You’ve been searching, comparing and weighing the benefits of one over the other. The time has come to make your choice. Soon it will be over and you will be able to move on. Hurray. I’m not talking about house hunting – I’m talking about the election.
Campaigns used to be more about issues than personality. Now they are primarily about personality. We are distracted by name-calling and false promises. We don’t demand that candidates speak to issues. We make our choice based on whether we like the person. Issues and information require time and thought. Determining whether you like someone is far easier.
The same is true of real estate, evidenced by the many real estate television shows that have little to do with issues. Don’t you just love that spunky agent dressed as a hipster? Has anyone yet seen an agent prepare a real market analysis of a home’s value? No, because real estate is a relationship (personality) business not an issue (data-driven) business.
Homebuyers are distracted by the likeability of the agent, advertising and false promises. (Better pay ask price or you won’t get the home; let’s include an escalator clause, homes will only go up in value, etc.) The result? Homebuyers often make purchases spending thousands of dollars more than they need to.
About a year ago our newsletter addressed a couple, an accountant and professor, who paid $50,000 more for a condominium than value. I’m convinced they did so because they liked the agent and didn’t gather data. In essence the condominium was purchased based on likability – not information. This may have cost them $50,000.
I’m not suggesting you not like us. Seamus is very likeable and I’m an acquired taste – but likeable. We are not performers. We operate from a Culture of Character not a Culture of Personality so it takes a bit longer to like us.
America has shifted from a Culture of Character to a Culture of Personality. The Culture of Character ideal of self was serious, disciplined and honorable. What counted was not the impression one made in public but how one behaved in private. 1
The role demanded of the new Culture of Personalityis that of performer…and being liked.
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Speaking of the Culture of Personality and likability, I just completed a two-day course to become an accredited buyer agent. The course was taught by a member of the traditional real estate system and focused on bonding with and being liked by the homebuyer.
I took the course to see if the instruction given had merit and whether the accredidation provided value. It doesn’t and didn’t. I can say this as Homebuyer Associates invented the concept of buyer representation and has more experience than any real estate company in Wisconsin working for buyers.
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Let me be direct, we don’t perform. We take the role of working for you in a serious, disciplined and honorable way. Your money is at risk. You are owed a Culture of Character. The goal? A good purchase at market value not an emotional purchase based on a seller’s asking price or perceived market activity.
We’ll continue our approach to home buying truly representing your interests based on data (issues) not the perception of personality. If you’d like to have a cup of coffee to test our knowledge of the issues, learn some truth about real estate and see if you like us, contact Seamus or me. We’ll sit and listen and talk and give you some real estate truth. It might save you 50K.
Oh, and please vote but try to vote (and buy your next home) based on issues (data) not personality (likeability).
1. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
Thanks for reading,
Michael D. Holloway