One of the hardest lessons to learn in real estate has nothing to do with contracts, pricing, inspections, appraisals or negotiations.

Sometimes you have to know when to say no.

I’ve been doing this real estate thing since 1999. I became a broker in 2012 and spent 12 years owning and running a CENTURY 21 franchise before selling the brokerage and returning my focus to what I’ve always enjoyed most: working directly with buyers and sellers.

And after all those years, I’ve learned something I definitely didn’t understand when I first got my license:

Not every potential client should become your client.

When You’re New, Every Lead Feels Like Gold

Ask almost any new real estate agent what happens when the phone rings with a potential client.

They chase it.

Every. Single. Time.

I did too.

When you’re building a business, you follow every lead wherever it goes—and trust me, a lot of them lead absolutely nowhere.

You drive across town.

You show houses to people who aren’t qualified.

You spend hours preparing listing presentations for sellers who aren’t serious.

You answer dozens of questions.

You follow up.

And follow up.

And follow up again.

Then sometimes they disappear.

Rejection is simply part of this business, and I think it’s one of the reasons so many people eventually burn out.

But experience eventually teaches you something else:

Sometimes the Realtor needs to be the one doing the rejecting.

A Recent Listing Appointment Reminded Me of That

Recently, while I was away on vacation, I received an inquiry from a homeowner who had actually found me through ChatGPT.

I thought that was pretty cool.

We had a nice initial conversation, and she wanted to talk with me about listing her townhouse.

The property had previously been on the market for approximately 180 days before expiring.

That’s the first thing that gets my attention.

Not necessarily because anything is wrong with the property or the seller, but because I immediately want to understand:

Why didn’t it sell?

Was it overpriced?

Was the marketing poor?

Was there a condition issue?

Were there problems with showings?

Did buyers make offers?

Did something happen during negotiations?

In this particular case, there had apparently been multiple offers.

That made me even more curious.

Looking at the numbers, the offers didn’t appear to have been dramatically disconnected from the asking price.

So why hadn’t one of them turned into a sale?

That’s something an experienced listing agent should want to understand before putting the property right back on the market and expecting a different result.

Sometimes the Red Flags Aren’t About the House

I had actually seen this townhouse previously, so when we met at the property I told the homeowner that I was already familiar with it.

She still wanted to walk me through everything.

That’s perfectly fine.

People are proud of their homes, and I actually enjoy hearing what owners love about them.

But as our conversation continued, something just wasn’t clicking.

I didn’t feel like I was being heard.

Instead of having a conversation between a homeowner and a professional she was considering hiring, I began feeling as though every recommendation required a debate.

There were also expectations about the market and the transaction that I didn’t necessarily agree with.

That’s okay too.

Clients don’t have to agree with me about everything.

In fact, some of my best client relationships involve plenty of discussion.

But there’s an important difference between asking questions and hiring a professional whose advice you fundamentally don’t trust.

You Aren’t Hiring Me to Tell You What You Want to Hear

This is probably one of the biggest differences between the Realtor I was in 1999 and the Realtor I am today.

I don’t believe my job is to tell a seller what they want to hear so I can get a listing agreement signed.

If I think your house is overpriced, I’m going to tell you.

If I think something needs to be repaired, I’m going to tell you.

If I think something in the listing is going to turn buyers away, I’m going to tell you.

If I think an offer deserves serious consideration, I’m going to tell you.

And if I think you’re about to make a decision that could hurt your transaction, I’m definitely going to tell you.

That doesn’t mean I’m always right.

But you’re hiring me for my professional opinion.

After more than 25 years of selling real estate in Central Florida, I would be doing you a disservice if I sat quietly because I was afraid you might not like what I had to say.

Then Came the Questions

We scheduled another meeting.

The homeowner arrived with somewhere around 30 questions.

Again, asking questions is a good thing.

Please ask questions.

But we spent roughly an hour and hadn’t even made it through the first page.

Eventually, she needed to leave and asked whether we could continue another day.

I looked through the remaining questions and realized something.

This wasn’t going to work.

Not because she was a bad person.

Quite the opposite. She was very nice.

Not because it wasn’t an expensive enough property.

I’ve sold homes at practically every price point, and every client deserves professional representation.

It wasn’t about the commission.

It was about compatibility.

I could already see that our communication styles were very different.

I tend to be direct.

I communicate frequently.

I tell my clients what I think.

I want them to question me when they don’t understand something, but ultimately there has to be enough mutual trust for them to know that my advice is coming from experience and from trying to accomplish the goal they’ve hired me to accomplish.

I wasn’t feeling that here.

And I started thinking:

If we’re having this much difficulty communicating before we’ve even signed a listing agreement, what happens when we receive an offer?

What happens during an inspection?

What happens with an appraisal?

What happens when a buyer asks for a repair?

What happens three weeks before closing when something unexpected occurs?

Those are the moments when a Realtor and client really need to trust one another.

Sometimes Experience Means Recognizing the Problem Before It Happens

There were several things I was able to point out that I believe could help this homeowner going forward.

One involved the property’s MLS history.

With Stellar MLS, cumulative days on market don’t reset simply because an expired property is immediately relisted. Generally, the property needs to remain off market for 60 days before CDOM resets.

That’s important information when deciding how and when to bring a previously listed property back to market.

We also discussed the age of some of the home’s major components, including an older water heater.

In Florida, these things can become important because insurance underwriting and four-point inspections may look closely at the age, condition and remaining useful life of major systems. An older component doesn’t automatically mean a home can’t be sold or insured, but it’s something sellers should understand before a buyer discovers it during the transaction.

This is part of what an experienced listing agent should be doing.

Not simply putting a sign in the yard.

Identifying potential problems before they become actual problems.

This Morning, I Said No

We had another meeting scheduled.

It would have been our third in-person meeting and roughly our fifth significant interaction.

And this morning I was sitting at my desk thinking:

This doesn’t feel right.

Years ago, I probably would have ignored that feeling.

There’s a listing.

There’s a potential commission.

Take the listing and figure everything else out later.

But that’s exactly how agents end up frustrated.

And it’s also how sellers end up frustrated.

So I picked up the phone.

I told her that I appreciated the opportunity and appreciated the time we’d spent together, but I was going to cancel our meeting.

I explained that I simply didn’t think we were the right fit for one another.

I felt as though we were already debating issues that shouldn’t require that much conflict, and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to represent her the way I represent my other clients.

So I politely declined the listing.

I also offered to help connect her with another Realtor who might be a better fit.

And you know what?

She couldn’t have been nicer about it.

She thanked me for being honest.

She thanked me for the time I’d already spent with her.

And I sincerely wished her the best.

There was no argument.

No drama.

No hard feelings.

Just two people acknowledging that this probably wasn’t the right professional relationship.

Your Realtor Should Be Interviewing You, Too

Sellers hear this advice all the time:

Interview your Realtor.

Absolutely.

You should.

Ask about experience.

Ask about marketing.

Ask about communication.

Ask about pricing strategy.

Ask about negotiation.

Ask how problems are handled.

But here’s the part people don’t talk about as often:

The Realtor should be interviewing the client, too.

Can we communicate?

Are the expectations realistic?

Do we respect each other’s time?

Can we disagree without every conversation becoming a battle?

And most importantly:

Is there enough mutual trust for me to do the job you’re hiring me to do?

If the answer is no, sometimes the best decision for everyone is to shake hands and walk away.

It’s Not Always About the Commission

This may sound strange coming from someone who makes a living selling real estate, but not every commission is worth earning.

There comes a point in your career when protecting your time, your sanity and the quality of service you provide to your existing clients matters more than adding another transaction to the board.

I’ve been fortunate enough to build a business with repeat clients, referrals and people who come back to me years later.

Those relationships work because there’s trust.

My clients know I’ll answer the phone.

They know I’ll tell them what I think.

They know I’m going to fight for them when necessary.

And they also know I’m not going to tell them something simply because it’s what they want to hear.

That’s the kind of Realtor-client relationship I want.

Knowing When to Say No Is Part of Experience

When I started selling real estate in 1999, success meant getting the client.

Today, I look at it a little differently.

Success is getting the right client.

Someone I can help.

Someone who values what I bring to the table.

Someone with whom I can communicate openly.

Someone who understands that we’re working toward the same goal.

Whether you’re selling a townhouse in Ocoee, a family home in Winter Garden, a luxury property in Windermere, or a home anywhere across Orlando and Central Florida, choosing your Realtor isn’t simply about hiring the person who promises the highest price or tells you exactly what you want to hear.

It’s about finding the person you trust to guide you through the process.

And sometimes, from the Realtor’s side of the table, it’s about recognizing when that trust probably isn’t going to develop.

Sometimes saying no is the most professional thing you can do.

Thinking About Selling Your Central Florida Home?

If you’re considering selling a home in Ocoee, Winter Garden, Windermere, Clermont, Minneola, Orlando, Gotha, Dr. Phillips, Celebration, Davenport, Downtown Orlando, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Apopka or elsewhere in Central Florida, I’m always happy to have a conversation.

We can talk about your home’s value, current market conditions, potential issues to address before listing, and whether we’re the right fit for each other.

Because that’s where a good real estate relationship should start:

With an honest conversation.

David Dorman, Broker Associate
CENTURY 21 Carioti
2747 Maguire Rd
Ocoee, FL 34761
Phone: 407-948-8295
Email: david@daviddorman.com
Website: DavidDorman.com
Central Florida Real Estate: LiveInOrlandoFL.com

When you hire David Dorman you GET David Dorman.