Last week, an influencer with more than a million followers posted a video that reads like an apology to real estate agents.
Chelsea Anderson told her audience she used to think agents were “kind of a scam.” Then she sold a house with one, who also found the perfect next home for her.
As an agent, you’ve probably heard enough comments with negative assumptions about real estate agents. It’s not every day you hear someone saying out loud, on camera, to over a million people, that what they used to think about agents…was wrong.
Chelsea’s video lays out a series of tasks her agent, Jess Jimenez, handled during the transaction. And her post is proof that doing the job well is noticed and rewarded.
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Here’s what changed Chelsea’s mind, what we love about her post, and what agents can learn from it.
Before: “Kind of a Scam”
Chelsea admits her old opinion of agents was not flattering:
“I have to admit something. Before I bought and sold a house, I thought real estate agents were like kind of a scam.”
She’d never bought or sold a house, so her opinion was built on a popular assumption instead of experience. Her specific complaint was the commission itself.
“Why do I have to pay someone a commission? Why can’t I just walk into a house and buy it? And why can’t I just put a for sale sign in front of my house and put it up for sale?”
Looking back, she calls that opinion naive.
This is a common starting point. Anyone who hasn’t gone through a transaction yet has no way to know what an agent’s day looks like, so the fee can feel unexplained. The word “commission” itself sounds like a cut of someone else’s money.
Which is exactly why Byron Lazine urges agents to use the word “compensation” instead.
Compensation is just recompense for a job well done. And with an agent like Jess, the word takes on its full significance. It becomes something your client is happy to provide.
What Jess Did to Change this Influencer’s Mind
Chelsea mentions just a few of the tasks Jess handled, giving the impression she went above and beyond to deliver the best possible experience and outcome for her clients:
“I don’t know what on earth we would have done without our real estate agent. She did so much for us…
“Without her guiding hand and her expertise, I don’t know that this ever would have happened… Like every single thing, buying and selling. If we needed something fixed, if we needed something checked, she’s like, ‘I got a guy. I’ll schedule it.’ Scheduled inspection. Scheduled sewer guy. Scheduled electrician.
“She was literally at our house using a magic eraser, getting scuffs off the wall.”
“She handled the staging. She handled photography. She handled literally everything.”
“I don’t know that we would have found our house that we moved into because she just knew that I would like that house and texted it to me.”
Two of the commenters backed up Chelsea’s rave review for Jess:
Another commented with praise for their own real estate agent:
One agent even asked Jess’s info so she could refer her Denver-bound sellers:
Chelsea also added a comment of her own doubling down on her apology to real estate agents in general. Her comment has over 300 likes:
The post itself has more than 3.7K likes, plus over 200 shares and about 280 comments, drawing love from agents and non-agents alike.
The Play for Real Estate Agents
Chelsea’s comment on the difference between good and bad agents reveals the play that leads to posts like hers:
“So if you’re buying a house, it is important to have a good Realtor.
If you’re selling a house, it’s important to have a good Realtor.
Like you could end up doing all the work that Jess did for us, and I would not recommend that because it’s a stressful enough time already.
So if you’re in Denver, you need to hire Jess. And if you are anywhere else, I don’t know what to tell you other than do your due diligence because the difference between a good Realtor and a bad Realtor is enormous. It’s like hours and hours and hours of work.
You want someone who knows what they’re doing, okay?”
Two things stand out immediately:
- Jess, the agent, went above and beyond for her client
- Chelsea, the client, knew what Jess was doing for her
If you’re using a tool like Rayse, you already have a built-in system providing transparency for your clients on everything you’re doing for them.
Keeping your clients in the loop and overdelivering on value makes it far more likely they’ll notice how much time and effort you’ve saved them, especially when you also deliver the outcome they want, or something even better than they expected.
