I just had to write this post in response to Jim Crawfords vent titled When the listing agent boasts. Now, I understand Jim was venting and I believe he really wasn't painting a broad brush stroke to all "mega" agents. But, the comments made on his blog showed me that many other agents believed that all "mega" agents are just as Jim stated in his post.
Well, it's sad that agents think that. This post is going to cause riots, I know it but I am going to throw it out anyway.
For too many years I've heard 'newbies' or 'the little guys' whine, moan, complain and try to come up with every single negative reason why a 'top producer' or 'mega agent' is just a bad bad bad thing for society. In the majority of these whine and moan cases, it came right down to jealousy and envy, plain and simple.
I've seen agents get angry because such and such listing was sold before they had a chance to show it to their buyers. Oh, I'm sorry, are we supposed to keep it on the market for an extra week (or month) just so you can maybe possibly have a sale?
I've seen agents get prickly and say a listing is priced at a "fire sale" because it received an offer, accepted by the seller, within 7 days of being put on the market. They've also come back and said that it can't possibly be a comparable (when they are told their property is over priced) because it was just priced too low.
I have something to say. If mega agents are so terrible, why is it that a higher % of their business is repeat and referral clients than the "little guys" business? If "mega agents" are so terrible and the "little guys" are so much better, why does NAR state that the average repeat business is less than 6% for agents nationwide?
Why is it that we hear more complaints from 'jump over' clients about the "little guys" than I have room to write here? Clients are tired of agents that do 1-2 transactions a year. They are tired of not being able to reach their agent because they are "keeping a balanced life" (in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week) or that they aren't available 1/2 of the time because they are working another job, or that they don't have the experience or knowledge base to help the clients when it comes to price setting, negotiation and follow through. Clients are tired of deals falling through because the "little guy" doesn't know the endless possibilities available to make a deal work. Clients are tired of not getting the property they desire because they are out bid or moving to slowly. Clients are tired of their property not selling when the 'mega agents' properties are selling faster and at higher prices.
In other words, they want service and for many, service is not received just because it's "one" agent without team members.
As for the whole "I want to talk to "the" agent and not the assistant" mentality - well, that's your issue, not the teams. If the team is structured well and each person knows their specialty, then the client doesn't need to talk to "the man" (or "the woman") and is content and confident that the person they are talking to is advising them just as "the man" (or "the woman") would advise.
For years I worked with David just as his "assistant". Now I'm the listing agent for the team. My name isn't advertised on any of the listings, but when agents call to talk with David, it's me they get. For the agents who have been in business 5 years or more, they know me, they know I know my job and they never blink an eye at the fact that I am the person they talk to. However, for the agents who've been in the business less than 2 years, boy do they have this "you are not good enough" attitude, and is it ever strong. It's more of an insecurity complex than anything else. Quite frankly, I look at them like a passing dream. They'll be gone in a year so all I have to do right now is be polite and tolerate them.
There are very very few agents in my market who work alone (no assistants) that I am confident know their craft and can do their job. I can count them on one hand and I immensely enjoy working with these agents. I know more agents with assistants or teams that are excellent at their craft, those I need more fingers to count.
My point is - more 'rumors' abound about teams than they do about lone agents and <gee> I wonder why.
A few days ago I wrote a post about the 
