over and over and are well known for doing it. You would think the Arizona Department of Real Estate would audit them.
Editor’s Note: Carl – I had to edited out the personally identifying language in your comment. The Realtor Code of Ethics has a provision in it that I am responsible for what is said about other real estate agents on my blog. Also, my own comment policy states there are no personal attacks allowed.
If you feel you’ve been duped, you can file a complaint with their broker, their Realtor Association, or the State Department of Real Estate.