I was wandering around the web the other day looking at real estate agent web sites… and much like real estate agent ads, there is a theme… a theme I can’t really get on board with.

Skipper Sells Scooterville!

Really?

Did he sell it all at once… or pieces at a time?  And does the Mayor and City Council know he’s selling it?

That isn’t really the point.  The point is that real estate agents can’t and shouldn’t MAKE people buy homes. In other words, we don’t ‘sell’, we counsel.  We give people information and let them make decisions.  We don’t shade it, we don’t twist it and we don’t color it.

This is especially true of “Buyer’s Agents’… but is also true of ‘Listing Agents’.  Sure, everybody ‘sells’ whatever… but the truth of the matter is that the buyer needs to get a home that fits their needs… not the needs of their agent.  And any good Buyer’s Agent is going to work to help the buyer find the right home and the right circumstances for their needs.

And Listing Agents don’t ‘sell’ homes.  They market homes.  Again, they aren’t going to beat a buyer over the head and make them buy something that doesn’t meet their needs… a good Listing Agent is going to craft a marketing plan that is going to attract the right kind of buyers.  At least if they are any good.  If they aren’t that good, they’ll toss it onto the MLS with a few pictures they shot in a hurry with their phone.

But, successful agents DO sell… not homes… they sell themselves.  They sell buyers and sellers on the idea of using them as their agent.  Please note, I said successful… not good.  Many are both good and successful… many are neither.  Some are one or the other, good or successful.

Get a good agent… don’t get sold.