I'm going to totally date myself but one of my favorite TV shows growing up was Greatest American Hero. While he was American and often stumbled into being the hero, he was never the greatest. But he strived to be!

I'm only three months into this journey of being (becoming) a REALTOR® (Yes, you have to put the registered trademark symbol there or you're just a big, fat phony). I can tell you right now, I will never be the greatest. 

Real Estate, if you've never done it, is weird. It's a weird industry with way too many moving parts and pieces and while it is extrememly well regulated by the books, it's a little Wild West in reality. There's no systemization to it, every area does it just a little different and those differences can get you in trouble real fast.

People often ask if it's worth having a real estate agent involved because of the commission costs. My simple answer is...YES! There is just too much legal-eze that can end up costing you some serious money if you're not careful. And now I'm finding out that some of these "low commission" (1-2%) brokers can be worse than no agent at all.

So why will I never be the Greatest Real Estate Agent Ever?

Even to say greatest probably requires a little definition. Usually "greatest" in the sales world means either the most amount of homes sold (apparently some sell more than 100 a year) or the highest gross in sales (net a quarter of a million dollars in sales in one year).

Now my experience is mostly in RV sales (more than 20 years). I did quite well, usually in the top 2 or 3 as sales leaders but rarely number one. I was never the greatest RV Salesman either (hmmm...seems to be a pattern of mine).

Why? Because I was more interested in making sure my customers bought within their means, bought what fit their intended lifestyle, that what they bought was delivered exactly as promised, and then after they bought, they knew they could come to me to help resolve any issues (and in the RV there are always issues). I wanted my customers to be happy with...everything. The whole experience.

That meant that sometimes, I wouldn't push customers to buy something that I knew what not the right fit for them, or they couldn't afford or tow. That meant that sometimes I would lose a deal. And I was okay with that, even if management wasn't.

But there was something else the made me the #2 or #3 guy. I cared about my support staff too. Sometimes we were stretched to our absolute limit and I would not force a delivery just to make a quota or hit a goal. You have to take care of the people that take care of you.

When you take great care of your team and the customer, both will take care of you. But you'll (likely) never be the greatest.

So...back to real estate. There are a lot of similarities to RV's and real estate (but, oh man, are there some differences). In some ways, product is product. And sales is sales.

I will never be the Greatest Real Estate Agent EVER...

Buying and Selling a home, for most people, will be the largest, most stressfull decision they will make. Contracts are difficult to understand, people have all had that "used car" experience that automatically makes them distrust sales people, and because you buy a home everyday you run into a lot of unfamiliars like:

• too many different fees, taxes, expenses, inspections, appraisals, this, that and the other thing
• there are time limits to getting things done
• certain offices are open only during certain times
• things take either too long or are too rushed
• in a market like ours, you're competing against every other buyer before all that work goes to someone else who had just a little better offer.

You put all that together and it's just a lot for both agent and client.

And I'm new. But even veterans still struggle. Great agents hustle. They dig and don't stop until they find. They are relentless. Most are type A personalities and don't take no for an answer. Roadblocks are just opportunities to plow through. There's nothing wrong with that, per say. We need them to get things done.

But that's not me. And that's okay. I'm a planner, I like to dot I's and cross T's. I want my customers to have the absolute best experience before, during and after that sale. I want them to know what they are getting into and to make a well informed decision. I want to build and earn trust and minimize surprise. I want them to feel that I earned their business and that I provided a great value for those services.

But I have to count on you, dear reader, which is hard for me. If you know me, hopefully, you already trust me and you'd would be willing to recommend me to anyone that you know might be in the market to buy or sell a home. You are really my best source of advertising and letting people know that I can be someone who will treat you, your family, neighbor or coworker with the utmost care and really work to listen to their needs and then dig to find the solution for those needs.

Problem is I'm new and it takes time to know what I don't know. So I will never be the Greatest Real Estate Agent Ever. But I will strive to be.