What does a REALTOR® do?
March 29, 2012 -- Like most REALTORS® who have worked in the profession for a number of years, from time to time I have been asked to explain the value of a REALTOR®’s services, and what we do throughout the course of a transaction.
Here is my take on what’s involved in our work and the most important contribution a REALTOR® can make to what is likely a consumer’s largest financial decision.
Most of a REALTOR®’s day involves following the market, not just specific houses and neighborhoods, but the ups and downs of the marketplace in general. We also deal with the ups and downs of our clients, their successes and failures, as well as changes to their family structures.
Eventually we start to develop a way of seeing so much product that we become adept at sifting out the good from the bad. We recognize that buzzwords like “knob and tube wiring” or “old furnace” are fixable if the house is right.
As my first REALTOR® advised me, “You can fix anything in the house with money but you cannot move the house.” His words guided me to a less expensive house on a great street at a time when I was caught up dreaming of the renovation that I had seen on a less desirable street. I have never regretted that decision, and I know that I would have made a mistake had I not listened to his guidance.
As REALTORS®, we know that buying and selling a home is a very emotional experience. One of the best services that a REALTOR® provides is their third party unemotional observation, which can help Buyers and Sellers realize what is important, what is worth fighting for, and what that extra bit of mortgage will really mean in the long term.
On occasion, media reports infer that REALTORS® somehow create the marketplace. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. It is, in fact, the Buyer and the Seller who do so. It is natural for the Seller to want the highest price possible for their property and also for the Buyer to want to purchase for the least amount. How far each is willing to go is entirely up to them.
When six REALTORS® and the Buyers they represent attempt to purchase one house, the math will tell you that there are going to be five unhappy Buyers and REALTORS® who do not achieve their goals. Does that sound like fun? Is that really what REALTORS® want? Where is the benefit for the REALTOR®?
These days, REALTORS® try to keep their clients realistic, set goals and help them remember that getting excited about a kitchen design to the exclusion of having a main floor family room is steering them off of their must have list, which was responsible for initiating their search in the first place.
Providing that kind of guidance is the most important thing that a REALTOR® can do, notwithstanding making sure that the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed. It is what keeps us busy, no matter what market we are in. This most important face-to-face contact is one that a computer program will never be able to replace.
Richard Silver, President
Toronto Real Estate Board | 
