Sure, there are terrible Realtors in the world. Rude. Inconsiderate. Unprofessional. Most of us take our job seriously and really want to do right by our clients so they (drum roll, please) refer us to more clients.

There are awful doctors (I’ve been to a few who ask what’s wrong and then whip out the prescription pad without really digging into what’s wrong), terrible lawyers, unscrupulous financial advisers cum stock brokers who just want to sell you the company fund/stock, auto mechanics…on and on and on.

It seems like Realtors are fair game for everyone because we do, in fact, become entwined with people’s live to a surprisingly intimate degree. Since a house is also a large investment of both money and emotion we either walk on water or should be roasted in hell.

Sure. Check us out. Talk to us. But stop slamming all Realtors and referring to posts that are far from fair, balanced or even factual.

Mike

I asked the blog owners to send me their best articles and then posted them here.

Holy Cow – talk about putting all your eggs in one basket. They will either clear it all and win or drown.

This guy wants to know the inside financials on Prosper to invest his money but is completely upside down himself – hmmmmm. Sounds more like he needs a prosper loan if he could get one to stop the bleeding – but 1,800 a month probably exceeds the prosper limit.

I’ve thrown $150 into prosper just to experiment and take part as a goodwill exercise. I’ve averaged 13% so far on one loan in the AA, A and D categories, and just made a new $50 B loan with the income and principal I’ve collected. I plan to keep rolling it all over for as long as prosper lasts, or as long as there are loan seekers that I can get comfortable with.

We’ll see how it goes.

If you’re going to link to old posts, that’s OK, but you might want to dig around on the sites for updates. For instance, the DINKs who intended to put $70K into Prosper ended up becoming disillusioned with it:

http://www.dinksfinance.com/2007/12/prosper-cause-for-concern.html

-Erica

It’s very difficult to be a real estate agent when the media works very hard to destroy our reputations.

I’ll tell you one thing though.. in the current market, real estate professionals seem to be needed more than ever.

I’m working with sellers who truly believe their home is the greatest on the block and price it as such (even though homes in the neighborhood have sold for far less).

I’m also working with buyers who think they can get a steal on a house and place offers 20% off asking price. I blame that on “real estate advisers” on big media telling buyers to low ball because sellers “are desperate”. Not where I live, across the river from NYC.

As it always has been, real estate is a localized business. So when the media and heavily read blogs make blanket statements about the whole nation, it just makes things worse for all of us.

@Stacking Pennies — one thing I like about my bridesmaid dresses post is that people are still periodically commenting…if not holding active conversations. Lively conversation is optimal, but I think the best posts still keep something going.

Perhaps other readers disagree.

There are some great agents out there who really are looking out for their clients. One agent who consistently had the highest sales went above and beyond for each client. She would insist on at least seven inspections while a new home was being built, and she personally went to each one to review the work, whether her client wanted to go or not. She would point out mistakes that the contractor hadn’t caught. She went to every closing, even though you don’t really have to do that. She pointed out issues that attorneys would miss.

Then there are others who are going to use lines on you to get you to close the deal and couldn’t care less about you after getting paid.

I’d say to pick carefully, and don’t discount all agents based on the actions of some. Sometimes it really is the client who is being unreasonable…thinking they can sell a house for X amount because it’s what they need to make, not realizing that buyers don’t care what the seller needs to make, etc.

Looks likes the DINKS are rethinking prosper too.
http://www.dinksfinance.com/2007/04/rethinking-our-prosper-strategy.html