I have the great honour of working with hundreds of REALTORS in their pursuit to serve their clients better.  The people who are attracted to my tribe are caring, ethical and committed professionals.   I am grateful to these people for allowing me to serve them.

And – many of them still make one mistake.

In their drive to serve, they do what they believe their client wants.  This is usually to take some risks in an attempt to gain the client some money.   The gaining money part is ok, but the decision to take risk belongs to the client and not to the REALTOR.

Here’s an example:  An offer comes in and it’s solid.  The price is reasonable, the closing works and while the chattel ask is a little excessive, it’s doable.   The conditions are short and the buyer and buyer agent seem reputable and reliable.   Your intuition tells you that they will pay more money and so you strongly encourage your seller to sign back for an extra $25k.   She does, and the buyer walks and buys another property.   Your seller is livid with you.  What happened?

Perhaps the seller really needed to sell, her personal life was suffering from the stress of having her home on the market and she just got a bonus at work that reduced her financial commitments.   Her highest need to is to get the property sold, not maximize the money.

It is our job to give our clients the best information possible.  That includes the facts, the speculations and our personal feelings but how we present that information matters. It is important to differentiate between the different types of information and let our clients know that it is their decision, not ours.  They have to live with the outcome in a much bigger way than we do.

If you deliver the information in a way that makes her feel she should sign back, that it’s a near sure thing – and then you’re wrong – darn right she is going to be upset and angry.

Our clients need us to deliver good solid information so that they can make the best decision for them.  Deliver the facts, and deliver your opinion but be sure that they understand the difference – and be sure they understand the risks.

People and their lives are complicated and it is not possible for us to understand them the way they do.   They know themselves and their lives better than we ever will.

Trust them to make good decisions when given good information.