Question: "Everyone tells me that you have to 'List to Last' and that I should focus my prospecting efforts on finding sellers instead of buyers. But I prefer working with buyers! Will I fail if I don't have a lot of listings?"
Answer: No. As a new agent, you may be better off working with buyers, actually! Why?
You typically develop closer relationships with your buyers, thus increasing the potential for referrals.
When you work with buyers, you work harder. And that's good? Oh yeah, that's good. When you're new, you need to stay busy. An active buyer will keep you hopping. An active listing? Not so much.
You learn more about the overall home-buying process when you work with buyers. You're intimately involved in almost every step of the transaction, from showings to offers to inspections to loan approval. This knowledge will serve you well when you act as a listing agent.
When working with buyers, if you're observant, you'll see most (but certainly not all) of what a listing agent does. You'll learn a lot about both sides of the deal, where when you list you don't see much of what the buyer agent is doing.
You will learn your market!
The reason experienced agents advise you to focus on listings is because once you get busy, you can only handle so many buyers, since buyers are more time-consuming than listings. And this is true.
One agent, working alone, can theoretically handle dozens of active listings, while it's probably not practical to try to handle more than a half-dozen active buyers at a time.
(Another reason given for "Listing to Last" is that when you have listings, you will generate calls from buyers, although I don't buy that one. There are plenty of sources for buyers outside of a For Sale sign in a yard.)
Anyway, do you have to 'List to Last?' Probably not. As you gain confidence in yourself, you'll likely want to handle both buyers and sellers, but for now, know that if you're "only" working with buyers, you're doing just fine!
Published: November 18, 2009
Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.
 Jennifer Allan is a former top producing real estate broker, a published author, a speaker and a trainer. She has written five books a
bout the business of selling real estate, including her flagship book: Sell with Soul: Creating an Extraordinary Career in Real Estate without Losing Your Friends, Your Principles or Your Self-Respect. Her new book entitled "If You’re Not Having Fun Selling Real Estate, You're Not Doing it Right!" will be released in early 2010.
Jennifer believes that the secret of success for real estate agents is not in aggressive marketing techniques or hard-core sales pitches, but rather in being competent in one's craft. Competence begets Confidence. And in today's world of increasingly suspicious and ad-weary consumers, having an air of self-assurance and enthusiasm will be far more effective than a slick sales campaign.
Jennifer writes and speaks with this philosophy in mind. She preaches that salespeople should follow the Golden Rule in their day-to-day practice of business - treating clients and prospects respectfully, as the salesperson him or herself would like to be treated. Being competent, reliable and fair, and motivated by a true desire to earn a paycheck, not just show up at closing with hand outstretched.
She is a regular contributor to several real estate newsletters and magazines, a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame and one of the industry's most popular bloggers. You can learn more about Jennifer's "soulful" philosophies at www.SellWithSoul.com.
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