Alrighty then……call me Tex…….and this is my horse “Lil Trigger”……I’m in one of those moods where I’m going to mount up, and let it fly horse high!

Todays ire, not so much ire, but just concern that us realtors are losing sight of what we are really hired to do.   We are in the service and people business, we don’t sell a product, and a house or property is not the thing we sell……we trade our time and expertise to help people either realize the end goal of ownership, or the end goal of liquidity to cash.  Too many times now, I see us realtors dismissing fellow realtors, or not understanding that the other side of the deal has persons attached to the event of a closing…….which is the point isn’t it, to get to a closing.

Here are some things I’ve experienced recently that don’t slow me down much, but I truly hope we (our industry) are not headed in this direction across the board.

Scenario One:

Little ole me and my associate broker “versus” Listing Agent Jane Doe.  We send in an offer on behalf of our client in two pieces, and a nice introductory email/letter style approach.  Mind you now,  I’ve done multiple deals with this agent, and her comment is “….you sound like a fun agent to work with”.  Ahem…….since we’ve already done multiple deals together I jokingly remind her, and I agree of course, I’m a fun agent to work with……..but how Ms Doe forgot, is interesting……because she is focused on the property and maybe a commission perhaps, not the people.  And being busy isn’t a good excuse, we are all busy.  I’ve long forgotten what a property looks like, but what sticks with me, is the people.  I actually care about the other side (the buyer or seller) regardless of what side I’m on, I care about the broker on the other side, and I’m super clear on my mission……..can we all TOGETHER make it to the closing line.  I’m not sure many realtors get that in our current market place…….because this IS NOT an US versus THEM business.

Scenario Two:

Johnny Text-A-Lot Jones……….sorry Johnny, but a quick text once in awhile is fine, but as the only mode of communication, not good at all.   We negotiate an initial 11 to 12 page fine print sale contract, and by the time it’s all done, it’s probably pushing 20 pages with addendums and disclosures.  A deal file, with all the documents in it, easily 100 pages.   Pick the phone up and talk…….and if something really needs to be done in writing, then send an email that way as text messages lag and criss cross each other, there is no confusion on what was said, when it was said, and to what it was said too.

Scenario Three:

Broker Smith and the off market deal………or in house-office only deal.  Us Realtors are in a cooperating environment, but to exclude the field outside a given office, not cool.   And it actually hurts the seller too, because no matter how big the office, there are roughly 20,000 agents in Oregon.   Put the deal out there, I’d argue every second of the day, that an office of 20, 50, or even 250, can’t outsell the entire state of licensed Realtors.

So anyway, I’m just saying………..ok Trigger, giddy on up………time to take a ride……….