Treat All Real Estate Clients like Million Dollar Clients

I have a new client.  I am this client’s 4th agent!  Now, statistics show that the average client goes thur 17 realtors!  Wow! Can you imagine having to start and stop this process and tell your life story again and again?  It does take a little time to find that right person that you can trust.  But wow, that’s a lot of agents.

So my client has been waiting for the past agent to return a phone call for the past two weeks, and finally gave up, agent #3.  The second agent gave the same response, or should I say lack of  response for weeks as did agent #1.  Within an hour of speaking with this new client, I set up a search, sent an email confirmation, spoke with the mortgage broker and received a pre-approval.  The client has been waiting two weeks for just a return phone call.

This person said to me that maybe if the home purchase was $500,000, the agents would have returned a phone call or email. So that’s the problem, do the home seekers that are spending less, not deserve the time and attention we would give a luxury client? Should these people just sit by the wayside while agents give half million dollar clients all the attention? Someone may be spending $150,000 now, but we all know, if the service is good, that client will come back and send others. So that $150,000 will be $450,000 is five years and up from there.  Not to mention the referrals. 

I felt ashamed of the experience this person has had.  It is a direct reflection on the entire profession.  One of the reason why owners are trying to sell their own homes.  And if clients can’t get the service they deserve, why should they use an agent?  There are people that are only looking, who like to look at homes, and have no interest in buying.  As an agent we know how to recognize those shoppers and how to handle them.  But you can’t treat everyone that way. Actually no one should be treated that way, and should garner some attention.  For they may not be buying, but who doesn’t know someone who wants to buy a home?

I am a doctoral student in Ethical Leadership and it is so ironic to me how many situations like this one are coming my way.  I guess I’m in the right program.

Bargain Homes & Mold: A Gift with Purchase

I’ve been showing a lot of properties lately. Places that show beautifully, in pictures. Did you know that there is another victim of the housing crisis? The economy, our pockets, vacant homes, vacant condos boarded up. But unless you go inside, you don’t know about the state of the homes themselves. I showed a condo recently, the building only 4 years old, and you entered the lower level and mold greeted you at the door! This duplex unit had so much mold it was from floor to ceiling in the basement! I don’t know how much more there was, but that was enough for me! I opened the door and told my client that we were not going in. And from 6 feet away, he could see the level of mold and was cool with my decision.
I’ve seen so much of this over the past two years. I believe there are so many homes that are just abandoned and sat over the winter without being winterized. It was so cold, the pipes burst and water rushed in. Standing water is all that is necessary to start the moldy process. These places are essentially inhabitable, because mold can kill you.
So here’s the problem, with all the home bargains out there and with the help of the $8000 tax credit and low interest rates, buyers are ready to dive in. But, so many of these places are just not liveable, and no bargain is good if you can’t stay there!
The thing is, what is the answer? How cheap does it need to be in order for someone to invest in mold removal? And in the meantime, the mold sits and grows some more!
Have any thoughts?