I was the listing agent for a home that sold about a year and a half ago. Generally after the sale of a home I try to stay in touch with both the buyer and the seller. Most agents don't stay in touch with their clients and most people appreciate the effort to stay connected. Plus, questions come up and it's nice to have that additional neighborhood resource!

On this particular sale, however, I never made any attempt to contact the buyers after the sale. That's because the agent for the buyers led me to believe that they actively disliked me! The transaction had gotten fairly stressful at the end. And, I was definitely angry at the way things progressed. It can be difficult at times to determine whether it's the other agent who's making things complicated or whether the client is perhaps being unreasonable. In fact, this agent was so perturbed that she called my broker to complain. Fortunately, my broker, knowing me and knowing the details on the transaction, knew that the accusations were baseless and let it go.

But since I'd been told that these buyers actively disliked me there seemed no point in trying to establish a relationship!

I got a call from those buyers this week about potentially selling their home. Strangely enough, the agent who sold them the home is not getting a call.

My point here today is that you should never make assumptions. I should have attempted to get in touch. I shouldn't have assumed that what someone said to me in the heat of the moment was, in fact, gospel!

And, real estate agents should not let their relationships become overly adversarial. Generally speaking once there's a contract in place, both parties have the same desire, to execute that contract! There's no reason for real estate agents to let emotions get in the way of professionalism. And, yes, I've been guilty of that once or twice myself! Sometimes I'm preaching to myself!

I don't know yet whether I'll be marketing this house for the owners. But I know there's already a happy ending in my eyes. I've gotten to know some very nice people! And that almost didn't happen!