Choosing the Right Realtor can have a bigger impact than you might imagine.
Let’s begin by understanding what it means to be a professional. Different dictionaries, like The Merriam-Webster dictionary, define it in several ways:
- A professional is someone who has a specific job as a permanent career.
- Engaging in an activity or field for financial gain or livelihood.
- Holding a respected job that requires a high level of education, training, expertise, and experience.
- Someone who has worked hard in the same job for a long time, becoming skilled at handling problems.
- Doing an activity or job to earn money, not just as a hobby, or part-time.
None of the explanations given above describe a part-timer as a professional. But as explained, Professional Realtors see their work as a long-term career, not something they dabble in during weekends.
A Professional Realtor earns their livelihood from their permanent career, covering bills, groceries, family support, and contributions to charities and places of worship. The livelihood of a Professional Realtor is directly tied to their work – if they don’t earn, their family may go without. In contrast, a weekend hobbyist has another primary job to rely on for income.
These definitions highlight the differences between a Professional Realtor and someone who occasionally dabbles in real estate, like a part-timer or a weekend hobbyist. According to the definitions mentioned above, someone who works part-time and only dabbles in real estate cannot be considered a professional.
When you’re thinking about hiring a Realtor, think about their life. Is being a Realtor their main job, or is it just something they dabble in on the side? Don’t settle for someone doing it only as a part-time gig and won’t give up their day job. When choosing a Realtor to represent you, think about this: If someone is only doing real estate sales on weekends as a hobby and isn’t fully committed to being a full-time Realtor all the time, how much can you rely on them to be committed to helping you? You deserve better.
Tom’s Advice: It makes sense to think that someone can only be seen as a professional Realtor when they stop working part-time and fully commit to being a full-time career Realtor.
When deciding on a Realtor, keep in mind that Tom Slupske is a professional Realtor who makes his livelihood by working full-time in real estate sales. It’s my only job, and I do it well.