Why Being A Realtor Sucks

Your income is never guaranteed

It’s not uncommon for a Realtor to being working on a deal for months, possibly even a year, and something will happen that will cause the deal to collapse (This is very common right now with short sale deals). All the time and money that went into ensuring you’re going to get paid is down the drain in an instant.

People don’t trust you

Most Realtors are good, trustworthy people who work very hard and put up with a large amount of stress to get their paycheck; There are a few rotten apples out there who taint the image of the group. There are some instances where it’s in the best interest of everyone to bend the truth a bit (see below), but in general Realtors and their clients are both on the same team. They stand to gain very little from deliberately screwing you.

People will choose the Realtor who lies

Sometimes people just can’t handle the truth. Today’s savvy Realtor knows the best tactic is to lie to you about the likelihood of selling your home at some ridiculously overinflated price just so you will get locked into a listing agreement. Then after a month of not having any interested buyers (gee, I wonder if it’s because you priced your home like it’s the Taj Mahal), the Realtor gives you “the talk” where they show you what you realistically need to price your home at so it will sell.

The problem is most people are offended when they are told from the get-go that their home is only worth the current market value, so they kick “Mr. Realistic Realtor” to the curb for being honest, and sign with “Mr. I-Can-Sell-Ice-To-Eskimos Realtor” because he will promise them the moon but in the end provides the same exact service. And then you get mad at Realtors for being dishonest while at the same time only giving business to the dishonest ones!

Clients who won’t be satisfied until you get the deal of a lifetime

The market isn’t dumb. You’re not going to find the perfect property in the perfect location for the perfect price. In some very rare cases you may just get lucky and find a recently listed property with a clueless seller who you can lock into a purchasing agreement, but this is not common. In most situations, if the property is desirable and it’s priced right, you’re going to be pit against potential buyers who all want the same thing.

Clients who have absolutely no clue how real estate works

I’ve actually had someone ask to see the “secret list” of properties that only Realtors know about. The buyer insisted Realtors must have some secret list of properties that are much cheaper than the market average. It took several minutes of explaining that if such a secret list existed, we’d be buying those properties ourselves (and flipping them for profit), or showing them to our own clients. Markets sort themselves out, secret lists don’t exist. In fact this is why whenever properties are priced extremely low, bidding wars happen.

People think we have all the time in the world

Realtors who work full time are very busy people. I know many top sellers who can’t even stop for lunch without getting bombarded with business calls. What most people don’t realize is that Realtors have to work around the schedule of buyers, sellers, lenders, appraisers, inspectors, surveyors, mortgage brokers, title companies, and lawyers. So Realtors are always pressed for time between clients, paperwork duties, driving, and other duties that clients never really see.

What Do You Hate About Being A Realtor?
I’d love to hear other Realtors talk about other things they hate about some of their clients and issues with this career field.