What Kind of Sacramento Real Estate Agent Does That?

It’s not unusual for an agent to hire this Sacramento real estate agent, or for any of my clients to have held at some point in their lives a California real estate salesperson license, because roughly 1 in every 35 people in California has a real estate license. Having passed the real estate exam and being entitled to practice real estate for 4 years, however, is no guarantee of knowledge, and it certainly does not reflect experience, yet there is a certain comradery among us agents.

I say this because I just closed a real estate transaction in Fair Oaks for a couple of sisters, one of which is a real estate agent. They found me online and read many of my blogs, articles on About.com, and were impressed with my decades of experience. But they still wanted to interview several other agents. Actually, I don’t know if they ever did because after they hired me it didn’t matter. I presented a strong case to choose me over another agent they were considering because I have a strong case to present. I don’t have to sugarcoat any facts or make myself sound better than I am to attract clients.

After the sale of this particular duplex closed escrow, I called to let the sellers know I had received confirmation of closing. It’s important that I speak directly to the sellers when a transaction closes, even if we’ve been communicating all along through email or text. I don’t want take a chance of a technology failure to deliver the news. So, I do the old-fashioned thing: press my Bluetooth earpiece and demand a phone call.

Sellers often like to reminisce during these types of conversations, and this seller was no different, even though she was a real estate agent. She said that what I did to truly earn my commission in her eyes was how I handled the situation when we received an offer that was $9,000 below list price. I advised her to issue a counter offer at list price because I believed she could get list price.

I didn’t deliver this advice off the top of my head. I studied the way the offer was written, reviewed the proof of funds (it was all cash), looked up the history and production of the buyer’s agent, analyzed the deposit check, among a myriad of other things that I do upon receipt of a purchase offer. Sellers pay me to think, not to react without consideration. I’m not a messenger, I am a negotiator. Given the present inventory on the market, and the attractive price of this duplex, I believed the seller could demand list price so that’s what I advised her to do, to counter back to list price. Which was accepted, btw.

There is a fine line between telling a seller what to do and advising a seller. I am not a White Knight Agent. I don’t make decisions for my clients. I deeply care that my clients are informed, and I deliver my advice based on experience and knowledge. I’ve worked with agents who get themselves all worked up into a lather and somehow superimpose themselves into the escrow, which creates horrible nightmares. I don’t lose sight of my position nor fabricate answers for my clients.

The seller asked out loud yesterday, after her reflection on events: What kind of agent does that? What kind of agent tells a seller she should counter? I guess this one. She seemed to be blown away that a Sacramento real estate agent would actually do what is best for her client. Although, I don’t really understand why. We have a fiduciary to our clients. It doesn’t matter to me if the seller wants to accept a purchase offer or send a counter offer or ignore the offer as long as the seller is happy. I suppose I should ask her for a review.