The mistakes Realtors make

Hundreds of real estate agents are gathering this week in Las Vegas for their 2007 conference and expo. It’s the biggest event of the year for the National Association of Realtors, the 1.3-million-member trade group representing the real estate industry.

Seeing as how the residential real estate industry is suffering through its biggest slump in years, you can bet that the tone of the conference isn’t too joyful. From the press releases I’ve been receiving about the event, in fact, it seems that the association’s officials are getting rather defensive about all the negative press their industry is receiving.

I’ve attended more than a few of these conferences. They’re largely networking opportunities, a chance for agents from across the country to meet with each other, discuss sales strategies and gossip. Nothing wrong with that.

But if agents really wanted to help each other, they should swap tales of their mistakes. When I talk to “regular people” about real estate agents I rarely hear about the good things. People are far more likely to share with me the horror stories of disinterested agents or of those who never seemed to listen to their concerns. Agents could drastically improve their standing among the public – which, quite honestly, sometimes views Realtors as barely a step above used-car salesmen, lawyers and (ahem) reporters – if they simply eliminated some of the common mistakes the worst of them make when working with clients.

A point of clarification: I don’t want this to seem like a rant against Realtors. Most of the agents I’ve either interviewed or worked with have been real pros. Savvy agents can help buyers and sellers negotiate the intricacies of even the most sluggish of markets. The problem, as it is in any industry, is that there are always a smaller number of unprofessional, unmotivated agents who help trash the reputation of those agents who do work hard and smart.

So, here are the foul-ups that agents should avoid at all costs:

Showing clients everything but what they want: A co-worker of mine years ago was looking for a small, two-bedroom home in Chicago’s North Side. Now, it’s harder to sell two-bedroom homes. I know this. Agents know this. My friend did, too. But he planned on staying in his two-bedroom home for decades or, as he says, “Until they pull me out and put me in the ground.” His agent, though, insisted on showing him three- and four-bedroom houses. This continued even after my co-worker reiterated several times that he had no interest in such a home. Eventually, my co-worker dumped his agent and rented a new apartment. He’s still renting today. And if you ask him, he’ll happily trash real estate agents for you.

Forgetting where the phone – or e-mail “send” button – is: People are anxious when buying or selling a home. This is understandable: It’s a huge financial move for them. This means they need considerable handholding from their agents. It doesn’t help matters when their agent waits three days to return a phone call or a week to reply to an e-mail message. Clients know that their agents are busy folks. But they don’t really care. They want instant service. A lack of timely phone calls was enough to persuade a former neighbor of mine to ask me one morning to recommend a new Realtor to him. Three days later, one company’s “For Sale” sign disappeared and a second’s sprouted in its place.

Pushing the hard or uncomfortable work onto their clients: A friend of mine, after purchasing his current house, discovered that his basement leaked during particularly heavy rainfalls, a fact that didn’t show up on the home’s disclosure report. After spending a long night armed with mops and sponges, my friend called his agent to share his tale of soggy woe. She sympathized. She drove over to look at the damage. But when it was time for my friend to consider whether to pursue financial remonstration from the home’s previous buyers, she basically wished him luck. She left it to him to contact an attorney, send a letter to the home’s previous owners and basically handle the whole messy, heated matter on his own. Will this homeowner call on this agent the next time he wants to buy real estate? I’d guess he won’t.

So there you have it, three killer mistakes that sour folks on working with real estate agents. If you’re an agent, don’t make these costly errors. And if you’re working with an agent who is making any of them, move on to a new one. There are plenty of good agents out there. There’s no reason to waste time working with one of the few lousy ones.