An Inside Look At the Life of a Real Estate Agent

Helping Our Clients Live Where They Love

By Deborah Rutter

The real estate profession is a strange, fascinating, and rewarding career. For dedicated, full-time agents, the joy of helping our clients live where they love is ultimately fulfilling. Our job is full of old traditions using modern technology and things done out of habit, within the context of an every-changing real estate landscape.

Here are six ways in which a working in real estate is vastly different than lots of other careers!

1)  We make house calls: Think about it. Sure your plumber and electrician may come over, too, but does your dentist? Your physician? Lawyer? Accountant? Hair Dresser Mechanic? We’re the last of a dying breed of service professionals who come to you as a normal course of our business relationships. We value this personal connection.

2)  We are paid by commission. Only: Lots of sales professionals work on commission, but there is often a base-salary minimum. Very few agents have base-pay of any sort. We only get paid when, and if, a transaction is successful.

3)  We drive you around: This is an interesting one. When you step into a taxi, you know that the driver has insurance, registration, and perhaps a commercial drivers license. When it comes to real estate, if you’re a buyer, chances are pretty good you’ll hop in our car and we drive you around. You assume that our car is insured, registered, and that we have a valid driver’s license. Agents work hard to maintain that assumed level of trust so that no matter where you go, getting int the agent’s car is safe and comfortable.

 4)  We work evenings. And Weekends: Most of us don’t only work  9-5, Monday through Friday. We also work when you are NOT working. I like to remind clients that, “I work with people who work for a living,” and that means being ready when clients are off work. Your dentist probably doesn’t meet you at 8:00pm for a cleaning. And your attorney (unless you’re in big trouble!) is not likely to open up the office on a Sunday morning for a meeting.

5)  We work with Big Money: We help people spend a lot of money. When it comes to personal spending, for most people, a house is the most expensive they ever buy. Sales people help customers with cell phones, carpet purchases, new refrigerators…but we deal in lots of zeros. We honor that and handle each transaction with the respect it deserves.

6)  We get paid last: Most agents don’t charge clients a deposit, or work on a retainer, or charge fees for services as you go along. Whether it take two weeks or two years to find a house and then close, we are on the sidelines, helping, negotiating, managing, all without any payment from our clients. We don’t get paid until the deal closes whether it’s weeks, months or years.

Most real estate agents (especially NEST agents!) love what they do in part because the work environment is unique, the hours are not conventional, and the disposition of a successful agent requires a lot of comfort with the ambiguous and the unknown, and mostly? We like helping people solve real estate problems so out clients can get on with the business of living!

Deborah Rutter is an Associate Broker at Nest Realty with passion for teaching. She knows buyers and sellers make the smartest decisions for themselves when they are armed with data and insight. She has taught first-time homebuyer education classes, and is a featured contributor on our blog. Check back for insights and advice or contact Deborah directly to discuss your buying or selling needs.