Every so often I go hunt for a picture of old Herb Tarlek, or should I say a picture of actor Frank Bonner playing Herb Tarlek, WKRP’s slick but sleazy salesman.

I usually think of old Herb when someone’s accused me of being like him, either personally (which doesn’t happen much), or as a member of the Realtor® community (which happens all the time).

Here’s the accusation:

“Western Civilization is on the verge of collapse. The sky is falling. The four horsemen of the apocalypse are upon us. We’re on the verge of a bloodbath. Of course, if you’re a Realtor®, any time’s a good time to buy a house.“

Whether that’s true of any given Realtor® is a function of what their strengths are as a salesperson. Realtors® who are aggressive objection handlers might be a good fit for that accusation, but I tend to be fairly laid back in that regard.

My strong suit in sales is not objection handling, but prospecting. That being the case, I don’t much care if someone is not buying a house, because to me that’s hardly the point. The point for me is not that everybody needs to buy a house, but that as many people as possible who want to buy or sell one find me or an Elite Properties agent to do it.

In fact, come to think of it, whether or not you’re buying a house is not an objection handling matter. It’s a qualifying matter. If you’re not buying a house, that’s great, but then as a broker, my job is not to talk you into it, my job is to go talk to someone who is qualified. That is to say, someone who is “qualified” in the more general sales sense of having DNA (Desire, Need, Ability), not qualified in the loan sense, which simply deals with “Ability”.

On the one hand, I certainly don’t mean to suggest that you have to be buying / selling right away to start a conversation. I do have other interests. If I only talked to people who are buying or selling, I’d have a boring life, because even among people who own already, only one in eight is moving in a given year. People don’t eat all day long, and they can eat at many different restaurants, but one can still own a thriving dining establishment nevertheless.

On the other hand, I have a feeling that people who hang around real estate blogs saying things like “if you’re a Realtor®, any time’s a good time to buy a house” want this accusation to be true, because it’s the basis for the adversarial relationship they imagine they have with us. And I can’t imagine how lonely you have to be before your idea of a social good time is trolling for a guy who in your broken heart of hearts you think is Herb Tarlek.

If you’re not buying a house, that’s great. You’re in the majority. I congratulate you.

So you’re here…why?

Have you considered taking up ballroom dancing?

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