5 Bad Habits of a Real Estate Agent
The Economist magazine (June 2015) analysed that real estate agents traditional success factors will go through significant change over the next 20 years. Habits that make you a good real estate agent today might turn out to be the habits of a bad real estate agent – causing you to become unsuccessful, irrelevant, and unhappy. The key is awareness and development and REAA believe the following five habits can have future impact on your goals and success as a real estate agent:
1. Using Charisma To Sell. Many real estate agents are excellent sales people, but it takes more than just the initial connection and charisma to sell a house. Make sure your real estate training is up-to-date and compliant. Combine this with your ability to say they right things and make the right promises, and your client database will grow rapidly.
2. Lack of Leadership. If you agree with your client on every point, you may come across as a bad real estate agent being more eager to please and less eager to do the best possible job at representing your client in the real estate market. If you believe the house will see a 5% higher rate on return with a fresh coat of paint or a little yard maintenance, make the suggestion. After all, you are the expert and they are paying you commission in exchange for well-reasoned advice.
3. Inability to Communicate. If you haven’t contacted your client in a few weeks, they have most likely found a new real estate agent. Even if the previous prospective buyers have lost interest or there are currently no interested buyers, you should make the effort to touch base regularly. Be transparent and let your client know of all the work you are doing on behalf of them.
4. Unused Real Estate Resources. If your client is selling their home, they want their house to have every opportunity it can to sell. If you believe the house has enough prospective buyers to not put it on other distribution channels such as real estate websites, you’re wrong. Make your client feel like you are doing everything you can by using all real estate resources to gain more perspective buyers then it may already have.
5. Too Much Pressure. Although you are expected to offer your expert real estate advice to your client, try not to push them in one particular direction. Particularly if you have a client buying a home, it shouldn’t matter if they buy one home over the other. As long as they make a buying decision on one, everyone comes out satisfied. Don’t offer too much personal opinion on which house they buy, stick to the professional knowledge and experience you have gained from your real estate career.