This article is not about how much faith you have (or don’t have) in your real estate agent. Rather, it’s about the role that faith plays in the personal life of your agent and how it can affect your experience together. This is a sticky and tricky subject. The topic itself can be viewed as taboo by many even though the reality of the issue will no doubt present itself. Please note, you don’t have to have a spiritual faith yourself to value the faith in your agent. You’ll find that the love and acceptance of true believers is a non-bias one that will, by default, fall in line with modern real estate non-discrimination and ethics laws.
There are many laws that have been created over the last several decades that protect renters and buyers from being discriminated against. It is not my wish that an agent helping people would experience any kind of discrimination or bias either. It is my experience however that an agent’s personal beliefs influence their behavior and how they handle most aspects of a real estate transaction. While there is more than one religion represented in the hearts of all the agents out there, my experience is with Christianity and so that will be the perspective I write this article from. To cover all the bases, I will refer to their faith as “spiritual” and “spirituality”.
Now it’s true that just because someone SAYS they love God doesn’t mean that they LIVE that way. In fact, it is my impression that hypocritical believers are the greatest enemy to their own religion. We have more than likely all been impacted by someone who claimed one thing and lived another. The hard truth is that many professionals in sales actually use religion to gain trust with customers whose faith is important to them. They prey on the opportunity to lower the walls that would otherwise make their efforts more challenging. Cunning sales people usually try to find anything they can to identify themselves with their prospects to make them more relatable and trustworthy. This is what I believe to be the main difference between religion and relationship. Religion is an outward form and appearance of faith. Relationship however is something real and affects every aspect of someone’s life including convictions that do not waiver.
So let’s go over some things that will drastically improve your experience with a real estate agent when they have this true type of relationship based spirituality…
- Motivation
If a non-spiritual person were honest, they would tell you their motivation behind every transaction is two-fold…money and reputation. Even their follow up communications and other efforts at maintaining relationship with their clients can be solely motivated by the profit it would bring with the prospect of more future business and potential referred clients.
The profit they generate over time is often used for personal pleasure and self indulgence in one form or another. Those experiences can have their own ripple effects on the quality of that individual’s life.
The spiritual person usually has a more eternal perspective on the relationships they build with their clients. They believe that the way they treat people is a direct reflection on the status of their faith. What they do and how they treat others will one day be judged by their God. They will be more likely to make themselves available to their clients even after their sale has closed because their motivation is not the dollar but the person they value.
- Attitude
The attitude of your agent will affect virtually every aspect of your experience together. Even people who profess having faith can have a dominantly negative attitude that should be avoided. A non-spiritual person however can only put on a positive attitude for so long. Difficult moments will present themselves and when they do, a nasty, proud, cynical attitude can make a tough deal even tougher.
Most Christians are regularly impacted through their weekly practice of church attendance to be more like their Savior. They are reminded about the importance of humility and the damage that anger and pride can cause. There will always be some that don’t allow what they’ve learned in their head to travel the 18” into their hearts. But that will be for you to judge.
No one likes a real estate agent that doesn’t know how to listen. Spiritual agents are typically more teachable, less self absorbed, and are trying desperately to hear what you’re telling them so they can serve you better.
A positive faith fueled attitude will tell you to go for it rather than tell you why you can’t. It will enthusiastically write a back up offer on the property of your dreams that is not available rather than discourage you. It will show you the potential in the house that checks all the right boxes but one. And it will encourage you in the middle of the process with updates so you don’t get frustrated in the waiting.
- Ethics
This one is all about what happens behind closed doors. These are the decisions that are made on your behalf without your knowing. And THIS is one of the main reasons I believe that faith in your agent is an essential quality. Spiritual people are convinced that God knows all and sees all. There is nothing said or done that is beyond being found out. So any decision that has to be made without you being aware should be the one that is most likely to benefit you and your future. Anyone with a conviction in God strong enough to let it dictate their world view and lifestyle is someone who will act in a way that serves you best even when you don’t know about it. That will be a constant and will help everything go as smoothly as it can.
I hope this article got you thinking about things that are important to you and how it can help your real estate goals. There are so many other factors and examples to consider, I’m sure they were not all covered here. There are other perspectives, experiences, and ideas. But these are the ones we have experienced and we hope it helps. We hope you hear the heart behind it all.
We have so many examples over the years of how our faith has impacted our relationships with our clients, the other agents representing the other side of the transaction, and the many other professionals involved in the process. Our faith made a difference. And like so many others out there who have a belief deeper than what is seen on the surface, we would like to thank and give credit to the One who made it all possible and who does it all with love. Our Savior is Jesus and without Him, we can do nothing.
Will Stafford
Will & Laura Realty LLC
Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty
