Not enough information here to provide any kind of substantive response. As for problems one comes across as an agent... after 25 years, I suppose I could write a book not a quick response in a Q&A format.

Buyers who won't decide.  Unreasonable sellers.  Prima donna "top producers".  Agents, lenders, et al who don't return calls.

Remain calm, take control of the situation.

I very rarely have an unreasonable client.

My biggest problem is dumb agents who think they don't need higher real estate education. What I learned is that it does not take a lot of effort to be  smarter than a 5th grader.

Agents don't understand contracts, the nuances of the transaction and think they control everything.  Their office Brokers are usually as uneducated as the agent.

Knowledge is power and will give you a higher income.  There is no excuse for not knowing something or thinking that "it is not your job".

It is your job to know everything related to real estate.

Eve

I think the biggest problem for me is the uneven nature of income. Some months you could have multiple closings, and other months, none. I learned that prospecting needs to be a non-stop event, especially when we're very busy with transactions. Otherwise those transactions will close and we'll be twiddling our thumbs.

Sometimes listening helps, sometimes coaching, sometimes you just ignore them.

Some people are unhappy by nature, for whatever reason. Some people remain in unhappy relationships, for whatever reason.  We cannot "fix" people or make them happy;  we can only provide top notch service and do our jobs to the best of our abilities.  I have often said we deserve honorary PhDs for what we deal with vis-a-vis human nature.  

Just remember - unhappy people are typically unhappy with their lives, not with us, so we just have to carry on and not take it personally. 

Fred Griffin nailed this one!

you probably can't! There are just some people like this & I would tell them that. No matter what you do or offer help on, they are not satisfied.

Ditto Nina Hollander 

There are some people that will never be happy no matter what you do so you have to learn when to count your losses and move on to someone who will be more reasonable, hopefully.

Too many to list here, bu you've inspired a blog post.

Laughing my ass off at the laundry list of questions here ... answers could fill a a book.  Essentially I echo Nina Hollander comment. 

All of them. And they keep piling on. But some are starting to repeat. You need a better pic Ashley.

after 39 years, I could write enough books to fill a library....

When people are unhappy, it's usually because their expectations were not met. That means they may not have been educated on what could happen during the process. If you educate them correctly, they should be prepared for the good and bad.

Oh my... such a big question for such a little box!   The real estate business is fraught with problems every day.  The world belongs to problem solvers.  Get good at solving problems.

Problems using the spell checker. It seems to work when we need it.

I agree with Gita Bantwal.  Each and every day presents an opportunity to learn something new or a different way to look at a situation.   In real estate. And in life.  

Too many to mention.  What I did learn early on was to assume no one would do their job except me.

The most important tool to have is interpersonal skills & lacking this is the cause and loss of many a potential personal or professional gain

Ashley Squire Probably someone who missed an opportunity because they wouldn't get off of the fence.

Ashley,

We have a talent for scouting those who are not a match.  So we rarely get into problems. A

One issue is working with people you know, and not getting a buyer agent agreement signed becuase you work on trust, they they stray. Get evereything in writing and signed

Communication is the biggest issue that I have and it's not really the clients - it's the agents on the other side of the transaction. I'm a 'never-back-burner' person and the lack of response drives me nuts! Difficult clients are a rarity - most of mine are referrals and typically they come from like-minded referring current or past clients or sphere - so, thankfully, I rarely have issues.

There will never be a shortage of unrealistic prospects. You need to know how to deal with them.

The biggest problem is communication. When rationality starts losing out to emotion, the road can get rough quickly!

Ask them what the issue is?

Real estate is on the job training so problems are pretty constant.

We learn something new every day from our experience.

How much time do you have?

Idiot agents, transaction coordinators who should be picking up trash on the highway, unethical realtors (say it isn't so!  The "Code of Ethics" exists, how can this be!  /end sarcasm).

A big bottle of excederin is nice.

A former client went with another agent to sell that I bought for her.  She has had several live in. If a woman has no loyality toward her men what do you expect her attitude toward a realtor? We have about 120,000 agents in SFBA here.  

After reading your question, I think it would be easier to respond, "what problems haven't  I come across?" What have I learned? Nothing is ever easy, keep a paper trail and watch out for unscrupulous people.

Inexperienced agents, and no training from their brokers.

Having one client not happy with the feedback I was giving him, it was the feedback I was getting.

Ashley Squire - if there were no challenges, we were NOT important! Find the solution for your clients - and you are a winner.

I woldneed 3-4 books to cover them after 20 years.

Some people are born that way, usually there is nothing that you could do...except to donate time and energy to their "cause".

do the right thing all the time