In real estate transactions, buyers and sellers bombard their agents with questions: What does this contract clause mean? Will a title issue delay closing? How does a tenant's lease affect a sale? Most agents feel pressure to answer instantly, but Jerry Larkowski, managing broker at ESQ. Realty Group, LLC in Little Rock, Arkansas, believes that pressure causes more damage than a gap in knowledge ever could.
Larkowski, a licensed attorney since 1991, learned this lesson long before real estate. In 2002, Pulaski County elections were plagued by problems: voters sent to wrong polling places, insufficient ballots, and some turned away before polls closed. In early 2003, local officials asked him to join the Pulaski County Election Commission as a volunteer, hoping he would soon chair it to restore public confidence. He became chair within his first two meetings. The commission hired a new director and implemented new processes, which were tested in smaller library and school tax elections before larger ones. Larkowski recalls being in the statewide newspaper regularly and interviewed by television crews. A close associate warned, "If it went south and if it went bad, nobody would hesitate to blame you. So you better dance in the glory of it doing really, really well."
In 2005, Larkowski resigned from the commission to run for the Arkansas House of Representatives in 2006. Four candidates entered the race, and he recalls more than $250,000 in combined donations, making it one of the most expensive state house races in Arkansas at the time. From January to mid-May 2006, he walked the district after work and on weekends, knocking on more than 3,000 doors. He lost. "I told everybody in the week after that, I've lost cases in the courtroom that I'm still more mad about than this," he says. "It was worth losing, I guess, is probably the best way to put it." What he gained was a clearer picture of the people behind the votes: "good-hearted, hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding people" who want their city, state, and country to work. Homeowners, he noticed, paid especially close attention to local policy. "People that own their homes take a little bit more interest, I think, in things because they've got skin in the game," he says.
The campaign trail is a steady stream of questions, and Larkowski watched many respond to unknown answers by talking in circles. He took a different approach: "I know a lot, but I don't know the answer to that question, but I'm going to go find out, and I'm going to get back to you," he says. "And then follow up and do it." Clients respond better to that than a polished guess, he argues, partly because of who is saying it. After 35 years as a licensed attorney, people expect him to know everything. When he admits he doesn't, the reaction is often surprise. "They think, wow, he doesn't know it. Most people like him would just make up an answer," he says. "I think it commands respect. And when you start losing respect with people that you are trying to sell something, you might as well just give up."
For buyers and sellers, the practical takeaway is clear. A long, vague answer leaning on "I think" is a warning sign, especially on questions involving title, contracts, deadlines, or legal obligations. A guess on any of those can cost real money. A better answer sounds specific even when incomplete: the agent says what they know, names what they need to confirm, tells you who they will ask—whether attorney, title company, or lender—and gives a time frame. Then they call back. Larkowski's background in law, public service, and real estate is outlined on his About Me page. His advice for evaluating any agent echoes what he learned on those doorsteps: nobody expects you to know everything, but they do expect honesty. A confident guess can cost a client thousands; an honest "let me find out" costs them a day. ESQ. Realty Group, LLC is a full-service brokerage serving Little Rock and Hot Springs, and more information is available at esqbrokers.com.
