Used Car Salesmen… Seriously?
No Offense to Used Car Salesmen…….
but plenty of people put real estate agents in the same category as them. When I put on my consumer hat and question why a real estate professional, someone who is there to advise you on the most important asset you probably own or will own, is paralleled with a guy in a checked blazer and wide tie trying to make a monthly quota, I guess I could see it. After all, lots of agents act like used car salesmen.
Almost everyone (myself included) has had the experience of walking into an open house and then been interrogated by the agent who is standing there. “Where are you looking, how long have you been looking, would this home fit your criteria? Are you working with an agent, can I be your new BFF?” It’s a game of tug of war. The agent is trying to get as much info as possible in that short amount of time so they can put you on a contact list. You are trying to get out of there without giving your (real) phone number and email so you can avoid being hounded every day going forward.
The same can be said for a used car lot. I know this because I recently needed to purchase a vehicle. Each time I got out of the car my heart started beating rapidly and I got a little sick to my stomach. Just the thought of having to encounter another salesperson who was going to ask me the same questions I’d just answered at the previous four lots made me ill.
After being hounded, came the inevitable ‘hard’ (or ‘soft’, depending on the technique) sale. “This one is going to go pretty quickly, there have been a lot of lookers! I know you could get this for a really good price right now. If this isn’t the one for you, I’d still love your business!” Never mind that you can assume that they are not honest and that you’re getting hosed no matter what you end up with. It’s the whole process of dealing with person after person after person….all wanting the same thing from you and you start to feel like a big piece of meat.
I couldn’t help but see a similarity in the way many agents act during an open house. It got me thinking….why couldn’t there be one person out there who could take my car criteria and desired monthly payment and find me some cars by searching all the available lots? Maybe there is such a service/person out there, but if so I’ve never heard of them. I would definitely pay them a fee. Or the dealer could pay them a fee, whatever. Just to avoid the leg work and interaction with ten different salespeople would be worth it. It would be like a car agent. I mean, you typically use one real estate agent who shows you available houses and then writes the contract and helps you through the inspections, title, survey work, and the whole closing process.
Which brings me round to my point. Most people (unless they already have a trusted agent) do not utilize a real estate agent as intended. They go to dozens of open houses, subjecting themselves to torture, and then go home and scour 10 different websites trying to filter which homes meet their criteria. These websites and listings are bookmarked and printed and lost and then maybe found. The whole “process” could be made so much easier if they asked one agent to set them up on an interactive website account linked to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). These sites show all the properties that agents have access to along with prices, pictures, directions, maps, school statistics, recent solds in the area, and more. There are notebooks to save listings in and interactive notepads to leave thoughts for yourself or your agent. They are free and they are awesome. You call your agent when you are ready to see something. You can keep your account for 2 years while you contemplate moving. It’s simple and it’s hands-off!
As a society, we long to simplify, to work smarter, not harder. If you have an agent and they have not set you up on a site such as this, find one that offers it. It will save you time and give you a great answer when someone asks you “are you working with an agent?”
- Jen Ross
Real Estate Agent, Upper End Properties
