I met with some fellow investors this week for lunch and we were talking about how terrible many realtors are. If you’re a realtor and you’re reading this, I don’t write this to offend you. Rather, I want to educate you on why your industry is going the way of the Dodo Bird. Many don’t provide enough value to justify their commission, and very few do. To investors, many realtors are glorified gate keepers and key holders.
I think the top 3 most frustrating things that I’ve seen from Realtors are as follows:
- Poor ability to show up on time
- Unable to answer a phone call
- Lack of knowledge on how investors analyze deals
Showing up on time is just common courtesy. I don’t know about you, but my most valuable commodity is my time. My time is incredibly valuable given what I can do with it while I’m working. If you’re sitting there waiting on someone, those are minutes you will never get back in your life. I can think of few larger insults.
Picking up the phone has become a lost art. Today, many people prefer to connect via text message or Facebook Messenger or email. Garbage! Pick up your phone and you will excel beyond your peers. If you can’t get to your phone because you’re such a big player in the game, hire someone to take your calls and then call people back quickly.
Finally, if you don’t know how an investor analyzes a deal, take some time to learn this. This is especially true to realtors that represent sellers. I’ve looked at hundreds of multi-family deals this year and I’d say 95% of the realtors I’ve spoken with have zero clue how we look at deals to calculate return on investment. I’ve seen so many 4-5% cap rate deals this year that I’ve almost given up on looking until people get realistic or there’s a good enough market correction to bring some common sense to the field.
I thought about the movie Robo Cop from the ’80s when I was meeting with my investors. When Robo Cop woke up from his coma, he went to the home where his family once lived and there was a virtual realtor on a tv screen. If you don’t think the movies predict the future, get ready to live it because that kind of automated realtor is coming to the market sooner than you think. If you can perform those 3 tasks above to a high standard, then congratulations, you’re likely at the top of your game as a Realtor.