Realtors: A Well Earned Reputation That Is No Longer Deserved

Ask the average citizen about realtors and the responses received will be less than lavish. Shady, cut-throat, lazy, greedy, and these will account for the less imaginative terms. Do realtors deserve this reputation? They certainly did. Do they presently deserve this reputation? Not at all, but you can’t simply change people’s opinions without work.

Now before you decide to light your fiery torches, grab your pitchforks, and march in my direction, realize this does not apply to ALL realtors, but I’m sure it relates to someone you know or have worked with. Remember, only few bad apples ruin the bunch, and when the general public is looking for a scapegoat, that is all they need.

During the realtors “hay-day”, everyone jumped on the realtor band wagon. Being a realtor was easy. Get your license and make money, lots of money. In some cases, realtors didn’t even really have to know what they were doing, and in many cases didn’t. Bad decisions were made with no consequence. Well, not immediately anyway. Like anything moving too fast and out of control, our profession jumped the tracks and the gravy train came to a crashing halt.

Unfortunately, the problem was so inflated that the casualties affected the whole country. People lost their jobs, their homes, and their faith in the American dream. Normally, I am a little over dramatic, but unfortunately, this time I am dead on. Now of course realtors can blame the banks, and the mortgage brokers, which they have, but realtors need to realize that their clients are their responsibility. They need to protect their clients. They simply didn’t (not all of you…).

The reputation, as a generalization, was well deserved. What then public does not realize is that the primary fatalities of that train crash were those realtors. The ones that survived were the hardworking, honest ones. Unfortunately, they are also the ones living with the aftermath of the catastrophe. The question is, what do we do?

Well, the market has shown improvement and is definitely on its way back. As realtors, we now have to show extra care. It’s not just about making a buck; it’s about keeping our profession alive and healthy. I was once told, “Don’t worry about making money, worry about doing the best job possible. If you do that, then the money will come, and you set be set with a foundation that will last.”

Be honest, moral, and make decisions based on what is best for your client. It is up to all of us to repair our reputation and once again thrive in our given profession.