In this way it's OK to use me

Hey AML, aren't you a Realtor too. How come we never hear any tales about that?

Well, I wouldn't say never. I did tell you about the time I was caught between the old man and his ex-wife. Plus there was the story about the guy who didn't show up at his own closing. But, mainly the reason I don't say much about it is, well… the stories aren't that interesting.

Most of your stories aren't that interesting.

Yeah, yeah, piss off. I guess as long as we're thinking about it, and it's the onslaught of the holiday season and all, let me tell you about real estate as it pertains to family: my family to be specific.

When it comes to friends using me as their Realtor to buy a piece of property, the only excuse for them not to use me is if they have another Realtor in their family. When it comes to family, there is no excuse not to use me. It's not like I'm new to the game; I have many satisfied clients to give me cred. Plus, I am the smartest man alive, so I got that going for me. Keep in mind also that a buyer does not pay a Realtor anything; the buyer's Realtor is paid a part of the selling Realtor's commission. Now, when it comes to selling your house, my view changes a bit. Since it is then that you actually have to pay me, I never just expect friends or family to give me business. I do expect, however, for them to at least talk with me about it. If you don't like what I have to say, or I don't effectively sell my services to you and you decide to use someone else, well then that's on me.

I don't assume that people inherently know this, so I've done my best to educate those in my life to these facts in one way or another. Most of my friends and family understand and I thank them for the business. Although apparently some people just cannot be taught.

Case in point, I have one uncle who is all but dead to me. Now, I don't say this lightly, but this particular fellow really added insult to injury. He is a savvy, intelligent enough guy who runs his own company. If anyone should understand the importance of loyalty in business, it should be him. He started out fine, by slowly looking for a new house. My aunt was really more motivated than he, so I showed them about eight houses over the course of a year or so. Whenever they found one they liked they would call me and we'd go take a look. Then my uncle would think up reasons not to like it and we'd move on. One time we found a place that even he couldn't find something wrong with, so he offered such a low price that the deal just never went together.

Let me now fast forward the events, since they actually took place rather rapidly. First, he suddenly bought a house that was for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) without me. OK, since a Realtor didn't have it for sale it wasn't as bad. But still, normally a FSBO will deal with a buying agent for at least partial commission. Since my uncle didn’t bother to include me, I got paid zero for all the time I spent working with him = strike one. Then, he decides to put his current house for sale by himself. Since he is kind of a tightwad, I didn’t blame him for trying. Going FSBO has a very low success rate, so when he decided to give up I'd take over, right? Wrong, he listed the house with another random Realtor without talking to me = strike two. The final piece-de-resistance was when I found out he then purchased an investment property (which was on the market with a Realtor) without me. Apparently he would rather have a guy he doesn’t know get paid double than have his own nephew get paid at all. He is a very impulsive person and in his warped little head he probably thought he would get a better deal that way somehow. Plus, I'm sure he figured I'd never find out. I'm a Realtor, I can find out anything in regards to property. So I did find out = strike fucking three.

Yoooou're out!

Now, this all happened a little while back. It came to mind recently due to spending Thanksgiving with my family. No, there was no confrontational food fight. That uncle wasn't there, so it would have been pointless. I did, however, find out some news. I have been working with one of my cousins and he just recently had his offer accepted on his first house. Then, during the course of Thanksgiving conversation I hear that another cousin, the brother of the one I'm working with, just bought his first house too. Although, he didn't use me. This guy is two years younger than me. We grew up together. And, even though we don't hang out much, we have a very cordial relationship. Yet, when it comes to one of the most important things he'll do at this stage in his life, he doesn't even call. I don't want it to sound like I'm pissing and moaning. I do just fine with or without my family's business. It's not about the money; it's about principle. I am a very loyal person. If you do right by me I'll stick by you until you give me reason not to. And if you're family, you are first in line no matter what. Unfortunately, not every one thinks this way.