Let’s continue my series on the real estate agent as consultant by examining how governments expect real estate agents to operate.
Real estate agents are commonly considered “fiduciary” agents by lawmakers. The definition of fiduciary, as I was taught, is someone who is considered to be on a level of special, or extreme, trust and confidence by his principal or client. (more…)
In this installment of my series on the real estate agent as consultant, I want to write about my view of the attitudes and expectations of most consumers today, in general and specifically with regard to real estate services.
I fully recognize that there is a great danger in this exercise, the danger being that it is all too easy to project one’s own prejudices into one’s opinion of what motivates the general public. (more…)
This is the second installment in my series on the real estate agent as consultant. Since I need to keep these articles much shorter than a chapter in a traditional book, we will be taking small steps each time. In this article, I will explain the traditional sales model and how it is applied to real estate agency. (more…)
When I accepted that my career in engineering was over (too old, too over-qualified), and began looking in earnest at alternatives for a second career, I was drawn to real estate agency. There were several reasons why I liked real estate: I was very interested in home design and home building at the time, I have always enjoyed working with people, and from my initial study, I concluded that the general brokerage agent business model was very similar to the consulting business model I was very familiar with, having worked in and managed technical consulting businesses in the 90’s. (more…)