When a Sacramento Real Estate Agent Fails Communication 101

A good ol’ Midwestern work ethic never goes out of style, says this Sacramento real estate agent, who was raised in Minnesota. See, I do not see it as a drawback not to hail from the city where I work and live. In fact, in the overall scheme of things, I have lived longer in my second place of residence, Newport Beach (Orange County), than in Sacramento, as I’m celebrating only my 11th year in Sacramento this month, and worked in real estate in Orange County for 15 years.

But I survived the goofy pretentiousness of Orange County, and I made it through another bunch of 50-degrees-below-zero winters in Minnesota after that, so I can easily deal with Sacramento’s beautiful weather, friendly people and the occasional quirky agent. When I tell somebody I’ll be somewhere at a certain time, I hold up to that promise. When I say I’m presenting offers at a certain time in MLS, that’s what I do. If an agent or a client emails, sends me a text message or calls me, I’ll return the communication. But not every agent operates this way.

Some real estate agents don’t respond at all for days. All of us might wonder how do they get away with that kind of attitude, at the same time coupled with, hey, why can’t I behave that way? Yeah, a little bit of jealously, I suppose, that they get to screw off and the rest of us responsible agents don’t. Why can’t we all be rude?

It’s embarrassing to have to explain to clients that they can’t have an answer on an offer they wrote three days ago under an MLS deadline stipulation because the other agent doesn’t respond. Yet, it happens. So, how does one deal with the frustration of hearing the agent’s voicemail is full and there is no communication via text or email?

Realize we can’t change the other party. We can’t force an agent to conform or communicate. That person will dig his or her own grave. Being upset or irritated with an agent doesn’t make the process move any smoother or faster, either. After all, as agents we want our clients to win — we, as agents, don’t have to win in the process.

The way I personally deal with it is vow that I will never be that kind of real estate agent. We can only control our own behavior. Further, Sacramento has plenty of really good real estate agents who raise the bar just by walking on the other side of the street. Don’t let a bad agent here and there ruin your day.