What people hate about real estate agents…

To understand what people hate about real estate agents, we must understand where people are coming from. Take Sally and Tim for example, they are a professional couple based in WA and are relocating for Sally’s new job to start in the new year. They have 2 kids and a dog named Scotty.

The idea of moving back to the East coast and being closer to family is exciting but looming over the excitement is a cloud of concern on how to make it all happen – the logistics. Considering it’s the busiest most wonderful time of year.

The next 8–10-week agenda looks a little like this:

• Prepare home for sale, quotes, repairs, cleaning.
• Unpacking, cleaning repairs.
• Final school festivities for kids’ school & sports.
• School holidays, school enrolments.
• Christmas shopping & Christmas catch ups, New Years.
• Organising for new job to start.
• Packing, selling, sorting, and organising “stuff”.               
• Resettling the dog & finding a new groomer/ vet
• Finding a real estate agent, finding a removalist.             
• Finalising the purchase, liaising with buyer’s agent.
• Researching homes to move to, virtual inspections.       
• Inspections, finalising the sale, liaising with selling agent.
• Employing a buyers’ agent, talking to selling agents.
• Liaising with lawyers and life admin (address update).
• Talking to the bank or broker – finances.       
• Preparing for back to school & getting uniforms.

What could possibly go wrong?????

The good news is that for Sally and Tim, this was last year’s Christmas, and this year will be their first Christmas hosting the family in their home. All went OK for their move, except for uncertainties and disappointment with their real estate agents.

Did you know that these are the things that cause over 80% of the disappointment people experience in real estate?

• Communication

Technology has made communication easier and faster than ever before, including making and responding to property enquiries, still according to two of the leading websites, over a quarter of real estate enquiries don’t get a response. Another complaint people make is that feedback or information important to their position isn’t received whether it’s a call after a property inspection or a call following a rental application.

When people’s communication expectations aren’t met it can create distrust and disappointment. People that are sound communicators, and good agents, will openly set expectations around communication and hold importance around it. An autoreply providing a webbook, or any generic information and the agents phone number is a common theme in today’s market. This is largely due to the volume of enquiries received.

• Trust

When considering the importance of having a roof over our head, and the large portion of people’s income dedicated to it, it’s no surprise that the stakes are high in these transactions and therefore some level of trust is a must.

Many surveys completed over time have held real estate agents consistently low on the list as a trusted profession and paramedics and nurses in the top ranks. Part of this is due to the low levels of communication as lack of communication or miscommunications create uncertainties and doubt. If you’re not clear it’s like hitting your golf ball into the bunker. It’s uncertain how you’ll get it out of there and how much sand you’ll collect with it when you do!

Most commonly, the lack of trust is around an owner wanting a certain price for the home and the agent advertising ‘an attraction price’ to lure people in. A buyer wanting to offer but no price guide or clear communication around price being put forward or people wanting to sell and being unsure who they can trust with their biggest asset. Providing clear info around this is the pathway to developing trust & a stress-free successful real estate transaction.

Trust can also only come through getting to know someone, having an experience or sometimes via word of mouth, and then proving you are who they say you are. The rest is advertising.

• Ego & Attitude

In a time where response times are getting less, ego and attitude are getting more. It’s often referred to as “Instagram vs reality”. In the 80s we referred to it as “Keeping up with the Jones’” – I’ve met the Jones’ and can verify they are good people for the record.

We’ve all seen big billboards or photoshopped advertising of agents claiming that they’re the best and they’ve got the highest price or some other distasteful ego-driven catch phrase which is one of the reasons people try to avoid the interactions with them.

 As uncomfortable as it is, people spend hours online researching and posting on Facebook or Instagram they will still refer to someone whether it be a family member or an agent to verify their decision or seek advice. It’s at this time where honesty and humility are needed but often what’s delivered is ego and attitude. The Instagram doesn’t meet the reality. It’s fake. When an agent comes to your home, they can see your home as another sale or a $15,000 commission when it should be seen as a people in need or an opportunity to help a member of the community. There are ways to decipher the sales pitch and ascertain if you’ve got one of the good ones when they come along and doing this is, in my opinion, still better than risking selling your home yourself – coming from someone that did sell my own home.

I am grateful there’s such a diverse range of people in real estate, it’s taught me everything I know so I can be there for my community and help you through The Kind Agent. For more information and independent advice on your real estate decisions, check out our free resources here and feel free to book a consultation here.