When I first got my real estate license over a decade ago, my oldest and dearest friend said —
Before it comes up, I want you to know that I’m not going to hire you to be my real estate agent. I know about thirty agents, including my own mother, and if I picked any one of them, it would make the other twenty-nine mad, so I’m not hiring any of you. I’ll hire someone nobody’s heard of and who isn’t one of the crowd. That way, I can push them as hard as I need to and get as mad at them as I feel and even fire them if I want, and I won’t be risking a relationship or ruining Thanksgiving.”
No kidding – he really did say that.

I’ll bet you know a bunch of realtors, too. You might even be related to one or two. And each of them expects you to hire them when you’re ready to buy or sell property, right? And you probably dread that conversation. Or maybe you just feel flat-out obligated to use that person, no questions asked. So with all that peer pressure, you probably never even get to the point where you consider which of them is actually best-suited for your particular situation. But, seriously, would you hire a patent attorney to defend you in a murder case? Or a dermatologist to perform your brain surgery? (more…)