Realtor Reputation - what do you think of Realtors?

[flhousesuk]

Can members of the public post your general views of Realtors reputation here on this post. Also, if you have any reasons why you might think we have a good/bad reputation, please include.

Many thanks and lets hope we can better ourselves from this!

[flhousesuk]

Just to add to this very broadly, i believe that the Orlando Sentinel here in central florida recently ran an report on most trusted and most untrusted professionals in Central Florida. Realtors, from what i recall, came third or fourth from the bottom of the list. Just behind car salesmen and timeshare reps. What do people think?

[LOTrainer]

Can members of the public post your general views of Realtors reputation here on this post. Also, if you have any reasons why you might think we have a good/bad reputation, please include.

Many thanks and lets hope we can better ourselves from this!

The reputation of a Real Estate Agent (here in CT) is much better than the reputation of a mortgage broker, or loan officer. Realtors are viewed as high money makers that can provide quality real estate service. The use of them has dropped slightly here in CT, but I can't say their image has been damaged at all.

[Mike Taylor]

Persoanlly I think the reputation of Realtors has suffered over the past few years. When the market was hot, people were rushing to get their licenses and were selling homes with no clue what they were doing.
These people should be looking for other jobs soon and we can have less, more experienced Realtors out there.

[flhousesuk]

Persoanlly I think the reputation of Realtors has suffered over the past few years. When the market was hot, people were rushing to get their licenses and were selling homes with no clue what they were doing.
These people should be looking for other jobs soon and we can have less, more experienced Realtors out there.

I agree, think this may have damaged some reputable realtors out there. Maybe licensing requirements should be more stringent?

[MicroBalrog]

I agree, think this may have damaged some reputable realtors out there. Maybe licensing requirements should be more stringent?


Even better, perhaps there should be more publicity given to proper codes of conduct for Realtors (like the NAR's code of ethics). People who are not members of the public should know a certain list of things that if a realtor does them, he is a quack to be avoided.

The realtor community should, IMO, do more to blacklist and denounce the quacks before we turn to more government regulation.

[amerisavecareers.com]

We love realtors! In this day in age you need to have a professional that knows what is going on with the market, etc.

[DIYIndy]

2004 purchased my first home using a Realtor I met at an open house. I pretty much found all the homes online, drove by each one of them (over 100 properties) and weeded out the ones I didn't want to see the inside of. She showed me about 20 properties before finally finding one I liked. I feel like I did all the work finding the homes she just unlocked the doors and wrote up one offer w/ one counter. She didn't offer me much advice or help otherwise and I asked a lot of questions.

2007 sold my home FSBO w/ so much interest I couldn't keep up with the calls, offers and showings. I had one buyer make an offer who was represented by a Realtor. All the others made offers w/o representation. However lending feel through on two buyers and the home was leased to buy to the last buyer and she has paid rent on time every month and is about to follow through purchasing the home with or without a co-signer. (lender tells me credit was good and lending for her is still available).

2007 Purchased my 2nd home using a different Realtor we found at an open house. She ran her butt off for us. I really feel like she earned her money and was very pleased with her. Even though we found most of the homes through online searches she still continued to send us MLS listings through email and foreclosures that we didn't have access too.

Recently I contacted the first realtor b/c she lives nearby and I was interested in a home that was for sale. She emailed me back showing very little interest in showing me the home.

So to answer the question.

I have heard some really bad things about realtor's and I have experienced a little bit of bad with one and a lot of good with the other.

I would always use a Realtor to buy a property b/c it is pretty much free to me. However I think I understand the process pretty well and that if I found a property being sold FSBO that I wanted I would possibly look at NOT using a Realtor.

So I have a negative and a positive outlook of them. I know there are some goods and bads.......

[flhousesuk]

Even better, perhaps there should be more publicity given to proper codes of conduct for Realtors (like the NAR's code of ethics). People who are not members of the public should know a certain list of things that if a realtor does them, he is a quack to be avoided.

The realtor community should, IMO, do more to blacklist and denounce the quacks before we turn to more government regulation.

This sounds like a sensible suggestion. The public perhaps don't quite understand what being a realtor entails. Your a member of a proffesional assosiation, once you become state registered to practice RE your not automatically a Realtor, there are still more subscription to ethical codes etc before you can become one.

There is no realtor review site or anything like that to my knowledge? Something along these lines may be good, but could quite possibly be abused. Can members of the public become 'associate' members of NAR?

[carlam]

I am a Professional Real Estate Agent and take it very seriously. I hold myself to very high standards so that I may provide the best services to my clients.

Shop for an agent. It's just like shopping for a house and a mortgage don't go for the first one you are in contact with. Get referrals! A real estate agent will protect your interests as their client.

[maat55]

Like any profession, there are good people and bad. It's useless to single anyone out.

Personally, I sell FSBO unless I need an agent. So far, I haven't needed one.

[tina.anderson]

I think it all depends on the individual. If he or she is professional and provides good service to clients, than of course they will gain respect within the community. However, it's hard to ignore that nation-wide Realtors do have somewhat of a negative reputation.

[FlipItBig]

I used to hate realtors. As an investor I found that they didn't understand the game I was playing. Then I realized after a while it wasn't the realtors I hated, it was the fact that I expected them to know more than what they did. I totally set them up to fail. I learned. Now I know that when I am dealing with a realtor I know they see things in their way, I see things in mine. Luckily my wife got her license for our business and is getting her brokers license soon.

[JJohnson1985]

The realtor community should, IMO, do more to blacklist and denounce the quacks before we turn to more government regulation.

I agree. I don't want anymore classes where teaching to a test instead of teaching the business is the focus. That's the problem now.

People need to jump on unethical and unmoral actions from agent/brokers. There should be an incentive on this end. Not at the gate coming in, but what does the agent/broker do after they are in.

Here is an example from just last week. A classmate provided an offer two weeks ago of $80,000 on a property to the agent. The listing was only 5 days old. The agent told him that they have a buyer but it was not in contract yet. The agent did not even tell his/her client about the offer. It was listed this past week as sold for $60,000. The agent represented both seller and buyer. If the agent told the seller about the $20,000 higher offer, he/she would have earned a lower commission.

This is the reason all agents/brokers are looked at negatively overall. The honest and ethical ones need to act against the ones who take advantage. What is sad is our instructor told us that you can report this but asked is it worth it? The instructor, telling a class of soon to be agents, is it worth reporting? This is the problem.

[RobM]

Joe,

I agree there are unethical agents out there, I myself have run into them dozens of times...but the only thing you can do is report them to the board, but be ready to face them if it comes to that. Sometimes it is easier to just not deal with them at all, make a personal note about who they are, and just dont do any deals with them, stear clear. Keep in mind, there are many agents out there that are very ethical and I would do business with them in a heartbeat.

If you decide to take on the unethical ones, case by case, it will sap your energy and is really not worth it in the long run.

[portland real estate]

I think one of the biggest problems is that most people who do have problems don't bother to file complaints. Almost all Realtors hold state issued real estate licenses which can be revoked, and so if there is someone who is causing problems, then it's important to let the licensing board now.

[JJohnson1985]

Well, to continue with the example I posted^^^ three posts before....
The student who made the offer and found this out was gun ho on doing something about it. He basically was asking the instructor the best way to handle it. Through the broker, go directly to the board, or talk to the seller. The instructor basically said you can do those things but it is not worth it. Every situation is different but in this case a room full of soon to be agents just learned that if you don't hold up your fiduciary responsibility and steer the transaction in a way that you get the most commission, there more than likely won't be any consequences because it is not worth reporting. To me that is only spreading the problem.

I've never dealt with it so it is easy for me to say but, just report it to the State Board. I understand that it maybe easier to just steer away from them and make your own list, but what about the next honest agent/broker/buyer/seller? There will always be a next unless the unethical person is stopped. Also, if this unethical person becomes/is a broker, the wrong lessons maybe taught and again the problem spreads.

I'm greener than green, and again easy for me to say since I have not had to deal with it yet, but right now anyway I feel the same way about voting - don't complain unless you acted. I know that I could not complain about dealing with unethical people unless I try to do something about when faced with it. Just my opinion though, and everyone has them :)

[cindyc]

Hi there. As someone who has and does work with agents, some of it has to do with media (the same reason the market has been blown out of proportion since the "slump" began) the other reason is some do some pretty shady dealings. There are plenty of great agents out there and I know very well just how hard these good agents work. However, when there is a bad one EVERYONE knows about it and that's what sticks in everyone's mind.
I too use to feel that way. Once I got involved in the industry I gained a whole new respect for them. Look there's good and bad in every profession, but this is a tough business esp. if it's your bread and butter. :o

[TomAnto]

The bubble bursting is the best thing that could have happened for the Realtor as an occupation. When things were hot everyone and their uncle were rushing to the industry. I think that this slow down will flush out anyone who was just in this for a quick buck and not because they love to help people buy and sell. The industry will be left with more of those good agents because of it.

Yes, something needs to be done to better prepare entering Realtors. I have worked with some that were completely incompetent and did their clients a complete disservice by not being prepared to practice the occupation.

Don't even get me started on home inspectors.

[cindyc]

You sure have that right. When things were going good everyone felt this was an easy way to get easy money! Wrong. I remember when I was taking the course, at the time I was running a real estate office, I had fellow students say to me, Oh I can do this, I like to talk on the phone! Ok and that means what?? I tried explaining this is not easy money. You also should have AT LEAST 6 mos revenue since it's quite likely you will not be generating income at that point. I also liked the ones who said oh this is part time for me. IMO this isn't a part time job, unless you have a spouse or significant other who picks up the "tab" you need to do this full time.
This is why I am in referral, I don't want to give up my nights, or weekends, I don't want to be on call for the looney client who bothers you at all hours.
This market will def. weed out the bad seeds, well most of them. The movers and shakers are still here and they are still making the money. One thing they want to do is have CEC's in order to keep your license here in Jersey. Although I personally will dread the studying, it is something which will help to weed out also.;)

[Codythebest]

I used to hate realtors. As an investor I found that they didn't understand the game I was playing. Then I realized after a while it wasn't the realtors I hated, it was the fact that I expected them to know more than what they did. I totally set them up to fail. I learned. Now I know that when I am dealing with a realtor I know they see things in their way, I see things in mine. Luckily my wife got her license for our business and is getting her brokers license soon.

That's exactly why I passed my license...;)

[JJohnson1985]

You talked to the wrong agents. Just my opinion. I agree, most may not be as knowledgeable as they should be. but not all agents are ignorant.

[MoneyMan]

The most common mistake realtors make is to sell you a property and then drop you like a hot potato. Common sense should tell a realtor that an investor is not just going to buy one property!!!

[kytine8888]

As long as they can still be trusted. All of them are nice so far.