In the business of real estate brokerage, it is often that a Realtor exclusively engaged in real estate sales includes the promotion of this very fact in much of his/her marketing efforts.
Coupled with this will often be some sort of acclamation of awards, be it the "Chairman, President, Gold Member Club" or the like. In essence, it is an attempt by that Realtor to convey their top-producing status as a "full-time" Realtor. Indeed, the "part-time" Realtor by comparison, is an often frowned-upon status.
Often however, reality is often blurred by myth.
The reality is that as a Realtor, the busier you are and the more transactions you handle, the less likely you are to be intimately involved with any one particular transaction and the more likely you are to rely upon the assistance of others. Whether it is office administrators, licensed assistants or a team of Realtors, a "top-producing" Realtor will inevitably require help and will have to resort to effective delegation in order to manage the increased deal-flow.
The above business model is not to be critized. Delegation is an art and skill and often a difficult skill to master for many professionals. What is troubling however, is the implication that as a part-time Realtor, less knowledge and service is available to the prospective client.
I firmly disagree. Here are a few good reasons why.
1) My background is varied and offers the same in the way of skill sets and experiences. I am resourceful and can offer different perspectives and professional advice from many angles as opposed to simply the buying and selling of homes.
2) I only deal with a select number of clients at a detailed and personal level rather than dealing with an excessive client list. I choose to focus on a smaller client base by applying full-time efforts to a part-time client base.
3) I don't use pagers. I insist on being directly accessible by my clients at all times without the need for pre-screening my calls.
4) I don't rely on real estate sales as my primary source of income. As a result, the temptation to put the interests of my back pocket ahead of my clients' needs is virtually eliminated.
So the next time you're in the market for the services of a Realtor, you might want to take the time to carefully interview each prospect rather than relying on the smoke and mirrors of unoriginal self-promotion and marketing rhetoric.