Being Transparently Honest

What does the public think of real estate agents?

They think we are liars.

By the way, the public also thinks we are:

• Never on-time
• Make too much money / overpaid
• Don’t “do” anything
• Unprofessional: in our attire, vocabulary, and actions
• Unreliable
• Pushy and/or Salesy

At any rate, within the real estate industry, I am not so sure the feeling is any different. Let me give you an example. When I ask agents what they look for in referring out a close friend or family member, the top answers I get are:

• Honest
• Knowledgable
• Good communicator
• Patient

In other words, when they are looking for another agent to serve their referred out client, ‘being honest’ is almost always the first answer they give me. It’s like they already know what’s prevalent in the industry.

The sixth virtue in being a professional worth hiring is being transparently honest.

Transparency is about being candid. It’s about being free from having to hide or disguise the truth.

Being honest is also about being honorable, which is to say deserving of respect or high regard. Honesty is about being sincere, genuine, humble, credible, and...truthful.

“It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.” - Jerome K. Jerome

In modern times, this quote has been repeated as: “It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good salesperson.” Or in our case: real estate agent.

As we have already established, people are often suspicious of real estate agents, including many real estate agents!

It’s easy to be transparent and honest when the circumstances line up in favor of the client and ourselves. That’s not what we are talking about.

What happens when:

1. Your seller needs to move this house in 30 days. You recommend a listing price to a client. One week in you are very clear it’s going to take at least a 5% or more reduction to achieve this outcome.
2. You are representing a buyer. You are through inspection and appraisal. The client needs an extra picture of the backyard to double-check some of their plans. You stop by the house, and while in the backyard, the neighbor from behind starts chatting with you. They tell you about the armed robbery and shooting that happened two months ago, just three houses over.
3. Here’s another buyer representation issue: your clients are out of town. You do the walk-through before closing. You quickly go through the home, and don’t see anything wrong. Then, after closing, the buyers move in, and they go into the basement and see black mold in one of the closets.

What do you do in these situations? (By the way, I can come up with ten more...)

The tendency is to cover up, disguise, or use other subterfuge to hide the truth, or at least keep you from looking bad. How genuine and honorable are you going to be in these situations?

Being a professional worth hiring is not about the easy moments - it’s about the hard moments. One could say that we are going beyond being transparently honest - it’s about one’s character. Who are you when no one’s looking?

In 2010, I was only in my second year in Colorado. I still didn’t know too many people, I was still learning the market, and the economy and real estate market were still in the toilet. I was representing the son of my kids’ preschool director on a purchase. On the last day of the inspection period, we learned that the foundation had some pretty big issues.

I needed this sale. Like, really. When I found out the news, it was like a massive gut punch, and now I was totally demoralized at what seemed like a cratered deal.

I gathered myself together, got the client on the phone, and went through their options - totally unattached. They decided they still wanted to purchase the home as long as they got a credit from the seller. Whew!

After the closing, the client told me how free they felt in making the decision. They felt like I was totally transparent with them, with no pressure or hidden agenda.

But sometimes we do what we think is the right thing, and it doesn’t seem to work out. Rather, we don’t get the outcome we were hoping for.

I can think of several clients, and two in particular, where I helped them buy a house, and then they have turned around and sold it - without me. What was missing in my interactions? Did I do something in those transactions that was not transparently honest? Did I do something only in my self-interest? Was I being a liar? Or dishonest? Or salesy?

What about the client from 2010? He and his wife sold that house - without me - and bought another one. Did it have to do with anything from that first transaction? It didn’t seem to - I was not in flow on a regular basis, they had become good friends with another real estate agent, and you know how that story goes...but I don’t know?

The point: we are not in control of the outcome. We are in control of our actions. Being transparently honest is a choice.

When I look back to those situations above - I know I did what I thought was the right thing in all those cases. I know I was being transparent. I know I was being honest.

“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” — Marcus Aurelius