Remember that line from the movie American Beauty? Caroline Burnham, played by Annette Benning so desperately wanted to sell a house that afternoon. And in this movie, she was actually TRYING to sell the house by telling people what they'd get in having that house and why it would be good for them. Strange. Does it ever really work that way?
I really hope someone can explain all of this to me because I'm at my wit's end. Who designed the real estate industry? Why is it that any bored housewife can take a three day crash course on how to answer the realtor test questions correctly, pass the test or get her money back, and then BOOM! She's a realtor!
What does this give her/him the right to do actually? Join up with a real estate office - at 100% commission, based upon their sales. No salary whatsoever. ZERO salary. To me, this just means that a real estate office can "sign up" hundreds of realtors at no cost or sacrifice at all and hope one or two of them will swim....knowing full well 90% of them will sink. And again, what does this cost the real estate firm? ZERO! in fact, they charge these realtors for everything they do - advertising, business cards, signs in yards, etc. Pretty crappy industry in my opinion.
But wait....it gets better....
WHO exactly teaches these people to sell? Sell? A house? What's that?
I've been a "buyer" many times, and I've never had a realtor actually "sell" me a house. All they ever did was drive me around showing me houses and waiting for me to decide I wanted something. If any other sales organization operating in this fashion, they'd be out of business in 10 minutes. Not the real estate industry....just keep going! Someone will BUY a house and a realtor will earn some commission.
I've seen realtors meet with me, tell me how fabulous my home is and that the can sell it for LOADS of money in just a few weeks! LOADS! So guess what I do? I SIGN A BINDING CONTRACT!!! I can't change realtors because I'm committed to this person for the duration of the contract! If I bring my own buyer to the table, with no help at all from the realtor, I still have to pay them a commission.
Now THERE'S a great deal! List a million houses!!! Tell lies and promise the moon to as many people wanting or needing to sell their homes, and then do nothing! Just rely on other realtors to find the house on their multi-list computer program. Someone else will sell the house and you'll get commission just for promising the moon and getting the poor sap to sign a contract because they want to believe you!!
Now, after you get your "sap" to sign that contract so that they have to pay your commission no matter how little you do for them, you can come back to them in a few weeks and tell them they need to lower the price to sell! So you do. Then when it doesn't sell, lower it again. Then when it doesn't sell, re-landscape. Then when it doesn't sell, re-paint and re-carpet the place. Don't forget, your FABULOUS realtor said he or she would sell your house for LOADS of money in just a few weeks!
And whether it's true or not - USUALLY NOT - YOU are committed to this person for the length of their contract.
I've learned that it's no one's job to "sell" a house. All they seem to do is drive people around to houses that are for sale, skulk quietly in the background, waiting to see if the prospective buyer says, "I'll take it!" There's no selling involved. The more you act as chauffeur, the better your chances of selling a house. You don't have to "sell." You just have to drive people around and let them go in and out of random houses until they tell you they want one. That's the job of the selling agent.
The job of the listing agent is just to LIST as many houses as they can, in case someone sells one of the ones they've listed - they get their commission then!!!
WHO IS TEACHING THESE PEOPLE TO SELL???? Sadly, the answer is NO ONE. The "SALES JOB" is convincing you to list your house with them and sign a contract. EVENTUALLY, one of their stupid listings will sell. They hope. Or maybe they'll go back to working part time at The Gap.
SO....again I ask: WHO DESIGNED THIS INDUSTRY??? and Why does no one seem to care how unethical and dishonest and abusive it is?
I apologize if I've offended anyone, but I just don't get it.
I think I'll stick with selling cosmetics. I know I can provide a great service and product that people want and give them something tangible for their money. Without the lies and without playing on peoples emotional needs.
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