If you’re not from Olympia, Washington, and you just moved here the weather may be a huge factor.

Let me explain, the Summers in Olympia, WA are the some of the best I have ever lived in. The sun is shining, it is always a perfect 72-78 degrees, everything is green and the views of the woods, mountains and bodies of water are just stunning. But the winters can be long, not with snow but with rain/fog/clouds. This is the wettest season we have ever had in Washington State. So for new comers to the Olympia area you may love the rain, but be prepared some years can give you more cabin fever than others.

Since I have started my real estate career, I have always let me family know that they were “Technically” required to use me as their agent or agent referral (if they lived in another state that I was not living in). I know this sounds a little aggressive, but when I told everybody it was said in the nicest of ways, with class and style.

This was 4+ years ago, and since then I have had 2 family members, sell 1 property, and buy 1 property with me. I have also had 5 family members (including my little sister, my parents, my uncle, my aunt, my niece, my extended cousin) Not use me for a home sale or purchase.

So to be honest, I am just done with working with family. Now to my defense I always answered their questions they had, I helped them out anyway I could.

I do need to give you more background information on some instances of why my family did not use me. (no I am not crazy, or suck at my job – which is what I would be thinking if I read this post).

1. The first main reason family didn’t not use me as a real estate broker. – They were just not educated or understand why to use a family member as an agent or even a referral. ( They don’t understand if you live in another state, you let me find an agent for them to use) Why is this good. 1A). We understand what to look for in a real estate agent and know what companies to send them an agent from and who to still clear of. 2A). We know what commission they should accept and how to get them the best price and all the bells and whistle for listing or buying a home with out paying for it. 3A). We get a commission because we are family, yes we did really nothing but find you a great agent that we think is a good fit for our family member. <But why wouldn’t you want to give you family member an extra few thousand dollars, instead of giving a complete (stranger) agent a full commission. No you may think the agent you are working with won’t work as hard, if they have to give us a piece of the commission. Or they will be mad at you for having them give money to your family member real estate agent. The answer is NO, we are used to getting calls from all over the country asking to working with family members of other agents for a commission . Normal it is around 25% so why wouldn’t you if you could give your family member a few extra thousand dollars instead of a completer stranger agent. Also the family member will know what is going on with the deal, and get updates if they picked a good agent for you. That way they can also make sure you are being treated fairly and give you more insight then you would normal have.

To Be continued…..