I appreciate your expanded discussion on this topic!

As a small but important point of clarification, when I use the term “housewives” I’m really talking about people, men or women, who got their real estate license but have no real estate education, no business education, no sales education, no marketing education, no legal training to draft legal documents, and very little to offer clients except time and a smile. As consumers tell me all the time, there are agents just like this all over the country. I actually picked up this derogatory use of the word “housewives” from consumers themselves over many years. Do not misunderstand me here. This doesn’t mean a person I call a licensed housewife (man or woman) isn’t a wonderful person and a good person. This is not a
character issue. It’s a professional competence issue. It’s not about the person—it’s about their lack of education, knowledge, experience, and professionalism. I get along with almost everybody, and I love almost everybody, regardless of their background or history. Anyone who knows me also knows that I am a strong believer in extending grace and mercy to everyone.

But what we are talking about here is not whether the person is a sweet or even a wonderful person: We’re talking about a person’s qualifications to do a good job for consumers. It’s not about me or my opinion. It’s all about consumers. It’s all about protecting consumers from negligence and giving them the highest professional service they deserve.

If that negligence comes from a woman, she should not be a real estate agent. If that negligence comes from a man, he should not be a real estate agent. There are comments that consumers make about women more than men and about men more than women. If a woman agent screws up, consumers refer to her most often as a “housewife who got a license,” but male Realtors who screw up or are not professional are more often referred to as “jerks” or “arrogant.” It’s interesting how consumers view and describe the profession. But the real power lies with consumers. They decide who to hire, whether competent or not. As I write elsewhere, consumers should do their due diligence and hire competent professionals, and as I write in my book and in a number of blogs, that may be a man or it may be a woman. I’m not prejudice against sex or race or religion, but I am prejudice against incompetence. In other words, I am very consumer oriented. I believe in consumer protection. I think the best consumer protection is a well educated consumer.

The key here is not the sex of the agents, but the experience and dedication to their work. I never had another agent, woman or man, who worked so tirelessly and enthusiastically on behalf of her clients, and who valued professional ethics so highly. I was extremely sorry when she passed away of brain cancer, it being not only a professional loss but a personal one.

There is no substitute for education, experience, dedication to people, and professional ethics when it comes to this kind of work. I have missed my realtor friend for years now, as my later experiences with realtors have so starkly driven this point home.

Thank you for reminding clients how essential it is to choose the best person for the job, even if they may risk enduring a miffed relative. The relative will eventually get over it!