Thread: Realtor Reputation - what do you think of Realtors?

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!

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?

Originally Posted by 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!

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.

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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

Originally Posted by flhousesuk

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.

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

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.......

Originally Posted by MicroBalrog

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?

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.