2024 promises to be a difficult year for real estate agents, simply because the pool of buyers and sellers is smaller than it has been. And since there are plenty of agents eager to capture every listing and every buyer, you have a challenge ahead.
Back in January I offered several suggestions for ways to thrive in 2024. One of the ways was taking care to maintain an impeccable real estate reputation.
Your real estate reputation is crucial, and yet…
Some agents either don’t believe their reputation is crucial or they believe their market is so large that it doesn’t matter. 
But it does matter.
I was reminded of this by a recent Active Rain post. It told a story about cutting corners – much to the home seller’s detriment.
It seems that a seller, who had already moved out, wanted to have her house staged, but the agent said no, it wasn’t necessary. She would simply have it virtually staged.
The trouble came when buyers arrived to view the house and found that it was not only not furnished, it was dirty. It needed both a good cleaning and some minor repairs, and it contained unwanted furniture and trash, including dead plants. I have to assume the sellers had some responsibility for that, unless their agent had promised to have it cleaned after they left town and didn’t.
Either way, the house spent its first year on the market with buyers walking in and walking back out.
The same article went on to tell a tale of what can happen when the agent fails to give the virtual stager accurate measurements for each room. The result is that the virtually staged home might show a king sized bed, night-stands and a large dresser in a bedroom – when it really has room only for a double bed, one night-stand, and a small dresser.
For the sake of saving a little time and effort, these agents harmed their real estate reputations while they harmed their clients.
Will prospective sellers hear about what they did? Sure, some will, because people talk. These agents might find their stories on Facebook or other social media sites, and they will likely find “one star” reviews on real estate websites.
In addition, the agents wrecked their reputations with other agents. They’ll think twice before wasting their time showing listings from agents who are known to cut these corners.
Is due diligence an agent’s responsibility?
Some say no. Due diligence is a buyer’s responsibility and full disclosure is a seller’s responsibility. However, I think most home sellers would put the blame on their agent in the following situation:
The buyer can’t obtain financing because the new roofing that was installed 3 years ago wasn’t permitted. Now someone needs to back up, go through a lot of red tape, and likely pay fines in addition to permit fees before the sale can proceed. Some buyers will walk away rather than wait for all that to happen.
How did this happen?
The agent who took the listing either failed to ask about things like the age of the roof, the water heater, the furnace, etc. or simply did not ask about permits. They definitely didn’t check with the City or County to see if the work had been permitted.
Maybe the buyer should have checked before making an offer. Or perhaps the buyer’s agent should have checked. Are we at that point of “trust nothing and trust no one?” I hate to think so.
Shouldn’t the seller have told them the work wasn’t permitted? Yes, if the seller even realized it was necessary to have permits for such work. Not all cities and counties require permits for everything a homeowner might do to repair or improve a home. I know – I’m fortunate to live in one of those places.
A disclaimer: I do realize some sellers do know and do try to cover it up. Just like some sellers try leaving things off a property disclosure. The world has some people like that.
My opinion: Since the agent was the professional, he or she should have checked.
It’s the agent’s job to protect his or her clients – sometimes even from themselves.
Henry Ford once said “A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.”
A business who puts service in a “not necessary” category will have the opposite worry.
One more way to damage your real estate reputation: Rudeness
Failure to return or acknowledge your calls, texts, and emails brands you as rude. Obviously, if you ignore prospects, clients, and past clients, you’ll hurt your business. They have other people they can call, and they will do so.
But what about other agents and other service providers? If they ask you a question, it’s polite to reply. If 
you ask for information and they are prompt in getting it to you, it’s polite to say thanks. It’s also polite to verify appointments and to let people know if you’re running late – or won’t get there at all.
But some agents seem unable to be bothered with such niceties.
I sometimes have agents write to ask me if I can send a new link for prospecting letters they’ve purchased, because they forgot to save them or because they had a computer crash and lost them.
I’m always happy to oblige, but I DO expect some sort of response. Just “Thanks, got it!” is good enough, and most people do acknowledge receipt.
But then there are those who don’t. So I write and say “Did you get the new download link?” A few write back to say yes, but the rest just ignore me. They got what they needed and now don’t even have 20 seconds for a reply.
I expect they treat appraisers, lenders, stagers, title reps, closers, etc. in the same fashion, because they are rude individuals. And then they probably wonder why those folks never send them referrals.
If these agents straighten up, can they regain their reputations?
Maybe. However…
“A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.”
― Joseph Hall
The best plan for protecting your real estate reputation is…
Provide every client with the kind of service you would want if you were in their shoes. And be polite. Please and thank you never go out of style.
