For Some Buyers, Good Real Estate Agents Hard to Find.
Quite Astounding!Makes for good reading.
RISMEDIA, March 20 — (KRT) — It took Jennifer Zuech and her husband nearly a dozen tries to find a real estate agent they felt comfortable with as they hunted for their first home.

Some were inexperienced, pushy or didn't seem to listen, showing the couple places they couldn't afford. Others just seemed "conniving," not pointing out the much needed and costly improvements certain houses needed, Zuech said.

"We got more educated as we went along at what to look for and what to ask for," she said.

In a Gallup poll conducted last November, a randomly selected sample of 1,002 adults rated the honesty and ethical standards of 21 types of professionals.

Real estate agents ranked No. 11 with 20 percent of those surveyed giving them a very high or high rating. That's compared to 82 percent for nurses, who ranked No. 1, 65 percent for doctors and 44 percent for funeral directors.

Some people might not have as positive an impression of real estate agents because it's an easy field to get into, said John Boatright, a business ethics professor at Loyola University Chicago.

It doesn't take years of education to get a license, and it's relatively inexpensive, Boatright said.

"Almost anyone can become a real estate agent," he said.

Many people also question whether the fees they charge are justified, he said. They're less aware of the financial incentives in other fields like medicine, Boatright said.

The recent heated market has probably helped compound the issue, said Bakersfield Association of Realtors president Don Cohen.

Hundreds of new agents have leaped into the business, and some are out to make a quick buck.

"When one person does wrong, it takes a tremendous amount of effort to counter that," Cohen said.

The association has monthly education classes for its members.

"We've been growing in leaps and bounds. It's hard to keep up with them," Cohen said. "We're just doing the best we can to educate them and make them as professional as possible." But with so much money changing hands, there are more opportunities for issues to arise, he said.

Everyone has been in such a hurry to close deals that "you're going to see flagrant violations," said local broker Chuck Dawson. "People get so sloppy because they want to do as much volume of business as they can." Homebuyers or sellers can help avoid problematic agents by being vigilant and asking some important questions.

They have a responsibility to ask about an agent's experience, Dawson said.

Agents' professional standards are almost directly proportional to their education and the amount of knowledge they've gained, he said. A successful agent is one who is constantly taking courses, learning about new technology and ways of doing business, he said.

Agents who join the association also have a code of ethics they're expected to follow. The association has grievance and ethics committees to deal with those who don't.

It receives 40 to 60 phone calls a month from frustrated people. Of those, between five and 10 will become complaints that go before a committee, Dawson said.

Statewide, the Department of Real Estate receives somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 complaints a year. The department's Web site, www.dre.ca.gov, allows consumers to search for potential violations using an agent's license number.

Potential buyers should also talk to friends and family, Cohen said, and find out who an agent's done business with in the past six months.

"Don't just take it for granted because they give you three names and three phone numbers," Cohen said. "Check the references out." And if you have any doubts, keep looking, he said.

Jennifer Zuech and her husband eventually found their agent, Leslie Walters, through a work friend.

Some agents had given the couple false impressions that they could afford particular houses. Walters was honest with them, she said.

"She's awesome," Zuech said. "She really paid attention to what we could or couldn't afford."

I *wish* it were so easy to differentiate oneself from such people...but I know of so many "good" agents around here, we are a dime a dozen! Oh well.

But...I never understood the impulse for agents to try pushing homes the client can't afford. It makes no sense to me, seeing that it jeopardizes the possibility of closing in the first place, and often wouldn't increase the amount of commission by much anyway.

Around here, many agents dislike working with buyers - they'll refer them away for passive income to new agents. I don't particularly agree with this, but some points are valid - everyone has a story of the clients they played limo for - taking them to 50 houses and then the client buys a FSBO or a house through another agent.

So, are buyers actions somewhat to blame for this? Yes - there are two sides of this story. Only problem is, it's much better news to write about the greedy, shady agent rather than the agent who spent time and money on a disloyal client.

Are EBAs the solution? I don't know. Problem is, not many people use them and even if they use them, most of those would not sue the client if it came to it. But what else is there except both agent and client ethics which, unfortunately seem to be ebbing lower all the time on both sides?

EBA's are not the answer.

Better qualified licensed real estate professionals are the answer.

It is far too simple to get a real estate license. You need to know nothing about how to perform real estate related activities to get one.

In Florida a client was pulled over for speeding and the officer asked her for her vehicle registration and real estate license. Confused since she was not in a car with any indications that she was a REALTOR, she asked the officer.. Don't you mean my Divers License? The officer replied, No, Not everyone has one of those...

Until we develop stronger requirements for obtaining a real estate license and increase the training and education requirements for not only the initial license but also for on going license tenure... statically most agent will be inept. Only about 20% are actually effective in their profession.

The problem is that NAR makes more money with more people... not with fewer better educated people. Real Estate diploma Mills churn out thousands a week and sure don't want any education requirements... even for their instructors who often have little or no real estate experience. Many brokerages prefer the existing system as it is a source of cheap labor and almost any new agent has 2 or 3 quick deals from family and friends before they burn out or drop out.

It would take state governments to place meaningful requirements on qualifications for Professional license in real estate... few have taken more than exploratory steps to do so.

So going through 5 or 6 agents to find a qualified one to work with isn't any surprise.

"In Florida a client was pulled over for speeding and the officer asked her for her vehicle registration...."

Realty, that joke is so old, when it was told to Moses he barely cracked a smile.

Amen to this. It should be MUCH harder to become an agent. A college degree or the equivalent should be necessary at the very least. There should also be more initial education, mandatory continuing education, and a bitch-ass hard test like the CPA or bar exam.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! especially about the NAR part!!!!

Just curious but would you be in real estate if those were the qualifications?

I don't think a four year college degree is necessary. There are a lot of smart people out there who have managed without one. And it doesn't really help all that much with the work.

I think the tests should be much harder. 75% to pass is a joke. Is it ok for an agent to only know 3/4 of what they need to know? And if that's 75% with a four answer multiple choice with nothing taken off for missed answers, it's not even 75%.

There's no reason to be snobby about educational background. There's good reason to require knowledge of the business, it's rules and all of the skills needed to do a good job.

Mac

Mac,

There are degrees that are real estate related or have real estate concentrations.

I believe that the minimum should be an associate degree either in Real Estate, Marketing, Business or Finance to name a few.

I fully support harder exams and more CE requirements.

Paul,

I don't think a degree in business or finance, two or four year, prepares one for the demands of real estate. They're helpful, but two years is probably overkill. I've known a lot of people with heavy duty educations in those fields that didn't have much practical knowledge.

Marketing as it's taught is too general. Two years of marketing isn't as valuable as a few weeks of good education in real estate marketing.

Exams that test the daylights out of one's knowledge of agency law, real estate practice, accounting, taxes, zoning...all that stuff we run into...that's what would make a difference.

I've got nothing against a good education. I'm all for it. I just think from my limited experience in this field that far too many agents both new and experienced lack basic knowledge. I don't care how it's taught. I just care that agents have it.

I can see your side of it, though. Real estate trasactions are a big deal. They have a huge impact on people's lives. I wouldn't argue too hard against requiring the equivalent of an advanced degree in Real Estate. Four years of competitive higher education followed by two or three years of advanced education.

The public wouldn't pay for it, of course. But it might be what's really called for.

Interesting topic for sure.

Mac