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How To Become An Emotionally-Intelligent Realtor

Patrick M. DeCarlo, LMFT
10 min readFeb 11, 2021

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By thinking like a therapist, realtors can improve relationships with their clients and move from point of contact to closing faster

Before she sold her first home, my client thought the real estate grind would be easy. The housing market in South Florida was booming and everyone in her office enjoyed success. Olivia was an ambitious mid-20s realtor who came to see me after a breakup. But as we worked through grief issues she discussed frustrations with clients who could never settle on a dream home. Nine months into her career she’d never made it to closing and was scraping by on rentals.

“I’m burnt out and dreading my clients,” Olivia said. “People fall in love with gorgeous homes and suddenly decide it isn’t the right time to move. After dozens of weekends I am more like an unpaid tour guide than a realtor.”

My therapeutic ear heard a lot in these defeated words. We could explore how feeling rejected by her boyfriend may be seeping into her relationship with her clients via projection. We could alleviate burnout symptoms with targeted interventions such as installing better sleep habits and activating a support network that validates her emotions.

But my eyes knew someone was missing from our session. Who was that? Her clients!

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Patrick M. DeCarlo, LMFT
Patrick M. DeCarlo, LMFT

Written by Patrick M. DeCarlo, LMFT

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Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in South Florida. https://linktr.ee/patrickmdecarlo

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