When real estate comes in second
Realtor Notebook
By Teresa Boardman, Friday, November 27, 2009.In the last moments of my life I doubt if I will regret not having shown another house. I think of things like that over the Thanksgiving holiday because it is the one of three holidays when I don't work -- not ever.
Maybe I shouldn't say that I don't work -- as these holidays usually involve a lot of cooking and a house full of people who I don't get to see often enough.
This year I will have house guests through the weekend, and predictably people who have a home they want to sell after the first of the year or next spring want to meet with me and have me take a look. The latter has already started and the last few days have been filled with urgent, unexpected appointments.
There are the people who are thinking about moving, maybe next spring, and think this weekend would be a wonderful time to go look at some condos. Inevitably there is the long-term repeat client who needs to have an offer written late Wednesday, when I need to start cooking.
As I write this early on Wednesday morning, I just got another late afternoon appointment that starts right when I had planned to pick up the turkey. No matter how carefully I plan I will struggle to get dinner on the table, because there will be at least one real estate emergency hours before thanksgiving.
When the weekend arrives there will be people from all over the country in town celebrating Thanksgiving with their families, and some of those people will want to look at homes. Some may find me while surfing the Web and give me a call late on Thanksgiving Day, asking if I can show them houses the following day.
On Black Friday everyone seems to shop, but when the numbers come in there are always more shoppers than buyers.
Early in my real estate career, when a client or potential client called I dropped what I was doing and helped them. I needed the money and believed that I was providing great service by being available. Most of the time they just interrupted time with my family and I never made a dime by being accommodating. ...CONTINUED
All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.
Tweet This
Facebook
LinkedIn
You must login or register to post a comment.
Submitted by Doug Francis on November 28, 2009 - 6:35am.
I wrote an offer on Tuesday and the listing agent got back to me at 9:35pm on Wednesday (Thanksgiving eve) grumbling about how it took 2+ hours to explain the contract and his daughter was in town and so on.
Yes, it wasn't life or death but his client needed to move on with her life, and she has been counting on him to solve her problem... getting her home sold.
It all worked out and now we can spend the weekend with the people we care about.
Doug Francis
RE/MAX Presidential in Fairfax, Virginia
http://www.DougFrancis.com
Submitted by Robert A. Hulme on November 30, 2009 - 5:03am.
Most buyers respect the fact that we have families and that they are very important. This should not be an issue. Life is too short to even consider working during the time you have set aside for your family, any time, not just Thanksgiving. There will be other buyers.
www.UtahCountyHomes.ws
www.UtahCountyRealEstate.us
Submitted by Dawn Darner on December 2, 2009 - 7:36am.
Spot on, Teresa! We all work hard - as we must, but we work to live, hopefully, not live to work. Setting expectations with active clients is important, so they honor your time away from the desk and telephone. The others will wait, or go on to someone else, and that's okay,too.
I'd love to have your next $5 million cash buyer, though!
Dawn
Dawn M.Darner,Realtor,GRI
CARDINAL REALTY
E-mail Dawn@DawnDarner.com
Cellular - 651-295-8495
Submitted by Timothy Countryman on December 3, 2009 - 5:40am.
Here is my story. As an eager new agent, I was willing to work the late floor time on Christmas eve in hopes of getting a lead. Knowing that everyone else in the world would be taking care of last minute details and spending time with their families, I left my own family and took a bit of last minute wrapping.
And sure enough, that call did come. Someone who wanted to buy a house for his wife for Christmas (I guess the mall was closing at about that point and he had no hopes of any other last minute gift). His surprise to her would be that they would start looking on Christmas Eve. He seemed otherwise genuine, and qualified. I spent a couple of hours doing my search and making appointments (with those owners that would let me into their house on a holiday).
We did get out, and saw three homes, even though it was after dark by that time. One home even seemed to excite them (one they had suggested as a possibility, knowing it was vacant). We set our next appointment for later in the week after the holiday. An appointment that turned out to be a no-show. And never a return call after that. I began to figure that a divorce would be eminent, when the wife concluded that he had reneged on his grand Christmas promise.
It was a few years later when I was doing some research for another property that I came across the tax record for the property that had interested them. There, listed as the owners were my Christmas Eve buyers. The date of sale indicated that they had made the purchase in the time frame that I had met them.
I guess the service I provided in reality was to their existing agent, who had the good sense to spend his or her valuable time with loved ones, and had turned down the opportunity to make a quick holiday sale. A sale they ultimately made following the holiday anyway.
Timothy Countryman, GRI, CRS, CRB
Licensed Real Estate Broker/Owner
Countryman Real Estate Associates
www.CountrymanHomes.com
Newburgh, NY 12550
Submitted by Timothy Countryman on December 3, 2009 - 5:54am.
Doug, in regards to your situation at 9:30 pm. The practicality of the situation is that at that hour, the transaction likely did not progress from that point. I hope you weren't able to reach a mortgage person, home inspector, or attorney at that hour, or on Thanksgiving (for their sakes). It was probably tough to even get very much going until the following Monday. At least knowing the deal was in place gave a buyer and seller something to be thankful for on their Holiday.
Tim.