Competence is a choice.
This may be true in other fields as well, but in the business of real estate brokerage, this is an absolute. Further, I would argue that as fiduciaries, brokers have a duty to their clients to be competent. A duty of competence. How on earth can one act in the best interest of a client if one does not know how to achieve that best interest? Or worse, does not care enough to know? So competence is a character trait and a function of integrity.
It is not that brokers choose to be incompetent. Of course not. But they do choose to focus their attention elsewhere. Competence simply falls by the wayside. Unnoticed and unattended.
Now, a good number of readers will ask: Competence? What about excellence? Surely the goal is not mere competence, but rather excellence in all its glory? Two points on this. First, competence is a relative concept: Think varying degrees of competence or he is the most competent surgeon I ever worked with. For me personally, I think of the two terms almost interchangeably. And second, let’s put this right here in the Introduction: Many and perhaps most brokers are not even merely competent in the minimal sense. Not by far. Let’s focus on that before we bat around terms like excellence.
This book started as a sort of professional journal, a list of observations I made over the years. Call them truths, or rules, or just notes. Notes on brokers and how they conduct business, on buyers and sellers, on marketing and negotiation. Observations I have found useful and beneficial as a practicing broker.
But my notes are more than observations. Most come from my own less than ideal experiences: The unobserved and murky dynamics of the business, and the sometimes questionable incentives and motivations of those involved. So I crafted my notes to be aspirational, and they became goals. Goals for how I should conduct myself in this business.
They cover ethics and honesty and best practices. But mostly they are concerned with competence. How to be a competent broker. And what does competence look like in the business? It is not as obvious as one might think. So for me, these notes became a sort of Code of Conduct. Or even, a Code of Competent Conduct.
In the real estate business, competence and integrity are rare. Why is that? This is something I want to explore as we go through my notes. But I do have a theory: The bad drives out the good. Ponder that with me as we move forward, and we will come back to it in the Conclusion.
Now there is an unwritten rule in business that we should not criticize or say anything negative about our competitors. We all know this rule: It is unprofessional to bad-mouth our competition. It serves no purpose and only makes us look bad and small-minded. And let me assure you, I do tend to follow this rule in my business. There are exceptions, but basically, I give people my frank perspective, and they either love it or hate it. I rarely find the need to discuss how others conduct their business, good or bad.
But in a book subtitled, Seeking Competence and Integrity in the Real Estate Business, I think it is important to point out that our purpose here is not to create a good professional impression, nor is it to demonstrate proper business comportment. Rather, the purpose of this book is to help you find and identify competence and integrity in an often murky and counterintuitive business.
So yes, to that end, I will write disapprovingly of a great number of my fellow real estate brokers, and their firms, and the way they conduct themselves in this business. I may pay for this transgression later. But to do otherwise, there would simply be no point in writing this book. It would be a waste of my time and of the reader’s time. And I assure you, I am not here to waste anyone’s time.
Finally, for whom did I write this book? Who is my target audience? I think there are a few different and sometimes overlapping audiences.
First, people who are thinking about entering the real estate market either as buyers or sellers or both. First time buyers or sellers, yes absolutely. Or, perhaps you have had a less than ideal experience in the past. And now, you are seeking a better experience. Welcome.
A second audience is people thinking about getting a real estate license. Or perhaps you are a newly-minted broker, just finding your way. Yes, I would like to reach both of these groups. Hopefully you will read this work along side of more conventional material. And you can judge the probity of this work for yourself. You too are very welcome here.
Third, disaffected brokers, who with some experience, see the business for what it really is. Perhaps you are less than satisfied with the status quo and are seeking a better way. I hope you will find my perspective candid and refreshing. Yes, there is an alternative. Come, help me make a difference.