Tampa Real Estate Blog

    Tampa - There are many good real estate agents in the Tampa market and in markets all over the country.  A good agent has a handle on the marketplace; understands what it takes to sell a home and to help a buyer find a home; uses their knowledge competently and with integrity to do his or her job; and does what he or she says.

The flip side of this are the bad agents, which also seem to populate markets all over the country.  These well meaning folks just aren't very good at the real estate business.  In fact, some of them are not very good at many of the things they do.  There could be several reasons for this, but for the most part, they just don't care, or they lack fundamental life skills.  Whatever they do for a living seems to be strictly for the money and often, their focus seems to be elsewhere.

And now for the Evil.  These folks lack a conscience.  They will say or do anything to get what they want, regardless of who they harm in the process.  One example might be selling a property 'short' to get their commission.  To illustrate, imagine you are trying to sell your home for $300,000, and you and your agent both agree that this is a very fair price.  An offer comes in for $275,000 and the agent now tries to convince you that this is a good offer that should be accepted as is, rather than countered.  To the agent, doing this means they will make only $750 less than the $9000 they would have made if the house sells for full price (assuming a 3% commission to them).  However, you, the seller, would be out $23,500 (the $25,000 difference, minus a total commission of 6% in this example.).  The agent would rather have $8250 now, instead of waiting for, or negotiating for the full $300,000 asking price.  In my view, that's just plain wrong - evil.  This example should not be confused with a situation where the property is overpriced, which is a very different situation.

   According to research recently completed by an independent Marketing firm for GTAR - the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors - the vast majority of buyers and sellers do not realize that there is a difference between a REALTOR^® and a Licensed Real Estate Agent.  In fact, they aren't even aware that there are local associations, such as GTAR.

Here's the difference: A REALTOR is a Licensed Real Estate Agent, who also belongs to the local association or REALTORS, the state association or REALTORS, and the National Association of Realtors, or NAR.  Although there are compelling reasons for an agent to become a member, like MLS access, no one is 'forced' to join.  And, one can have a real estate business without membership.  So, a Licensed Real Estate Sales Associate, Broker Associate, or Broker may not be a REALTOR.  There are many advantages of doing business with a REALTOR, as opposed to a licensed agent, but the 2 biggest are probably the information a REALTOR can provide (as a result of their access to the MLS and other tools) and the Code of Ethics that all REALTORS must abide.  It is rather extensive and strict, and if you'd like to see the actual code, here's a link: REALTOR Code of Ethics.