A cautionary tale of credentials vs professionalism

My wife and I have had our house on the market for 6 months with very little traffic into the house and no offers.

With the real estate market and economy the way it is today, its very easy to blame ‘the market’ for the length of time on market.  Its very easy to shrug it off and say “it will just take time to sell.”

While its easy to blame ‘the market’…I do think part of the problem is the local market. We live in a neighborhood that is still building out.  We live in a town that has very high taxes compared to our neighbors (although the town is considered a very good place to live in the Dallas Metroplex).  We have a nice house on a corner lot with a good layout and quite a bit of room (over 3000 square feet of space).  We feel the price is right when compared to the other houses in the neighborhood, including the new houses being built.

But…

Is the price right for this market? Is the price right for us to actually be able to attract a buyer to our town and our neighborhood?  Do we have the features in our house to be able to demand that price?  We feel the answer is “yes” to all those questions…but…we still haven’t sold our house.  Or even had an offer.

So…what’s the problem?

Just because we think our home price is reasonable, doesn’t mean it is. Just because we want $X for our home, doesn’t mean its worth it….and a Realtor should tell us that.

That’s where a professional comes in.  Not just a realtor…but a professional.  A professional will tell us if we are wrong. A realtor can list a home…but a professional will sell a home.  There’s a difference between being a licensed Realtor and being a professional Realtor. In a market like we are in today, you can tell the professionals from the license holders.

Our listing expires at the end of December. We’ve decided that we are not going to renew the contract with our current realtor.  Why? Because I don’t see the value in what she’s provided to us.  This Realtor hasn’t gone out of their way to market our home. Anything that we’ve done (open houses, listing on the web, etc) has been done at our insistence and/or by us).

We’ll be listing with another realtor in January.  Will it help? Who knows. The market isn’t that great (see…there i go blaming the market again).

Before listing this time, I’m going to do my homework. I’m going to find a realtor that is a professional. I’m going to find someone that will tell me the truth rather than what i want to hear.  I’m going to find someone that will work their tail off to get people into the house and sell it.  They find a way to build a level of trust with their client.

There’s a huge difference in having a credential and being a professional. A realtor isn’t necessarily a professional because of the credential.  A project manager isn’t a professional just because they gained some experience and passed a test.   Sure…you can call yourself a realtor, project manager, doctor or airline pilot if you ‘pass the test’ but you won’t be successful unless you do the hard work that it takes to be a professional.

Something to think about.  Are you a professional or just a credential?