I’m Sick of Paying for Other People’s Bad Behaviour

Written by an anonymous regional agent

I didn’t become a real estate agent to end up the punching bag for the industry. I got into it to help people — simple as that.

First-home buyers, retirees, families upsizing, farmers selling off a block — that’s what I care about. That’s what gets me up every day.

But lately, it feels like no matter how hard I work, I’m fighting a battle I can’t win.

Do you know what it’s like walking into the local pub on a Friday night, only to have someone call out, “Did you hear what your mate did?"

They’re not talking about my mate. They’re talking about some agent in Sydney or Melbourne I’ve never met in my life. Yet suddenly, I’m guilty by association — just because I happen to share the same job title.

It’s humiliating. It’s infuriating. And it’s unfair.

I don’t cut corners. I don’t mislead clients. I don’t play games.

But when the media blasts a scandal across every outlet, my reputation — and every other honest agent’s reputation — takes the hit.

People start looking at me sideways, questioning my integrity before I’ve even shaken their hand.

And here’s what really gets under my skin: it feels like the industry has completely forgotten about the quiet majority — the ones who keep this whole thing running.

The thousands of us who put our heads down, work hard, and genuinely care about the people we serve. We’re not chasing fame. We’re not looking for our faces on glossy magazine covers. We’re not angling for a podcast slot or a speaking gig.

We’re the ones who open the office early and lock up late. The ones who drive across town in the rain to drop paperwork off for an elderly client. The ones who stay on the phone long after dinner, talking a nervous first-home buyer through their fears.

But you’ll never see a headline about that. You’ll never see an article praising the deals that settle smoothly because someone did their job properly. That doesn’t sell. That doesn’t trend.

Instead, we just get to mop up the mess every time someone else screws up — and when they do, it’s not just theirreputation that burns. It’s all of ours.

The industry leaders?

They should be standing up for us.

They should be reminding the public that this profession is full of hardworking, decent people. But instead, too many stay quiet, or worse — feed the cycle because clicks and attention matter more.

And the media?

They’ll run the scandal ten different ways, but you won’t see them writing about the hundreds of deals that go through every day where buyers and sellers walk away happy.

I’m not asking for applause. I don’t need a pat on the back. I just want to do my job without being dragged through the mud for mistakes I didn’t make.

Because here’s the truth: one bad headline doesn’t represent me. It doesn’t represent most of us. And I’m bloody tired of being made to carry someone else’s baggage when all I’m trying to do is help people in my community.