Ahhhhh it really is an age old question, “with so many choices out there how can I be sure I am making the right one?” This question has honestly become an entire marketing campaign for a major insurance company, as well as many other conglomerate businesses. (I am sure you can figure out which ones I am talking about.) For good reason this question is the root of their marketing campaign because of the truth that it bears. The feeling is so relatable in so many different facets of life. Really, think of your entire day in terms of the choices we have to make. You wake up, hit the snooze or get up and at em. You get vertical and head to get some coffee. More choices, do I get the seasonal pumpkin spice latte OR do I stick with my old reliable black americano that I drink everyday? Pumpkin spice it is, why not enjoy the season. Here you are about two hours into your day and you have had to make up your mind about 5 times, there are plenty more choices that are beckoning to be answered later on as well!
A funny example from my childhood was at the supermarket, I wouldn’t dare go to the grocery store to buy fruit that was not properly self inspected. My mother was a notorious melon knocker, and in turn I now by association am a melon knocker. She would pick every melon on the pallet up, raise the melon to her right ear, and then knock on it with her left hand as if she were trick or treating…. I must admit this was very embarrassing for me as a child in the supermarket with my mother, but guess who is a melon knocker now…. THIS GUY. (maybe next weeks blog will be an analysis on the theory of nature v. nurture)
Point being is we are constantly surrounded by choices and a “field” of options. It is for this reason I think the concept of picking the perfect pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch is so fitting. I mean there is so much that goes into the perfect pumpkin. Color, shape, firmness, size, age….. The list goes on an on.
One of those options usually is better than all the others. The same principle of superiority holds true across the spectrum of where these decisions exist, both inside and outside of the pumpkin patch.. I have come to find that these principles hold true when picking out your real estate professional as well. There are pros and cons to all firms, agents, and scenarios but what I want to do is to try and arm you with the information so that when the time comes, you can choose what/who is right for you.
You know that little feeling you get inside of yourself deep down, call it instinct, intuition, or plainly just your gut. That feeling is what I recommend that you listen to. With that being said, the firm and person that you choose should be there to educate you. I am not sure what you have been told or experienced in the past, but the real estate professional is there to coach you though. Giving you options and laying out all of the possible outcomes to the decision that YOU get to make. Notice I said that the decision is yours to make. The professional tasked with helping you should never tell you what to do, only what you could do. Major difference there!
On the other side of the coin any real estate professional worth their salt should CARE about more than their commission they are set to make off of this deal. A great quote I saw in a class I attended the other day went:
“They (clients) do not care what you know, until they know that you care.”
How TRUE! The agent, when under a representation contract, is required to “act in the best interest of the client”. I make the mistake of assuming the best in people at times and that can come back to bite me. The Code of Ethics does not say that they are required to care about the “success” of their client. How do you know the agent cares? Same way you know that your friends and family cares of course!
Also I am a firm believer that “success” should be discussed in the very beginning of the representation agreement, that way agent and client are both on the same page for what the ultimate goal is with the property transaction.
Do your best to go into a transaction with an agent who care about the success of your transaction. Also note that minor blunders could be a result of poor communication, these minor mistakes do not always mean that your agent does not care, it could be quite the opposite. Potentially they care so much that they are applying pressure to the situation, in turn making it bubble over. Best way to fix the agents over application of pressure? As the message always is, just communicate!