Used Car Salesmen??

Real estate agents are sometimes described in the same category as used car salespeople! Now I've known a few used car sales folks and they weren't all that bad, so why don't we REALTORS get any respect?
First, remember that there is a difference between a real estate agent and a REALTOR. REALTORS are members of the National Association fo REALTORS and follow a code of ethics. Many of us are continually updating our skills with education and seminars to better serve our clients. Designations like GRI and MASTER of Real Estate describe agents that have made significant investments (more than 1 year of classes for each designation) in their skills beyond the minimum needed to become licensed by the state.
I had two recent experiences that may shed some light on this subject. The first was yesterday when a listing client decided out of the blue that he really didn't want to sell his property even though we were just about to receive two very competitive offers on his home! It wasn't the fact that he decided not to sell that shocked me. It was that he had made up his mind a few weeks ago, never told me and then on the verge of success, killed the deal. But that's not the point of this example! Rather it was that this morning he called and said he really did want to sell and could we still get those offers? Now I'm not a miracle worker and in this market where entry level homes are moving quickly with multiple offers I wasn't sure if the buyers would come back. I couldn't promise him anything but that I would try and salvage the offers. A few minutes later after many mea culpas to the buyers' agents, I think we will get the offers. Whew! Still isn't a done deal but we are still in the game! Yes, REALTORS ride the emotional roller coaster everyday! We have lifetime passes!
The second experience was last week when I was able to inform a young couple, who had been outbid several times on a new home, that they were indeed in contract on a nice 2300 sf, 9 year new home. The husband looked at me and said, "Tim, I never thought I could get my wife such a nice place." We aren't closed yet but in a few weeks they will "be home!"
This latter kind of experience is what powers me and many REALTORS through the roller coaster days! The lost transactions, the showings where the buyers never show up, the rainy day Open Homes, the cancelled listings after you've spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars trying to market the property, and the buyers who "got a deal" using another agent after you work with them for months!
All of those tough days are more than compensated by one minute with a thrilled client. Yes, there are agents that aren't motivated that way. Too bad for them. They are missing out on one of life's greatest treasures- the feeling that comes when you help someone else and place their interests before your own. The good REALTORS really do care. If you don't have one that you know works that way, get a new one! You deserve it! And so does the better agent!