What Does Experience Mean to You?

by Michael Ertem

​Experience is paramount, but it doesn't come free. One needs to invest money, resources, time and energy. You already know that, but do you take that into consideration when you are hiring your Realtor to represent you? ​

Even some of my good friends think why would anyone need a real estate agent. They consider it nothing more than a matchmaking relationship. The actual process is much more than just to get a buyer and seller together to arrange a transaction, negotiate the terms, close and convey ownership. The Reality is much more complex. If your real estate agent is not handling your transaction right, it will cost you money either today or possibly later in the form of a lawsuit. You may also be lucky, and may not suffer possible agent mistakes or negligence, but why would you take a chance whether you are a buyer or seller.

Some experienced homeowners think, they are equipped for handling the sale of a home. Of course, internet tools in today's real estate market makes it possible to homeowner sell his/her home. According to statistics, less than 20 percent are successful, and studies have shown that most sellers, in reality don't have enough knowledge how to adequately advocate for themselves and usually receive less for their property than through an experienced agent. Especially, when you are working with an experienced discount broker (please pay attention to experienced.. not desperate), your bottom line would be even higher.

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Devil is in the details.

Contracts are long and boring. Most of the time, homebuyers and sellers rely on their agents summary on the terms of the contract and sign. The inexperienced agent may miss the details in the contract that would cost additional money that buyer or seller did not approve or acknowledge. Example; Agent Sally got her first listing and receives an offer from a buyers’ agent. Sally is so excited for her first deal and; she did not carefully read the details. The buyer had included language that provided the seller pay up to 2 percent of the sales price toward buyer closing costs. The seller’s bottom line was $9,000 less than expected. An experienced agent would not make such mistakes,

Negotiations

A newly licensed agent may not have the level of negotiation-savvy found in a seasoned one.  I have seen new agents follow a combative negotiation approach. They think their job is to take advantage of the other party.  In my experience, agents with negotiation skills always better represent buyers and sellers than an argumentative agent. Negotiation skills are also related to life experiences too. It is a subject that one can write thousands of pages. As an Aikido student, I approach each situation by handling the energy and funneling into a positive outcome. Understand the situation and don't be part of someone else's story. Write your story and have them to be part of your story.

Negotiations are at a meeting of the minds. There are many protections, such as contingencies, time tables, surveys, value confirmations (appraisal) and loan approval conditions, that mitigate the risk of the party represented.  Depending on the market conditions and your objectives, Your agents job is to do the best job within his/her skills and abilities. After all, you are paying for the knowledge and experience. There are definitely some exceptions to a friendly and fair approach that would be a subject of another article. Negotiation skills would be a good reason to hire a representation from a professionally licensed, experienced and full-time agent.

Many agents are not investing in the career.

The reality is that Broker/owner of the company gets a large portion of every commission, I know it because I am a broker and managed thousands of agents in my career. There is almost no support for advertising, marketing, staging and other services. Every agent is out there on their own.  Newly licensed agents hardly invest any amount of their money in their education and the marketing of listed properties. Having a license does not prepare anyone to represent real estate buyers and sellers. Many agents are part time agents and treat their careers as a hobby. Why would any homebuyer or seller ever consider to work with someone who is not even taking his/her career seriously. If you hire a part-time agent to represent you to buy or sell your home, you should expect part-time results.

What is going on in our industry today

These are some tweets I gathered about what people think.

• There are way too many Real Estate Agents
• Too many Real Estate Agents are incompetent
• The real estate industry trade groups benefit from too many agents and the support by keeping standards low by becoming an agent.
• Licensing requirements are tougher for becoming a beautician than a Real Estate agent.
• Brokers hire any licensed agent who walks in their door,  because of their business model is a listing numbers game
• Some Brokers have standards but not enough.
• The industry works hard to remove as much legal liability as possible from agents further motivating brokers to hire incompetent agents.
• Who gets hurt by the incompetent agent problem? Homebuyers and sellers period.
• A state real estate commissioner who is often industry appointment polices the industry. And also because of the budget cuts, too many violations are not even properly investigated.

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Here are some of the skills you should be looking for when hiring a Realtor. Your home buying and selling is not a matter to take it lightly. It is important to interview and ask questions to determine the level of professionalism and skill sets your agent possesses.  

• Organizational
• Time management
• Communication
• Technology
• Patience to handle conflict resolutions
• Marketing expertise
• Self promotion
• Projection of an outgoing personality

There are many many great realtors in every community. A good real estate consultant is part of your community and possesses high ethics more than what is mandated by the professions code. Please do yourself a favor and hire an experienced, skilled, and caring realtor to represent you. Remember, it is not about them, it is about you.  Berkeley Homeowners and buyers can find more about me by clicking here