608,881
Personal experiences are always helful but not always neccessary. If you sold your home through an agent rather than FSBO chances are the agent took care of everything for you. How would that qualify you to sell someone elses home?
To expand on what Gabe said just because I may have had surgery doesn't mean I'm qualified to perform surgery on a member of the general public.
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Bob Crane
Stevens Point, WI
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Debbie Gartner
White Plains, NY
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Gabe Sanders
Stuart, FL
2,817,671
I'm not a realtor, but I have to say this is a ridiculous question. The key is to understand the market, the client, the process, the players, etc.
I used to work at P&G, one of the top marketing companies. Do you think that men shouldn't be allowed to work on the Tampax brand, or would it be fair for people who still have their teeth to work on denture products? Would it be fair to ban people who aren't parents to work on the Pampers or Luvs brand? For a while, they had Iams so maybe those wo/ pets would be unqualified. I could go on and on.
BTW, sometimes, the best managers and marketers are those that can detach themselves and really seek to fully understand their target customers...regardless of whether they use or have tried the product. Same goes for houses. It's all the same stuff...listen, observe, solve, communicate.
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Yolanda Cordova-Gilbert
Richmond, TX
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Susan Haughton
Alexandria, VA
7,836,598
Buying a home does not qualify you as a real estate agent.
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Yolanda Cordova-Gilbert
Richmond, TX
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Susan Haughton
Alexandria, VA
1,453,069
I'm going to ask the local funeral director that question!!
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Susan Emo
Kingston, ON
4,800,082
By the same reasoning, doctors should not be doing surgery unless they've had surgery performed on them; lawyers should not engage in a lawsuit unless they've been sued, etc.
It is the training and education that makes a Realtor qualified to assist in the sale and purchase of property and not their personal habits.
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Yolanda Cordova-Gilbert
Richmond, TX
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Susan Haughton
Alexandria, VA
5,104,931
That's a very interesting question. I suppose training and experience at some point might overtake the lack of personal experience. But the personal experience does sure bring credibility to the table.
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Yolanda Cordova-Gilbert
Richmond, TX
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Mitchell J Hall
Manhattan, NY
1,683,912
If I was a heart surgeon and never had a heart surgery, what makes me think I can perform heart surgery? I would call it Education and experience!
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
212,755
Education, and just being professional. Buying and selling Real Estate is completely different once you are an agent to when you are the buyer/seller is you ask me.
Gabe Sanders - Love those comparisons.
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Gabe Sanders
Stuart, FL
657,208
i often hear this stated the other way - "how was I supposed to know...I've never rented an apartment (or bought a condo) before." While the COE doesn't require that you have actual sales experience, it does require that you have the requisite competence. If you don't know about the intricacies of a particular transaction because you haven't "lived" through a transaction - you might want to team up with someone who has!
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Susan Haughton
Alexandria, VA
4,883,260
I would bet most surgeons have never been operated on but they still know what they are doing.
4,572,620
I don't think that's a fair question.
If I haven't given birth to a child -- should that eliminate me as an obstetrician?
2,443,250
Taking a Real Estate Course, passing it and then passing the State Test.
6,393,609
I believe that that license from the state qualifies most agents to try to sell, though most should get a whole lot more training before they think they are ready.
3,988,007
I just sold a house to a set of buyers that had bought and sold 2 previous homes. They seemed to know nothing about the process so just because you have be in the market personally doesn't mean you are gaining experience or know what you are doing.
699,277
The license that your state gives you after you qualify. Can't that same question be posed for almost any profession? Can a non drinker be a bartender? Can I vegan work for a steak house?
634,482
Knowledge, training, experience, professionalism, the same things that make any good business person qualified in their field. Selling or purchasing a home for yourself gives you a personal perspective but certainly doesn't qualify you as a professional.
1,435,300
You know I think it depends, I agree the training and education help but id you have personal experience that helps, I do remember refusing to buy a home from a 20 something who lived in an apartment and was chomping on her bubble gum, what did she know about selling 500-1M dollars home...I can tell you she had no clue!
58,349
I would think personal experience is very helpful. However, I think that with training (hands-on and otherwise) a person could be a competent realtor.
1,544,068
I think it's easier to trust a Realtor that does or has owned property and it certainly can help the Realtor be more relational than transactional. It's a tough question for me to get on the other side of because I had rented and purchased prior to getting licensed. But, I do believe experience elsewhere, training, competence & character trump owning a home as a pre-requisite. And maybe that Realtor will be a future buyer, but their skill set doesn't come wholly from owning a home...as we all know. It just gives them an advantage (another arrow in a quiver that should be full) and makes it easier to relate to what the buyers and sellers are going through.