Real Estate NewsThe Confident Rookie Series: Admit You"re New & What to Say When You Don"t Know the Answer
A lot of new agents worry about being taken advantage of by experienced agents, if the experienced agent were to find out that they"re new.
So the obvious solution is to pretend that they aren"t new, right? Unfortunately, no. The thing is, if you"re new, it will almost certainly be obvious to the agent on the other side of the table, whether you own up to it or not. And the more you try to fake experience, the more obvious it will be. When I"m on the other side of a transaction from a rookie agent who is trying to pretend she knows what she"s doing, she almost always embarrasses herself. However, if the rookie agent tells me upfront that she"s in her first year and to bear with her if she goes overboard crossing her t"s and dotting i"s ... I"m a lot more willing to make the experience pleasant for her.
You"ll find more agents with this mindset than not. Yes, there are some amazingly jerky people in our business and if you happen to run into one of them early in your career, they may very well make that transaction miserable for you, but the good news is that you"ll only have a handful of "first deals" so chances are good you"ll have a decent agent on the other side. Just be upfront with them about your lack of experience, confidently, and they may even go out of their way to help you. The same goes for inspectors, appraisers, attorneys, closers and lenders.
However, what if you do run into a jerk on your first or second sale? Well, be assured that an abusive agent is going to abuse everyone he comes in contact with - it"s not just you and it"s not personal. He"d abuse me, he"d abuse Johnny and he probably abuses his mortgage brokers and title reps on a regular basis. Keep your cool, follow your instincts and you"ll get thru it.
But this doesn"t mean that your inexperience as a new agent won"t be used against you, even by a nice-guy opposing agent. That other agent has a duty to represent his client"s best interests, so don"t believe for a second he"s going to help you negotiate against him or his client. If you don"t know how to help your buyer determine if a listing is overpriced, if you don"t know how to get your buyer what he wants at the inspection, if you don"t know how to appeal a low appraisal, the other agent will definitely take advantage of you. It"s his job.
So if something sounds fishy to you - at all - ask for help from someone in your office. Even if it doesn"t sound fishy, have someone review what you"ve done ... or better yet, what you"re getting ready to do before you do it!
What to Say When You Don"t Know the Answer
Earlier this year, a new agent came into my office all flustered. He"d been out with his buyers over the weekend and felt that he"d made a fool of himself by not being able to intelligently answer his buyers" questions. It almost sounded as if he was ready to throw in the towel, at least until he knew more about what he was doing! Calm down, I told him. First, trust that it will happen to you through-out your career. Don"t panic. Don"t make stuff up, but don"t panic.
I asked him what the questions were that he couldn"t answer. And guess what? Most of the questions were really good ones - that is - chances are that even a more experienced agent wouldn"t have known the answers either! But the problem with being new is that you don"t know what you should know and so you figure you should know it all.
This is where not panicking comes in.
Take a deep breath and really think about the question you"re being asked. Is this something you should or could know? For example, let"s say you"re showing lofts downtown and the buyer asks: "What are the pet restrictions in this building?" Well, unless you live in the building yourself or unless you make a habit of memorizing condo rules and regulations, you couldn"t possibly know the answer. Or how about if a buyer asks you where the property lines are on a rural property? If you aren"t the listing agent, this is probably not something you can (or should) accurately answer.
This doesn"t mean it"s not your job to get the answer -- it is. But if you don"t know the answer off the top of your head, it"s okay! So, how do you respond? First, do not use that tired old line "I don"t know the answer, but I can certainly find out for you!" in that prissy, almost defensive voice.
You know what I"m talking about don"t you? That cheerful, oh-so-helpful voice that clearly tells your client that you don"t have a clue, but wish you did? Instead, try this. Relax, and very casually say "Hmmmm, I don"t know. Lemme find out." Write down the question, and move on.
Or, how about this? "Wow, I"ve never gotten that question before. I"m looking forward to finding out the answer!" Write it down, and move on.
Or, when you"re working with a buyer and he has questions about the property you"re looking at, take control and call the listing agent immediately. hat will make a great impression on the buyer.
Of course, sometimes you"ll be asked a question you should know the answer to and you don"t. This is happening to agents of all experience levels as our industry changes almost on a daily basis. Here"s a good response when you suspect you should know more than you do: "Y"know, I should know the answer to that, but I don"t. I"ll find out for you." This somewhat self-deprecating approach seems to be working for me -- at least -- no one"s fired me yet for saying it! In short, be assured that you"ll never know all the answers and that"s actually part of the fun. This is a career that never gets boring because you"ll never know it all!