Realtors And Being Professional.

I have read a couple of Hubs about Realtors and that we are sleazy just like used car salesman. I found these Hubs rather insulting. Further more, it seemed that if you have a negative experience with one agent that the rest of the profession is in the same basket as the rotten one. As a profession as a whole I know most all Realtors are very concerned with the public view of agents. Most agents work very hard for their clients to help them achieve their goal of selling or buying a home. We rely on referrals, which drives our business. Word does spread quickly if the client was not happy with the agent they used. What goes around, comes around.

It would be nice if everyone could play by the rules, but not everyone plays nice in this profession. If you look at surveys or statistic's on where real estate agents fall on the list of honest professionals they are just above lawyers and used car salesman. Realtors will never rank at the top, which is usually reserved for nurses, policeman, fireman, and doctors. After the year the banking industry had in 2008, they ranked above real estate agents. So what does that say about the profession? That agents may have an image problem and that they have some work to do. I hope that the days of advertising that Realtors are"million dollar producer" are behind us. The public misunderstood this statement into thinking that Realtors make millions. The perception was that all Realtors care about were the big bucks they were pulling in. All that statement meant was that the agent sold that amount, not made that amount. Do agents have an obligation to make sure other Realtors uphold the ethical standards? Do you look the other way when an agent has crossed the line? Do you go to their Broker? What if it is a Broker? Do you go to the commission? All agents need to put a stop to unethical behavior. Why? Once something happens that draws negative attention, it then takes twice as much work to overcome it. Agents have to work doubly hard to get that negative image out of the public eye. When an agent is dishonest it makes the rest of us look bad. It is a dilemma that Realtors face when dealing within the ranks of taking care of the bad apples.

This is something I do myself and expect from other agents. The client comes first, no matter what, but always be honest when dealing with the wishes and desires of your client. If the agent pulls their weight in doing this, then the work of overcoming negative obstacles will be few. Energy and time is better spent helping customers/clients; not wasting time fixing problems other agents have created. For those that continually cannot uphold the ethical standards need to leave the business. The number of ethical violations each year is minimal considering how many agents there are in the nation.

For the public, do your research. Ask around.

A good agent will go above and beyond what is expected. There are many good agents out there.