dear realtors, please respect tradesman time | an open letter

Dear Realtors,

Often, we receive requests from you to provide quotes of repairs for your transactions. You take these transactions to the table and use them as part of your negotiations. Sometimes credits are sent in your favor and sometimes, in the other party’s. We get it.

But here is the thing, you rely on our experience, credentials, license and even insurance to convey to the other parties that an expert evaluated this report and issued an opinion. (the experts being us) You use these reports ways to gain income or reduce expenses. These reports benefit you and your clients.

Many times, you present this to us with a promise of being the recommenced electrician or even, at times, the contracted electrician. The thing is, we never, ever hear back. That is totally okay.

But what is not okay, is when you expect us to invest time in these reports for free. Time we could use working on other projects and actually earning an income or sourcing leads for our business.

Some will say, this is part of the business. Some will say, you have to take some losses in order to grow. This narrative is predatory and needs to be eliminated from the workspace. This letter is to ask you, our friends in business, to do better. Respect the trades. Not just for electricians but all tradesman. Plumbers, Sheetrockers, Painters.

For months, I watched my husband work late at night to create inspection reports and repair budgets for countless realtors, back then, it was in desperation to get the job. On some occasions, he worked till midnight just to get it to you in time for your closing because “your electrician” or “normal guy” was not available. Here is the thing, we want to be your “normal guy”, we want to be “your electrician” but we are not willing to do it at the expense of all we have. In present day, we employ teams, we have insurance, overhead and we have to pay someone to “look at that report really quick”. I wish I realized it was this predatory a year ago, but you live and you learn.

Some realtors will despise me for this and I am okay with that, those who respect it, we welcome the chance to work with you. Those who have a rebuttal, I would love to hear it. Especially my realtor friends.

Wishing you much business in this booming market,

Tina Rivera