Why Are Women Better At Real Estate Than Men Are?

Hello, <<First Name>>, yes, I know it is dangerous to state that women are better at real estate than men are...better is of course, a subjective term. However, before I fully launch into the topic of today's article, I wanted to clarify something that was brought up in a Twitter conversation yesterday.  I was basically asked why we chose to use the word "Lady" in our association name, rather than "Women" or "Female"...apparently the word "Lady" can be a trigger word for some women.   Since the two topics are kind of intertwined, I wanted to address them together.

The reason why we chose the word "Lady", is because it implies a higher level of being, a higher level of manners, a higher level of thoughtfulness and kindness towards others...and at the National Association of Lady Real Estate Agents, we believe that that is why women are dominating in the real estate industry.  Sure there are some "not-so-ladylike" women in the industry, the ones who are playing the "man's game", emmulating their male bosses, and some of them might even have considerable success working their careers that way.  But think about it...if that were really the way we were meant to be, the way to achieve optimum success as real estate agents...then why are women dominating the industry and achieving higher numbers than the male agents as a whole?

We, as women, or ladies...if you will...know that it's about nurturing the relationships, and tending your crops (so to speak), that it is NOT...despite what you might have been told, all a numbers game.  Numbers do come into play, of course they do...but there is so much more to success in the real estate industry than making X number of cold calls per day, sending out X number of cold generic postcards, etc...  We are women, and we are warm, not cold creatures.  We build our business off of warm relationships and we watch them grow like vines in a well-tended garden!

When I think of what it means to be a true "lady", I think of my great-grandmother.  She died at 104 yrs. old, and up until very close to the end, she could tell you who all of her great-grandchildren were and when their birthdays were (seriously, there were a ton of us!), she would tend her vegetable garden every year (she had someone else til the soil, but she pretty much did the rest) in, I kid you not, a dress, heels and pearls! This lady was one of the first women in the House of Representatives in our home state, she was a school teacher for many years, she was a farmer...yet she was ever the lady.  She made people feel important without putting on airs, she did crossword puzzles in the newspaper every day and she was truly wonderful.  The town loved her...she built relationships.  If she was a real estate agent, I believe she would have been in the top 1% in the nation...well, if we didn't come from such a small, rural community.  If she were a real estate agent out here in Southern California where I live now, she would have done amazing things...and would SO have proved my point about why women are doing so well in real estate.  But not just any women...ladies.

So perhaps today as you read this, think back to the women who have touched your life, who you gravitated towards, who made you feel welcomed...think about what it was that made them so special...and somehow apply that to your real estate career.  We don't need to use outdated methods, but we need to use time-honored, classic caring and compassion to show the people in our world, our sphere, how much they mean to us...in a warm way...because we are women.  No, we are ladies, or at least we should try to be.