Just listed: 300 Summerwalk Circle, Chapel Hill, NC 27517 for $150,000

Just listed: 300 Summerwalk Circle, Chapel Hill, NC 27517 for $150,000 via @realbird.

Just listed: 5610 Jomali Drive, Durham, NC 27705 for $342,000

Just listed: 5610 Jomali Drive, Durham, NC 27705 for $342,000 via @realbird.

I’d probably hate this if I was a Realtor…..

I realized long ago that being in sales requires special skills and special patience.
I had a conversation today with a long time Realtor (30 plus years) about the industry in general and what has changed and what has stayed the same.
One of the biggest continuing frustrations, he said, is spending so much time with a prospect/client and then having them buy from someone else.
“Why would they do that?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” he shrugged. “Sometimes they know someone personally or have a relative in the business who they turn around and give their business to.”
I would think that if they spent a significant amount of time with you that there was some sort of rapport established. If they were going to give the business to someone else, they would/should have that person doing all the research and legwork, no? The fickleness of some prospective buyers is indiscernible.
Years ago, when a Realtor’s allegiance was understood to be more strictly to the seller, I can understand a lack of loyalty on potential purchasers. But with the advent of buyer contracts and eager, energetic agents ready to do the time and rhyme in locating, screening, and visiting multiple listings to zero in on those most closely akin to the buyer’s desires, one would think that type of thing would largely disappear. Apparently, not completely.
True rapport is based on trust. Rapport can be made or lost anywhere along the entire sales process. Trust follows.
I guess ‘the counter’ to that is — but it doesn’t trump a relative in the business.
The same Realtor said his philosophy is, “Do the right thing without worrying about the money. If you do, the money will follow.”
I like that thought. I’d say it is probably a large part of why he has been successful for 30 years.