Real estate sales — it’s not a contest

It’s National Hot Dog Day, and of course I feel compelled to compare it to real estate…

You ever see those hot dog eating contests?

People standing side by side, cramming as many hotdogs as they can possibly fit in their mouths. Trying to finish more than their competitors, in a matter of minutes.

Ugh.

But it’s impressive on some level at least… albeit not something most people put much stock in. How many hot dogs someone can eat doesn’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things.

But in real estate, there’s a lot of stock put into how many deals a real estate agent does every year.

In some ways, real estate is like a contest between agents…

A contest to see how many deals an agent can do in a year versus all the other agents around. And, to some degree, it’s impressive. And, to some degree, it’s how consumers size up how good an agent is, and whether the agent is worth hiring.

But it shouldn’t be looked at as a contest at all. It isn’t about how many deals an agent can do, so much as how well the agent does the business he or she does.

It’s about quality…not quantity.

As an agent, I obviously want to (and try to) do as much business as possible every year. My income depends upon it.

But never at the expense of my clients. Never by trying to do too much, too fast. Because that’s how and when mistakes are made. Or, in the least quality suffers, if an agent can’t handle the quantity of business they take on.

To me, it’s about savoring each client and transaction. Not about trying to prove how many deals I can do each year. That’s an inaccurate measure of an agent.

Just some “food” for thought. 🙂

Matt

P.S. If you know of anyone thinking of buying or selling soon, let me know, I can certainly handle a few more deals right now. And, I promise, it’ll be high-quality handling…as always.