Serving absentee sellers

They don't want to meet me in person, and they don't want to hear my voice or see my face. They do want regular updates and reports.

Lately I have been working with more sellers who I don't meet in person. Sometimes I never meet them, and sometimes they come to Minnesota for the closing because we have this quirky business practice where we close at a closing table in person, though we can do it long distance, too.

A couple of weeks ago I met Beth for the first time. She walked up to my car and said, "Hi," as I was getting out. I had no idea who she was, but when she greeted me I recognized her voice. She contacted me late last summer when she was looking for an agent to list her home. She lives in Florida.

Like many of my new clients, she found me on the Internet, through my blog. She read it for awhile and then filled out a form requesting a comparative market analysis. We went back and forth via e-mail for a few weeks.

Then one day my phone rang and we talked. I listed her house and sold it within a few weeks.

Some of my current sellers fit the same profile, and I will never meet them in person. They don't particularly like phone calls, especially not while they are at work. They certainly don't want to come up to Minnesota during our horrendous cold snap just to list a home.

They hire me for one thing and for one thing only: to take care of everything and get their home sold quickly without bothering them or disrupting their lives in any way.

They don't want to be wined and dined, and they never receive gifts from me or cards or go to a party with me. They don't much care if I am a people person and they are not looking for a friend. They are looking for someone they can trust and who will do her job.

They want to be updated on showings and on general market conditions and, of course, they want to know what I am doing to sell their home. When it is all over I get referrals from them, too. ...CONTINUED

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