Ever had the experience of helping one of your relatives, maybe a cousin, buy their home?

Or taking a listing from a friend you met in high school?

Turns out, not everybody has the same response to these situations.

Not because those opportunities never came up, but because some realtors simply choose not to work with friends or family (out of principle!).

And that brings up the question: should you even work with a friend or relative at all? 🤔

You’ve probably heard this saying before in the real estate world:

When you hear it, do you imagine yourself literally “shopping with your best friend” for houses?

Or could it mean that we should make the buying process feel as natural and comfortable as if we were shopping for clothes with a friend - but with clients instead?

At the beginning of many real estate agents’ careers, the first buyers or sellers they work with are usually the same group of people.

Friends and family!

They’re the first ones you reach out to when you want to get a listing or help someone buy their first or next home.

But not every agent chooses to go that route.

A big part of real estate agents simply don’t feel comfortable listing their cousin’s house or helping their best friend buy one.

Let’s face it.

There are many moments in real estate that are already hard to handle professionally.

Imagine saying these things to your close friends:

“Sorry, I know it’s been a couple of months since we started looking for a house, but your last offer wasn’t accepted. And we need to update your loan terms again.”

or

“I know you want top dollar for this house and I’d love to see it sell at that price, but it’s not realistic. We need to make a price adjustment.”

Now imagine saying that to your best friend.

It’s uncomfortable. And it could easily make your next dinner together feel tense and awkward.

Another thing to consider is what happens if the deal goes wrong

maybe a negotiation turns sour, an open house flops, or expectations aren’t met.

How easy would it be to separate business from friendship after that?

When your client is also your best friend, even small disagreements can linger and affect the relationship outside of work.

And that’s exactly why a lot of agents choose not to mix the two.

But of course, some agents manage to do it successfully usually by setting boundaries early and treating their friends like any other client from day one.

But how about you?

What’s your experience working with friends or relatives?

Recently, we made a post on social media that reached over 100,000 views.

It was about how real estate agents can spend hours working with a client, researching, calling, visiting…

Only to end up with nothing when the client decides not to buy or sell.

(Sounds familiar to you?)

That post sparked a huge debate about whether real estate agents should continue working on commission or start charging by the hour instead.

We weren’t expecting the reactions, but they definitely showed how the perception of what real estate agents do is changing.

And maybe, it’s time brokerages re-evaluate their business model altogether.

We gathered hundreds of comments and noticed three main groups of opinions:

That last group caught our attention.

More and more sellers believe they understand the sales process. They can access online tools, price comparisons, and marketing platforms themselves.

Because of that, many feel like they can “do it on their own”.
And while they don’t see the full value of an agent’s experience, they do recognize the workload.

Which leads to this question:

That mindset shift shows how the industry is evolving.

Imagine a hybrid model where real estate agencies offer both options:

Maybe it could work.

And it might even open new opportunities for agents who want to diversify their income.

Some clients could hire you just for pricing advice, others for negotiation support, or a few hours of staging consulting.

Think of it like this:

Instead of losing clients who don’t want to commit to a commission, you could offer them smaller, paid services that still keep you in business and on their radar.

Would it change the way we see real estate?

Would it make agents feel more valued or turn the profession into a service model like consulting or law firms?

It’s hard to say.

Maybe the next time you talk to a client about commissions, you’ll notice the question isn’t “why so much?” but “could we do it differently?”

We hope you find these tips and tricks useful and can start applying them right away!

Let us know if you found this content useful - we read every email 😉

See you in the next one!

Alex and Daria