Leading Chicago area and Illinois Real Estate Sales: Are you being lied to?

“Don’t lie to me,” she said. Did I hear begging in her voice?

For one too many times, this is what I hear from agents I speak with. I can hear and feel the skepticism in her voice and this time I was not going to overlook what I heard.

Her name is not important, although she is currently a practicing real estate sales professional with a brand-name firm. Let’s just call her Anna. And yes, she was begging.

I replied, “Why do I hear skepticism in your voice? I have heard this tone so very often when I speak with folks in the field and, honestly, I feel sorry for you. Have brokerages really treated you this badly that you feel you are constantly being lied to?”

That question seemed to free Anna from her invisible chains. She confided in me, “You have no idea the corruption in this industry. I am tired of being lied to and I hate being sold to.”

At this point, I made sure Anna understood who I was as a person. I too, had been lied to in the real estate industry. When this occurred, I swiftly severed my ties with the broker I was dealing with. I told Anna, “No one, and I mean no one, should be lied to in a workplace setting. The fact that you are structured as a 1099 independent contractor and then expected to perform tasks for your brokerage, to me, is ludicrous. I mean, all of our agents are w-2 employees and we take care of them like employees.”

I could feel that Anna wanted to believe me but she had been beaten down after so many years of the rainmakers above her constantly changing the rules to keep her confused- feeding her this magical Kool-Aid of hope and promise never to come.

Anna, like so many experienced agents I have spoken with, just could not imagine that there was anything truly different out there. That there is a real estate model that really does invest into the growth and development of their agents AND that doesn’t require their agents to pay them.

Real Estate Sales Professionals, please listen to me: STOP letting brokers tell you that you MUST pay them for anything. They should be paying you. Period and end of story.

I pride myself in doing the right thing every day. I cannot and would not sacrifice my own ethical standards for any income and for any employer. ZipRealty, as a publicly traded company, is regulated to operate in the same manner, and I believe they do or I would not be working here.

Thousands of you, in the Chicago metropolitan area, have been reading my publications for years. If you are anything like Anna, please take a moment and talk to me. And, please take a moment to trust me. There is something better in real estate and there is something more.

Thank you for reading my story. And thank you, “Anna,” for inspiring me to write it.

Brian Mayhall

District Staffing Manager

Northern IL & Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area