Archive for the 'Real Estate Industry' Category
Is it Like Buttah? - How Agents Set the Tone for Smooth Closings
June 26th, 2008 categories: Real Estate Industry
I’ve been involved in sales that have gone smoothly (like buttah) and others that were the real estate equivalent of Rocky Road ice cream. Without exception, it was an agent(s) who made it difficult- either through poor interpersonal skills, lack of experience, inability to explain things to the clients or a serious. And once or twice, I made the sale harder myself (now I’ve seen the light, though).
Sure, clients can be difficult and circumstances can be tough, but good agents who keep their cool can work through just about anything.
Lately I’ve been thinking about how real estate agents interact with each other and how our relationships with each other affect our clients.
I started thinking about this after I had an “incident” with another agent over the phone where the agent banned me from seeing any of his listings. Seriously. And here’s what I did to deserve this: I called his office to let him know that his office hadn’t called to confirm an appointment to show one of his listings until the actual appointment time, leaving me no choice but to miss the appointment. I thought he’d like to know.
Although I explained to him that it wasn’t a big deal - I just wanted him to know - he got really mad and told me I should have my phone repaired and claimed I had called him a liar. Since the only call that had been recorded “incorrectly” was his, I told him that I didn’t think my phone was broken.
Ultimately, the listing agent got so mad that he told me to “never, ever show one of (his) listings ever again.”
How did this serve our clients? Not well, of course. The listing agent, whose job it is to get other agents INSIDE his listings, risked offending me so badly that I would never bring clients to see his listings and that doesn’t benefit his clients.
My clients may have been represented by an agent who was easily offended and not up to the challenge of dealing with an emotionally disturbed individual.
In either case, our clients may have suffered. For what?
Ultimately, I took my clients to see the house but they were not interested. Had they been interested, I’m sure the sale would have been one that would go down in the record books for “worst-all-time-experience,” not only for me but mostly for our clients.
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Selling Real Estate in the Slow Lane
May 31st, 2008 categories: Real Estate Industry
I drive for a living. In a typical week, I drive about 500 miles mostly for business and with gasoline notching up and up, my once weekly fill up of $30.00 is fast approaching $50.00.
I can’t drive less. I can’t take public transportation. I already drive a reasonable car that gets about 25 MPG on average and can’t turn it back in until February.
So, I thought I would try to reduce the amount of gas I need to buy by changing my driving habits: driving the speed limit, accelerating slowly and laying off the brakes.
For two weeks, I’ve been that annoying car who is slow to speed up to get through a changing light, that idiot going 65 MPH in a 65 MPH zone and that twit taking a corner slowly. You’ve probably seen me and maybe even flipped me the bird.
In two weeks, I’ve managed to get about a total of 80 more miles out of filling up my tank than driving the way most everyone else does. That’s about two gallons and $8.00 or so in two weeks. At $4.00/week, I’ll save a little more than $200 in a year. Nothing earth shattering but $200 is still $200.
It would bother me normally to be the slow driver but I look at it this way - all you drivers stuck behind me aren’t paying my bills. When you do, then you get a vote.
A few other things I’ve learned in my two-week experiment:
I have to plan ahead to make sure I get to my appointments on time. No longer can I “catch up” on the highway.
Everyone drives like maniacs - just to get someplace 1 minute before me.
Not only will I save on gas but I will be less likely to have to pay any whopping speeding tickets. One more and I will have to go to driving school - echh!!
Other drivers expect you to speed up really quickly after a stop and brake really quickly for a stop so actually obeying the laws means you have to really watch the drivers behind you.
See you in the slow lane…
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One MLS in Connecticut is Good for Buyers and Sellers
January 14th, 2007 categories: Central Connecticut News & Information, Real Estate Industry
Up until recently, an agent representing a buyer may have had to look in as many as six different databases (multiple listing service or MLS) for listings. Log in, search, print/e-mail, log out. Log in, search, print/e-mail, log out. Log in, search, print/e-mail, log out. You get the idea.
For example, if I had a client looking to buy on the Connecticut shoreline - say, a 45-minute drive radius around New Haven, I would have had to look through listings in the Consolidated MLS (most of Fairfield County), the Co-op MLS (New Haven, Hartford, Tolland, Litchfield & Middlesex Counties) and the ECMLS (New London and Windham Counties). There are also MLS services for three towns - Darien, Greenwich and New Canaan - all right next to each other.
While I haven’t had this scenario for one client, I do have access to three of the MLS services because I represent clients throughout most of Connecticut. It’s not uncommon to have to access two MLS services to look for listings. I’m not complaining that it’s been hard work for me. The problem is that having three separate MLS services limits a property’s exposure which is bad for buyers, sellers and agents alike.
The good news is that the local realtor boards are letting go of control- sort of. On January 10, 2007, the ECMLS (Windham and New London counties) and the Co-op MLS (Litchfield, New Haven, Middlesex, Hartford & Tolland counties) joined together to form the new CT MLS. One MLS for all of Connecticut - except Fairfield County. Read the rest of this entry »
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