Why Do Sacramento Realtors Try to Wear So Many Hats?

Often I wonder: why do Sacramento Realtors try to wear so many hats? But then I think back to when I started in real estate in the 1970s. I wore every hat I could get my hands on, and some hats simultaneously.

One hat in particular that I really adored and lost somewhere was a wide brimmed black felt brimmed with pheasant feathers. The side of the hat sported two long pheasant feathers, so if I happened to be sitting close enough to another person, like, say, planted on a barstool, I could slap the person next to me in the face with my feathers simply by innocently turning my head. So you know (don’t you), how much fun I had with that discovery.

Topics like dual agency and agents who work with both types of clients came up today while talking to a buyer who found me online. She had been looking at homes for sale in Sacramento and Placerville, and decided it was time to talk to a Realtor. I was the first agent she found, and of course I answer my phone.

Because I don’t work with buyers directly, and refer all buyers to an appropriate exclusive buyer’s agent on my team, I did not want her to feel like I wasn’t interested in her. Why do Sacramento Realtors try to wear so many hats? I had to explain that we do not. Our team each wears his or her own hat.

Do you realize what kind of superior skills can be developed by working with the same type of person over and over? It’s mind boggling, that’s what it is. For example, a Sacramento listing specialist comes to know listings inside and out, and forms an intimate relationship with sellers. By focusing on one particular aspect of real estate, we become true experts, in every sense of the word.

Clients don’t get that from agents who try to wear too many hats. Most agents work with both sellers and buyers. Some even try to sell mortgages, too. Further, the scary fact is the majority of agents in Sacramento sell 2 or 3 houses a year. That is why Sacramento Realtors try to wear so many hats. Because they don’t do enough business to support themselves in real estate by focusing on one single aspect.

So they become a master of none.

The buyer who called seemed very excited to speak with Barbara Dow from the Elizabeth Weintraub Team. Barbara is a few years older than I am and still going strong as well. We’ve been working together for a long time. When I explained how Barbara works solely with buyers, and is an exclusive buyer’s agent who is dedicated, the buyer sighed in relief. She had never considered finding an agent who only works with people like her.

An agent whose life mission is help her buyers find the perfect home in the best location at the best price. Barbara’s years of successful negotiation strategies help her to guide buyers in the right direction. She is a walking, talking gold mine for buyers.

If other agents would just pick a specialty and not try to be all things to all people, consumers would probably be better off.

By the time I ended our conversation, about 30 minutes later, the buyer said, “I am so lucky to have found you.”