The National Association of REALTORS® “2013 PROFILE OF HOME BUYERS AND SELLERS” became available at the recent Expo in San Francisco last November. In fact, this publication makes its debut every year at the Convention and Expo and because of that I eagerly look forward to the convention each year. (I rarely actually go, but that’s another story for another time…)

Why do I care? Well maybe this quote from the Introduction to the report may give you an inkling:

“This report provides real estate professionals with insights into the needs and expectations of their clients. What do consumers want when choosing a real estate professional? How do home buyers begin the process of searching for a home? Why do some sellers choose to forego the assistance of an agent? The answers to these questions, along with other findings in this report, will help real estate professionals better understand the housing market and also provide the information necessary to address the needs of America’s real estate consumers.”

It’s available as a PDF download. You can obtain the report here: http://www.realtor.org/prodser.nsf/products/e186-45-13?opendocument (Note: You will have to login to the site before this link will work).

I could tell you about many fabulous facts and figures from this report, show you many great charts that would help you obtain more clients and give you many examples of how studying this report (really studying it) would help you make more income this year, but instead, I want you to think about these items from Page Six:

• Forty-two percent of buyers found their agent through a referral from a friend or family member and 12 percent used an agent they had used before to buy or sell a home.
• Eighty-eight percent of buyers would use their agent again or recommend to others.
• Forty-two percent of buyers found their agent through a referral from a friend or family member and 12 percent used an agent they had used before to buy or sell a home.

Now, answer if you will this question: If 88% of the home buyers surveyed said that they would use their agent again (or recommend them to others), why did only 12% use an agent that they had used previously?

I think that I know the answer, but I want to hear why you think that is the case.

You knowing the answer is critical to your success…