I’m a REALTOR® in Austin, TX. Getting your license is not rocket surgery. You pretty much just have to fog a mirror and they’ll give it to you. (I’m a college graduate, but I got a theatre degree. Case in point.) Also, taking the classes and passing the exam gives you exactly zero information about the practical application of the real estate business - nor any information on the “fuck politeness” safety aspect of it. Maybe it’s changed now, but I got my license in 2003. They were basically like, “Here’s your license. Now go do real estate.”
I joined a brokerage that had pretty decent training. At least part of it was, “Hey, don’t run out the door at the first phone call you get to see a property without getting some qualifying information from the person.” That’s actually bullshit. What it should have said was, “Hey, don’t ever meet someone you don’t know at a vacant property. Meet them at a public place - preferably your office - require an ID, and either tell someone where you’re going and when you’ll be back, or take someone with you. Also, trust your gut.” But I digress.
I was working “phone duty” where agents would sit and answer phone calls of people calling in inquiring about listings on the market. It was our opportunity to pick up leads. The sales market kind of sucked at the time, so we got a lot of calls about lease properties. The phone rang. The guy on the other end was calling about a house for lease in an area I knew really well and asked to see it. I looked it up - it was vacant. There was something about his voice that made me feel weird, but I was excited - it was going to be my very first showing ever! So what did I do? I asked exactly zero questions and ran out the door - without telling anyone where I was going - to go show a vacant house to a creepy guy with a stutter (the stutter started when I said I would come meet him - which in retrospect is even creepier).
I got there a little early, and to my relief my colleague STEVEN was standing on the front porch finishing up with some clients after showing the house. I told him it was my first showing, but I had sort of an uneasy feeling about the guy. Steven said he didn’t mind waiting around. There was another showing in progress, so I waited until they were done. It was a couple of minutes past our appointment time, but my tenant prospect hadn’t shown up yet so I ran in to familiarize myself with the property. I was inside for maybe five minutes. When I came out, I told Steven it seemed super weird that this guy wasn’t there because he sounded so excited to see it. Steven said a car had driven by slowly. Twice. He said the second time he could tell it was a single guy who creeped by, then drove off when he noticed Steven on the porch. I immediately got the chills, the hairs on my arms stood on end, and I thanked STEVEN and the Divine Beings that it was not my last showing ever. Eighteen years later, and Steven and I are still friends. And I still remind him how grateful I am that he was there that day.
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