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San Diego California Real Estate-How Often Do You Check Your E-mail

San Diego Real Estate - How Often Do You Check Your E-Mail

I find it fascinating and a more than bit irritating trying to reach agents with offers or inquiries to even be able to write them. They don’t seem to return phone calls nor do they respond to even having received offers.

There are a few agents that seem to be able to get away with Bankers hours. Nor do they work weekends. It doesn’t take that long to return a phone or even answer an e-mail. But not to even acknowledge the contact, drives me up a wall. For you visual types, that ain't purrrdy.

I have noticed in our ActiveRain network, that people are engaged at all hours. Why should it is earlier for me to reach an agent in Hawaii than it is here in own home town of San Diego?

I must be becoming impatient or something and the real stress for me in this industry is not being able to reach my colleagues. If a client wants me to write an offer and I have it is ready by 7PM in the evening, I find it a bit disconcerting that when I call and identify why I am calling, I may not hear back untill late the next day or even later. I understand people have a life and mine happens to be real estate but they don’t seem to even check their e-mail.

I think this is a question that a Seller should ask when listing their property. When are you available? When do you return calls to us and others that are making inquiries on my property. How often do you check your e-mail and do you respond when you do check it?

I don’t know about you but 5:30PM is not after hours for me and I resent it when the agent says they don’t return calls till between 11:00 and noon and between 4:00 and 5:00 each day. And they don’t return calls or e-mails on weekends at all. If they don’t want to be bothered, they need to hire someone to do that for them. In my view, this is just plain arrogance. In my estimation they are not fit to even be in business much less an industry that requires a certain level of responsiveness.

And when we do reach them, we have to be so damn polite about it, lest we damage our potential relationship during the transaction. Pardon my rant, I know here in the Rain, I am preaching to the Choir.

Posted by San Diego Real Estate Voice authored by William Johnson on 06/27/2009 07:39 PM

Comments (124)

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124 Comments on San Diego California Real Estate-How Often Do You Check Your E-mail

JUN

William -

Well, you have hit a real sore spot with me. It happens more often than not, at least with short sales and REOs. And I have had mujltiple cases where I had to email and/or call multiple times to simply confirm my buyer's offer was received. If it's emailed it only takes a few seconds to hit reply, type GOT IT, and hit send. DUH. While one would like to assume a fax or an email goes through, we all know that is not the case. At least some agents state in the listing, don't call agent. What drives me nuts is when they say to ONLY email offers but then you cannot confirm. The common courtesy of returning a phone call or an email is far from common.

Jeff

William - I completely agree with you. I think the first set of questions a seller should ask is "When are you available? When do you return calls to us and others that are making inquiries on my property. How often do you check your e-mail and do you respond when you do check it?" Everytime I run into this problem I wonder what the seller would say if they found out how their agent conducted business.

I fantasized being the state RE Commissioner and pulling licenses on just this issue. People seem to listen only when it costs them. If life isn't already difficult enough. Always appreciuate your insight Jeff.

William, I check my emails at least several times a day and always at night...if they're friends and I'm busy, a few days might go by but not with clients (in ANY business). I can't tell you how many people chose to work with me because I responded promptly. I can imagine how frustrating it is.

Michelle, This is what we should lobby for. If we can't reach an agent in 5 or 6 hours between the hours of 8am and 7PM, we have the right to call their client and ask them to call for us. I would bet they would pay more attention. What are they doing anyway that it is so hard to reach them? Maybe they are working at another job, I hadn't even thought of that? Next time it happens I will ask for there work number. "No the other one, you are obviously not working at real estate full time", LOL. Though I do like the other idea of calling their client since the agent is MIA.

Hi Carol, I am spoiled . With my iPhone, I am within minutes of being available. If I am with a client, I tell that and that I will call back. I get the same compliments, even from other agents.

William, you should know me another Mr. iPhone user. I check emails constantly. Round the clock. This pattern is much too hyper for most people so I don't advertise it.

This is an excellent point and I would like to expand it to include voice mailboxes on cell phones. I get so irritated when I try to reach an agent on his/her mobile # and get a recorded message saying that the agent is not available and I can't leave a message because the mailbox if full. NOW WHAT DO I DO?

I totally agree with you. :) I just don't know about some people, and how they stay in business.

I check my email all the time. It comes in on my blackberry, and if anyone wishes, they can have me paged, which comes in to my blackberry as a text message and as an email; or they can call me.
If I'm with a client, and the call is not related to that client, then I have to return the call, but I will do it within the hour; or sooner, if a page/call comes in that is urgent.

There is no excuse these days why REALTORS don't reply to each other in a timely manner.
Makes you wonder how easy it is for the sellers or buyers to reach them.

Hi Gary, Me too. Seems like I live on it. I have the neat little iPhone clip hanger I found at a swap me and it allows me to hang the phone on my belt loop. Keeps it handy and fast to clip off. Neatest little item I have ever seen. 2 for $20. and must have cost all of 15 cents but I have received at least that much value the first few days I had it. So it was money well spent. I took a snapshot for you. I have been using it now for 4 or 5 months and the other cool feature I forgot to mention. You slide your finger in that little loop and you won't accidently drop the phone. In fact, someone couldn't even fast grab it out of your hand. That point, in case you live in a crime prone area. Hehehe, part of the sales piutch the lady gave me that sold it to me, LOL.

Hi Gloria, That is a great point and I can't tell you how many times I run into that. Thanks for expanding and making that point here to enhance this post. What's that old comic strip, " There outta be a law"

Hello Sylvie in Toronto. Nice to have you drop by. I love Tornoto BTW, you guys ROCK!

It seems these so called professionals do stay in buiness and that's my rant. They don't deserve to be in the business. You are so right about there not being any excuses today. Nor last year or the year before for that matter. I see this as a choice and they have made a bad one. I still would like be the RE commissioner for a day, they would all be gone. Ok , at least a few, lol.

Preach away....William.

It can't be said enough.

I am scared to check my email on Monday mornings. I have more spam than I do useful emails

I agree with Francis. I bet I waist at least 2 hours a week just clearing out spam

William, This is one of my biggest frustrations right now. It is unbelievable that agents won't reply to e-mails and voice mails in a reasonable amount of time. I'm finding that there are even agents who don't ever get back to me, in spite of several e-mails and/or phone messages. Are agents really so arrogant that they don't think they need to get back with people??

William, Congrats on the well deserved feature. I looked at your face pop on my blog roll then looked back and you had moved up so I figured there must be a feature involved.

May I just say DITTO, DITTO, DITTO!! This is a pet peeve with me. We have some prima dona's in our area that just keep those banker hours. I especially notice it with foreclosures and I realize you have to wait for the bank to be able to present the offer; but good grief you should be able to get a question answered.

William - I serve my client best when I am functioning well- and I don't function well 18 hours a day. I shut my cell phone off at 5:30 weekdays, and check it perhaps once on Sunday, and twice on Saturday, then it goes off. I have not had issues with this, and people seem to respect operating hours.

William -- I really can relate to this post! I am amazed at how difficult it is to reach anyone. I now HATE the automated services for setting up showings! It take hours for them to get back to me and when they do, then they want to change the time! It is unbelievable. I call the listing agents directly now even if they have a service. I wonder if sellers know how difficult it is to set up showings in this fashion... great for the agent, not great for the seller. Oh my "don't get me started"... !

Call me anytime, if I'm awake you'll receive a call back 93% of the time. My Blackberry sees to it that I receive most e-mails and text messages within minutes. I hate being out of touch...

Evening William, Your post certainly is preaching to the choir here in the "Rain. It is either just plain lazy , or as you say, arrogant !

If a client wants me to write an offer and I have it is ready by 7PM in the evening, I find it a bit disconcerting that when I call and identify why I am calling, I may not hear back untill late the next day or even later.

Hi William,

That's bad. Real bad. How about if we make Blackberries mandatory?! :)

Good points, I always make sure that my sellers know my hours and how soon hey can expect me to respond to inquiries. I do like the iphone because no matter where i am, it's possible to stay in touch!

Great comment from Bruce too!

Hey William, I totally agree with you on this point about not checking your email frequently. I'm always checking for emails thoughout the day and evening. When I meet a client/customer I tell them they can reach me "anytime, night or day, via email or call direct on my mobil phone with questions or concerns." I make a point out of this. .....it pays off trust me.

Patricia Aulson/portsmouth nh real estate

My office is addicted to email - to the point that I have to tell them to only check it 4 times a day with a specific time.

I check my email several times per day.

But that said, I do know it is easy to inadvertently overlook an important email when the sender or subject line is unfamiliar, and I know what it is like to just simply get overwhelmed with incoming "stuff".... so I tend to be forgiving.

I'm not always available by phone but will usually get back by email quickly. I have family time, and that's important to me. However, I don't appreciate agents who don't get back for days on end.

We run into the same problem in the plumbing business. When people do not answer their phone, check messages, or return emails our schedules get completely behind. I think it comes down to respect and coutesy for the people you are working with; those who are courteous go on to become our best clients.

William - This is a superb blog which makes important points My son (also an agent), closed on a REO transaction yesterday. During escrow he not only had difficulty getting the listing agent to respond to phone and email messages, but the title company as well. The lack of having good communication, caused undue stress.

My e-mail accounts all forward to my Blackberry. As new e-mails come in I'm notified and can open and read the message and e-mail back.

If you don't have a smart phone in this day and age you are in the wrong business. How can you be in this business and not acknowledge offers.

Hi William. I think you pose a serious question that sellers don't know to ask. Even buyers. I think it is very important to be responsive to buyers & sellers & they absolutely, without a doubt should know when their agent works or what hours they work if they don't/can't answer within 2 hours. It's absurd.

You hit a sore subject with me as well. We ran into this way to much, constantly. Both by phone and e-mail. Recently we sent a counter back to agent via e-mail and phone to say it was there. We get an angry message a day later saying we should have faxed it because it was faxed to us. HUH? - sigh, We leave messages to agents both ways and it may be days before we hear back if even then.It's frustrating as heck. Especially when you are writing an offer and you can't submit before contacting the listing agent that you can't get a hold of - argh! ~Rita

I totally agree William! This is very frustrating. There are many people that I have thought to myself....."why are they even in this business?". Another issue that we seem to be experiencing more and more around here is agents not giving feedback on showings. Sellers want to know what their buyers thought...especially since there are fewer showing...they are eager to know if there is something else they should be doing.....they want the feedback. We send email requests, we leave messages and not so much a return call or email. Our market is not too busy to tell us what the buyer thought of a home they previewed.....I was much more forgiving of this 2 years ago but didn't have much of an issue with it but now, when times are slower....we are having big issues. I just don't understand why! If they aren't as busy, why do they now suddenly don't have time for feedback?

Preach it William....I hear you.....What an EXCELLENT post!!!!!!!!

I thought it was just happening down here in the Sunshine State. I was wrong. You would think that some of these Realtors are being paid by the hour and not commission!!!!

This situation has become such a problem and it's very frustrating to me as well. I understand the economy may have driven many Realtors to seek another job and I'm okay with that...but it's not okay when they continue to practice Real Estate but can't seem to find the time to service it. Why continue in the profession if they are not going to give 100%...... It's not fair to sellers, buyers and those Realtors who are strickly earning a living doing Real Estate Sales.

I would think if a Realtor can't give 100% or can't be bothered with a Real Estate transaction on a timely manner, then why not do a referral? Give it to some else who is in it 100% and still get a piece of the pie???

Checking emails frequently is so important and answering the emails promptly is as important. I check my emails soooo many times a day.....and answer my emails when I'm signed on. Why wait until later....Just get it DONE!!!!! It pays off...it really does. Just wish everyone else was on the same page.

Preach it William....I hear you.....What an EXCELLENT post!!!!!!!!

I thought it was just happening down here in the Sunshine State. I was wrong. You would think that some of these Realtors are being paid by the hour and not commission!!!!

Agreed, common courtesy is essential in this business!

It's definitely frustrating; it's a question of common courtesy apart from anything else. I've had good experiences with agents from small independent companies and terrible experiences with agents from big brokerages. It's a good point to bring up to a prospective seller during a listing presentation, how you deal with phone calls, e-mails, etc and could help you get the listing. Hmm, note to self...

I really love agents that require a call for one reason or another to show their listed property... and they NEVER call back. I think their sellers SHOULD know that the property isn't being shown because the agent can't return a phone call...

You said it brother. real estate is a 24/7 business, while we need to be available when needed, we have the luxury of taking off whenever we want when not on an appointment. I am checking e-mail and voice mail all day long 7 days a week

Yes you'd think they'd have someone covering...........but there is some arrogance or maybe we're just jealous because we can' do that? lol

William,

You did not waste any time vacationing. Got back with tons of good pictures and the ideas for the blogs, earning you a gold star. That is something.

I think that technically it can be done that the listing should have a contact to the Seller, whihc is not visible to the rest of the agent, and the only way it stays invisible, is if the agent responds to the requests within, let say, 12 hours. So you send the e-mail to the agent from the Listing, and if the response does not come within that time frame, then the e-mail automatically goes to the Seller, notifying him/her that there is a request from the agent, and the Listing agent has not responded to the request.

If you do not do it, the COE protects this time of behavior. This is the instance where COE benefits the Listing agent and not the Principal

My work day didn't end until 8:30 this evening...or so I thought. Just when I thought it was safe to go into Wal-Mart, my phone rang. It was the boyfriend of an UP I'd been in correspondence with a couple of times re: a mobile home I have listed. He spent 10-15 minutes asking me questions. Finally, I said, "I don't have that paper in front of me. I'm at Wal-Mart." Then he made reference to REALTORS working weekends. I wanted to make a snyde comment about it being 8:45 on a Saturday night, but promised to email the info to him first thing Monday morning instead.

JUN

Hi William.....Frustrating to say the least...I would just Call the Managing Broker or have my managing broker call his or her manging Broker until I got some results, Time is of the Essence, it's even written in most Contracts.

Cheers, thanks for sharing your story.

William- Although I dont do the Iphone yet I do check in constantly whether its from my home office or my office office.... I'm with you. You need to stay in touch with your clients especially the genx'ers who live on the computer. I check in almost every other hour of the day and anything else if forwarded as a text to my phone in case I miss something. Point on William...

We have this awesome technology that attaches to us, and most people use it. I have my palm with me anywhere and everywhere, accept in bed. For most of us out there truly doing Real Estate as a profession and making an honest living at it, we check it throughout the day, on the laptop, the home computer and our wireless devices as well, because we respect the others in our industry as devoted as we are to our business and our clientele.

Hi Missy, Obviously I hit a nerve here on the Rain. In one way I am happy it isn't just me. On the other hand that so many experience this tells me that too much of this goes on. Now as to the way to stop it. We should put our heads together and think up things that get some attention to this matter.

Hi Francis, If I told you I have vertually no spam, would be interested in how I do that?

Hi Jay Jay, Same thing foes to you. Since I have virtually no spam, even before I started to use the Mac, for those that have a Mac who know anything about imail, Spam is just not an issue anymore. But if you don't have a Mac and obviously you don't becausae you report the spam and junk, I have a solution and it will change the way you use e-mail, never being afraid of it again. Let me know if you want details.

Hi Vicki, maybe not as arrogant as they are unprepared for the new real estate we have all come to know being involved here in the Rain.

If have Gmail pick up your email, or forward it to a Gmail account, it will filter out 99% of the spam.

Hi Marchel, You are so right and the fact that this is so widespread, we should actually try and get this issue addressed somehow. Big Time. Thank you so much, I really was ranting a bit and never figured such a post would be featured. Obvously I am honored but I have lost so much ground with position that I gave up even thinking about points or thjinking about features. If I can add something or stroke an issue and find some resolution, it is worth the effort to try and add something of interest for the many friends we have made here. Since being away, I have a very changed perspective about all this blogging business. When it is fun I intend to be here. When it isn't, I can't be. Since I have been away for over 10 days and not being able to get on line with the dial up, I really missed everyone and glad I got a chance to do some posts to make up for not participating for quite some time. So it especially nice to say hello to many friends. And that would be YOU.

Hi Wendy, If that works for you that is great. I know it wouldn't for me but I also don't get the impression from you that you are simply unavailable either.

Hi Joan, We don't have the automated services here for showing. Glad we don't. I would expect the output would still pretty much depend on the input and I just can't imagine that working very well. Seeing as how we all have learned to communicate so well our blogs, maybe we all should start writing about this subject and flood the market in every city with it. We can tweet it and facebook it and what ever other networks we have access to . We could have a profound impact on the subject.

Hi Paul, Me too. I suppose I do it too much( over do it) but in this market we need and want the business and besides that, it doesn't have to actually be 24/ 7 . But certainly when an issue come up, a lead comes in, an agent has a question, a seller or buyer have questions or a need, I want them to reach me and if it isn't past a respectable hour ( for me that is around 10:00 unless I know that people are calling from Hawaii or other far away place) they will be reaching me. Over my 20 + years in the business , more deals stayed together because of it. And the is the nature of the business. It only counts when it closes so , let do what we need to do to help those involved want to close the deal.

Hi Bill, I can see that you are right about that but already suspected that. What further I learned is that this issue is pretty widespread and none of us should have to be tolerating it, like I am sure from what I have read that most of us do. Thanks for sharing your comments here Bill.

Hi Bruce, At least a good phone that has a data plan should be the minimum standard. Do you recall many many years ago, it was the Real Estate professionals that helped make cell phone use so popular in the first place. We were the innovators back them and lugged these huge things around with us that only worked part of time. Real estate professionals know a thing or two about communications , it is the ones ( actually only a few-but that is still too many) that think they are so above it all and just don't return calls or e-mails.

Hi Russell, One has to love the iphone and how it has enhanced our lives in the business. And I would guess that is why it is so popular along with the Blackberry. We can stay in touch when we need and want to and that is the real point. I thank many just haven't seen the need for there own business model and I think they have a ways to go. Then of course we have the ones that think we will just keep calling back and writing it if is important.

Hi Patricia, Well said and I would bet that you are also great in returning calls even when it isn't always convenient

Hi Rhonda, I would go nuts if I couldn't see my e-mails as soon as they come in. I monitor it even when I am with a client buy leaving my iPhone on and set to receiving mail. Thankfully I have a chager in car because it does tend to wear the battrery. But I wanted the iPhone and it works so well for me.

Hi CJ, Me too. But what we are talking about here is not that all of us get busy and can't always respond immediately. But we do return calls and e-mails just as fast as possible and I know you do as well.

Time management I can understand. Bankers hours? You've got to kidding yourself if you feel like that is possible in this business -- unless you are a team leader and have others to do your work for you.

Even bankers do not have bankers' hours anymore.

These are agent who believe that the world evolves around them. I don't even think twice about contacting a listing agent when I have an offer on their listing. I do all of the following:

Hand deliver a sealed original of the offer to their office with a "received by" from someone in the office, preferably the broker.
Deliver a copy by postal mail.
Fax a letter to the agent at their home and office fax numbers advising that there is an offer in their office.
Call to notice the agents of the offer.

I don't usually fax offers to listing agents. Our contracts are just too long and I don't trust what they receive. I use originals to present and preserve the integrity of the original offer. If I don't present in person, I fully expect the accepted or counter offer to be faxed although I offer to pick up the original, most agent live by fax these days and I know I'm not going to get them off their butt to do it right. So be it.

Not only does this procedure make sure that the offer is received, it also puts the agent on notice that we take these matters seriously.

An agent tried to list a property on a Friday and go away for the weekend to a golf holiday. I showed the property to buyers on Saturday and, recognizing a fabulous and underpriced property, we had an offer ready by 2:00 p.m. I delivered a copy to the listing office, called the agent, got no return call for the rest of the day. At 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, I e-mailed and faxed a note to the broker that I needed to present the offer soonest, meaning Sunday. The agent called me at 10:00 a.m. and made an appointment to present at the seller's house at 4:00 p.m. The broker had ordered her back from here weekend golf holiday to attend to her business. I knew it was a great house for the money and I wanted it off the market as quickly as possible. The house appraised about 12% over list.

I have absolutely no hesitation contacting a broker or office manager if the agent isn't doing their job. Their nose may be out of joint temporarily or permanently for all I know, but I really don't care. My job is to get the house that my buyers want.

William...

I am constantly checking my email, but occasionally, an email gets zonked by a spam filter, so it's always important to follow p with a call! It never hurts to ask for a receipt either, although you are unlikely to get one!

Wow William - you sure hit a nerve with this one! It amazes me that any active agent doesn't check their email. It it weren't so sad it would be funny. and Lenn's right - if an agent doesn't respond - call their broker. You'll get their attention and fast. On another note - I'm one of those that checks emails at stop lights. (I know I'm not the only one) but come December around here no more - the new laws will state no texting OR reading from your smartphone UNLESS THE CAR IS IN PARK. oops - things are going to change.

With so many programs that can send alerts to your phone as a text message now, there should be no excuse. Put in as an alert the words "Offer" or the street name or number of the house you have listed, the MLS number. If you put these in, more than likely one of those will be in the subject line and you will know within 5 minutes of getting an offer that it is sitting in your inbox waiting for you.

I bet many agents just don't have time for actually doing much business anymore. They have to respond to Twitter and Facebook and respond to all the comments on their blogs. It's so much more fun writing about this stuff than actually having to do the actual work. Here I am writing this comment when I haven't checked my email this morning yet.

William,

I find it incredibly aggravating when agents don't make themselves available. They are either not full-time agents or they have the wrong view of what a real estate agent should be.

For me, it has become common practice to carry a Peek (which has my email coming into it) but, more importantly, it states in my email signature and on my voicemail that a text message is a much better way to get ahold of me for immediate responses. I get the message on my phone which is ALWAYS on me and I can respond with urgent matters even if I'm with a client without having to sacrifice the time I'm spending with them.

I've heard agents bawk at text messaging but, this is how my clients have started interacting with me and I'd be a fool not to follow the ways of commuication with the consumer.

I confirm your blog and totally agree.

Thanks for the post.

I rarely run into that type of situation, but I have. One Realtor wouldn't return my calls or e-mails and I began to wonder if she wanted to sell a house or not! Finally I text-messaged her and everything went smoothly after that. It's all about learning how they want to communicate.

As far as the hours go, if a Realtor didn't respond to me on nights or weekends, I believe I would hunt him/her down at their home!

We have several agents in the area who are famous for not emailing or checking emails. One manager at a firm in fact told me never to call her house or email her. She said she rarely checks emails and that once she's home she's home--no calls.

I'm online all day long and on the phone past 9 PM. It is shocking that today some folks don't even check their e-mail daily !

I so agree with you. It irritates me beyond belief when someone won't respond to an agent who is trying to show, ask a question, or present an offer. I thought that was your job. I don't get it. I love your fantasy about pulling licenses. That would certainly get some response.

You obviously hit a sore spot in the industry here! When I run into this issue I sometimes have luck by leaving this message: "I have a offer/counter.. for you. I called you this morning and I haven't heard back from you yet. If I don't hear from you by _____ I will assume that you are on vacation and contact your broker to find out which agent is covering for you." I only use this when it is warranted (I've gone overnight w/o a call back etc.) The problem you sometimes run into is that they ARE the supervising broker!

Having said that, my position is that not having a smart phone is inexcusable in this day and age. I am an assistant manager and I and my managing broker carry smart phones, even though we spend 85% of our time in the office with access to our laptops. This market requires that we remove as many barriers as possible between buyers and sellers and not returning calls can certainly be a barrier.

If an agent is not returning calls or checking e-mails and responding then why are they in a people business? When we were moving to Houston there was a house I wanted to see, the listing agent never responded and it had an out of state owner, I felt sorry for them, for the lack of service, because their agent did not check his messages.

Brenda

Great Question, and judging from the responses, one that has lots of diverse opinions. The question to me is where do you draw the line? If I have an agent calling me at 10:00pm to get a disclosure that is online, and he works a full time job and practices real estate very part time, no I won't answer because I have and deserve a life. I do check email before I go to bed which is usually around 10 to see if anything important comes in. I have investor clients in California so I respect the time difference if they do also. I wouldn't let important things slide.

I hear what you are saying...... but I am one of those agents who has chosen to do business during business hours.

Now before everyone gets all in a tizzy let me qualify this a bit more. I am on the interent and doing business in the wee hours of the morning but I do not take calls until 9 am. I am available Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm by phone and am generally in my office with two computers and two phones going at all times!

If I do not answer an incoming call, it means I am on the other line or working with a Client...no bull! I return calls in a timely fashion, as well as emails.

But after 5pm my phone goes on vibrate. I do not drop everything to race and pick it up! I check the voice mail and I address any after business hour calls on an as needed basis.

I do not believe that we need to become complete and utter slaves to the instant gratification consumers that are out there. We are professionals not lackies!

I agree that Agents need to be responsible for responding to contact ( in any form ) in a timely fashion. I believe that by using a consistent routine for follow up that is shared with Customers, Clients fromt the get go, that I can provide the quality services that is expected from a Realtor who works full time.

If a someone wants me to be at their beck and call every single moment of every single day I very nicely suggest that they look for another Realtor....there are plenty out there who will jump when told!

Sorry...just how I feel, and it works for me!

My blackberry and therefore, my email, doesn't leave my side unless I'm in the shower. I prefer to answer any calls or emails right when they come in so they don't pile up. If I get an email at 11pm and it's something I can answer quickly, I answer it immediately. If it's something I have to research, I make sure I get back to the person within 12 hours. I don't like procrastinating and I don't like waiting while other people take their time to do things. I guess I'm a little neurotic in that department.

What I can't stand though, are people who call and leave a message but then don't give me time to respond before they're calling again and again. It makes me want to return their call last make them wait, lol! I know this is terrible, but I'm being honest.

My email is set to download messages every 2 minutes. If I'm away from my computer, messages are delivered to my BlackBerry. But I do sometimes turn off my cell. If I didn't allot myself a bit of down-time, I'd never be able to eat lunch. I also turn off my cell at 7 PM. My clients know they can reach me by email then.

I don't expect other agents to be adopt my availability, but I do expect a response to phone calls / emails within 24 hours. If I don't hear from them, I call, email, fax and call their broker. I make a pest out of myself because I subscribe to the theory: the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I was afraid to open this post. I thought it was going to be a lecture about the importance of not checking your e-mails throughout the day because it cuts into your productivity. Glad I got up the courage to open it anyway....because I'm guilty as charged! I check a hundred times a day. It's the second thing I do after getting up in the morning (after first kissing my two sweet boys)...and the second last thing I do before going to bed (just before kissing my sweet hubby good night).

William: One of my favorite realtors is usually available and answers his own phone. He has also been in the business for over 20 years and quite successful. There's no magic bullet here. The people doing the business can be found. The ones who aren't generally aren't as available! Thanks for the post.

William -

Thanks for getting my blood boiling first thing Sunday morning. :) Makes me wonder what agent's clients would think if they knew their agent was doing this.

I'm with Elizabeth - Comment #81 - I would be on that phone with the broker PRONTO.

When it comes to business calls & emails, I always respond promptly. I LOVE my Blackberry and can't imagine life without it!

It would seem that a responsible agent would check e-mails more that once or twice a day.

I am constantly available. I bug the heck out of the other agents depending on what kind of deal I am doing.

I am retired military and I truly believe in being available and lots and lots of follow up to make sure everything is on track. When I got into Real Estate, I started feeling like some kind of stalker or something. I would call the agent with an offer expecting a call back or an e-mail and I would get nothing but silence. I would think to myself, "don't these people want to do business?" Isn't this how we get our paycheck? And then when I did get a hold of them, their attitude seems to say "why are you bothering me?"

It drives me absolutely crazy when I don't get an answer back within a reasonable amount of time. If your clients aren't interested, then let me know so I can move on. I have a life too :o).

Anyway, glad to see that I am not the only one. Good Post!

In this day and age of "smart phones" we now need "smart agent" to use them. if you use a blackberry or Iphone you are in constant contact. If you're busy, a simple response that's you'll attend to it later will do. Lack of response leaves others to form their own opinion.

I was recently in a seminar hosted by our board and the moderator asked who is texting, who is doing social networking, who has a smart phone. The number of hands up was embarassing. I would find it challenging to do business without the use of the latest technology. Clients EXPECT immediate responses. Those who hesitate lose opprotunities. I guess the upside is that those same people were at the seminar on social networking. Technology and real estate go hand in hand, learn it!

Of course I check my e-mail often during the day. Half my business comes by e-mail.

William - this is an excellent post and there are many who do not return calls or emails. And I too wonder why they are in this business if they choose to ignore. Also, you make an excellent point that seller's should ask - how often do you return phone calls or emails.

Boy! Did that post hit a nerve with everyone! In addition to the offer problem, my second biggest irritation is trying to get showing instructions on Friday and Saturday nights for showings the next day. The Showing Time button on our MLS helps some, but there are still a lot of agents out there who put, "Must contact Listing Agent." on the Showing Time page and then they seem to make sure that they can't be contacted.

This is a "Contact" sport business and you shouldn't be in it if you're not prepared to speak to people when they need to communicate.

On the flip side, I read a study which shows that people who check their email repeatedly are often so distracted with the innundation of electronic information that they don't perform well. I wondered why I flunked that IQ test the other day:-)

Wow I just sent a note to a friend on this topic. I don't think they are soooooo busy they can't answer their phone or reply by email. I think it comes down to being inconsiderate. So many people are only focused on what's in it for me. I have to believe their business suffers from their inattentiveness. Who doesn't respond to a warm pat on the back instead of a sharp slap in the face? It really does all come down to the golden rules in life: treat others the way you want to be treated. Keep the faith William they'll be going back to their other jobs soon.

Lynda Cadieux Ferland ljcf

Kelley Seacoast Realty Portsmouth, NH

I am always checking on my e-mail, several times a day. What aggravates me is when other agents (or clients, for that matter) don't bother to return your phone calls, or if they do, don't provide any sort of explanation as to why they were so tardy in doing so.

William: One of the biggest misconceptions in our industry is that we all work 8:00 to 5:00... Some do, yet there are many of us, especially in sales, marketing, and technology that pretty much (like you) are on 24/7/365... This last couple of years I know without a doubt why they call them 'CrackBerrys'... I have all my email accounts, text messaging, alerts, and phone calls directed to my BlackBerry. I have incoming organized by sound so I instantly know where it's coming from and can respond accordingly. Most days, especially during the week, it's like being in the Olympics... But you will always get a timely response, even if it's just a short note letting you know I got your message.

Timely post... thanks...

Though I can check email with my Palm, I encourage agents to I/M me per the MLS listings as I am almost always able to message someone back almost immediately, even in Church (sorry Lord).

With technology that we have, there is no reason at all not to be available one way or the other and without interrupting your dinner, family time, etc. About the only time I do not answer my phone is when I am with a client, whether showing homes or listing one.

I don't beleive in time constraints. This is what I do. I don't sacrafice anything to service my clients. I just do my job. It's not rocket science.

Hi Christine, I so appreciate you dropping by and sharing you input. Fa,ily and life do play an important part of our lives and sometimes things just get take priority but what I have experienced is that repeated calls and e-mails are ignored for long periods ( in some instances more than a full 24 hour period) and that one was needing to confirm that an offer was actually received. Naturally I sent it several times and had to confirm with their office manager that it was there. Even their office had not heard from them. I have an idea that the Broker was not happy either. That is very different than your experience though.

William. I maybe one of those agents. . with several listing on the MLS, some days I utilize my phone over 100 times. .I counted them!

90% of agents calling are about because they are lazy and they don't want to take the time to read instructions.

You can put an offer without calling me.. .if is active is ACTIVE

You can download the disclosures. . my short sales are sold AS IS

If I don;t call you is because I don't know what to say to you.. .

Sundays are for my family. . , I will check my messages for only for important messages. .putting an offer when I know my client will not be able to respond until Monday after work or Tuesady . . it is not an emergency

so call me now if you want to complain. . but it's Sunday. . so you will have to leave me a message.

There are good agents and there are bad agents. Always have been and always will be. You can not teach manners or common sense - so it would seem. The big picture = 80% of the business is done by 20% of the agents.

that's why i got a blackberry so that i can check on client emails or leads 24/7~

If I owned a Real Estate company I woul make it mandatory for the agents to have a Blackberry or some version there of. There would be no excuses and productivity would rise.

Like everyone else has said.......this has been going on for too long now and somebody needs to do something about it. I for one have 'taught' myself to not get so nuts when agents don't call back or offers are simply ignored. I am like a dog on a 'steak' and find a way to get my buyers offers looked at. Not always easy, not always fun. As a broker if I had an agent not paying attention to an offer etc they'd be having a coaching hour fast. So....it's starts at the top and the top needs to take more action and get some policies back in place.

There are trainers out there who are teaching some of the behaviors you mentioned......they think they're elevating the agents professionalism. Go figure that one?

I think people who want the 9-5 job for 5 days of week should not be in real estate. Or, they should at least have an assistant that will handle calls and notify them of offers after hours. I once called a listing agent to present an offer on Friday and he was skiing and didn't get back to me until Monday. Would a seller like that?

In the age of Blackberries, your email should be checked the moment it arrives!

There are NO Excuses anymore....

~Harrrison Painter

William, Thank you for this great post. I have been sick so haven't been on AR for several days and almost missed it. I'm with you...especially those that list what hours they will return phone calls and those that say they will not return phone calls after as early as 4:30pm until the next business day. Yes, it is hard working 24/7 but it truly is the nature of our business. There will be down times but if we have listings and buyers there is not excuse for not responding as quickly as possible!

Only two days ago I had an e-mail from a potential client. I e-mailed back at 3A.M. and when I didn't hear back by 3 p.m. the next day I phoned. The client had found a Realtor in his area at last he said. I was calling to give him a referral in his area since the prop. was 80 miles out of my range. He told me he had been trying to contact agents for over a week before he had a call back.

If you aren't interested in working as a professional get out of the business.

Preaching to the choir is absolutely right. Fortunately I don't run into it to often around here but it is frustrating when you do. I even return calls and e-mails on vacation ad I am sure many of you here on AR do.

My mission statement on my websites is: "to get back to you quickly ALWAYS". Being a real estate agent is all about customer service. I am "on" 24/7 (minus the measly 5 hrs a night that I sleep). Can't tell you how aggravating it is to not hear back from other agents in 48 hrs or more. I try to answer my phone calls within 2 hrs, email even quicker if at all possible.

Like one of my seminar teachers said: "you don't have to be the best real estate agent, just the first one to respond" and it has served me well :)

I can understand what you are saying and thinking but I've lived on both sides of this.

Real Estate is a business, so I treat it like one. You call any business after their posted hours and they will not be picking up the phone. What do customers do when the don't reach them, move on to the next one. That's what happens in real estate most of the time.

I never could get realtors that weren't 24/7 realtors, until someone asked me:

"Is there anything I can do at 6PM that I can't take care of in the AM?" NOPE

So why do I need to take a call from you at 6PM? I have a family I'd rather spend time with, sorry. You're not even 3rd on my list of people I would want to hear from.

What could you possibly need that can't wait?

Now that I am one of those "after 5:30" people. It's about living my life and running my business. My business has INCREASED since then.... and you're (figurative) still the same place on my list of people I want to hear from.

Are there times I stray from this, absolutely! If I get an offer, schedule a late appointment, ect, then I'll call or text at least. If you followed directions, I will get the offer and be able to respond immediately, if you sent the offer to my Broker. I'll see it when I get there I guess. Too bad.

Life's too short to be at YOUR beck and call.

What did your post have to do with e-mail by the way?

Am I arrogant? maybe, but my Family comes before my business.

When you run a business that is 24/7 like that, you become a slave to the business. Eventually, something else suffers.

So the real question is what is suffering in your life due to all the stress you have when an agent doesn't call you back?

Preach on brother! This is one of the most annoying things for an agent, but I imagine it is only more annoying to the clients/customers who are trying to stay in touch with their agents for updates on their listings, contracts, etc. If we are perturbed, I can only imagine how they must feel and it all probably greatly contributes to that post about the public view of real estate agents dropping by 14%...wonder if there could be a connection...hmmmm....

Hey William, Our real estate board says we are to present an offer asap. If an Agent is avoiding a call, to suit his social life, they are in violation. Period.

I check no less than twice a day except Sundays. Always first thing in the morning and just before quitting time. This is just my minimums usually more like 4 times a day.

I check my email 3-5 times a day or more... getting it on my phone is great for quick responses on the road too. Love my iPhone.

Hello William,

Oh my, I can't believe the length of your comments! Truthfully didn't read them all, yet thought I still offer my 2-cents worth anyway. When it comes to email, hopefully I'm right on top of it.

Your comment about "this is a question that a Seller should ask when listing their property" is important, yet it reality I think as REALTORS we owe it to our consumers to let them know in advance of our overall availability. For me it's about expectations, and no by no means am I a 24-hr REALTOR. My clients normally know I'm available 10-12 hrs. a day, that's plenty for me.

And congrats my friend on the well-deserved feature, your comments acknowledge the importance of the issue.

I'm one of those agents who you won't reach by email or office phone 24/7 but you can usually reach me by text or cell phone. If not, I'm quick to return those messages. You just gotta be able to manage the incoming communication - it's that old dance called "balance."

JUN

This is timely. I have called this one realtor fourteen times today. Finally, at 945pm I get a return call. Of course that is the one time I walked away from my phone. I called back at 10:08, so I have now left the fifteenth message. This business used to be easy and professional. Not anymore. I blame it on the economy. It has made alot of Realtors go bonkers.

William, It appears the majority of the comments indicate you are preaching to the choir with a few exceptions. I have a Blackberry World Edition and I love it. It allows me to do my job easier and more efficiently and my clients appreciate it and expect relatively quick responses as well as professional agents. Thank you for posting this.

I am just amazed that with all the studies that have been done about client expectations and response times that there are agents who have "Bankers Hours".

I think it's a lack of respect when you don't hear back from another agent or party to the transaction in a reasonable about of time.

What I don't understand is why anyone in this business would not carry a mobile device that receives and sends emails. I have had one for several years. I receive email in my main account and it's forwarded immediately to my mobile and hits the mobile in a couple of seconds.

Clearly there are some disconnects in the industry and not all of them are with respect to professionalism. I came from 15 years in the tech industry before getting into real estate 6 years ago. I literally had many agents yell at me when emailing them about their listings. Their comments were as such, "don't email me, I only check that once a week!" My, how times have changed. Now everyone wants to scream about not getting their email replied to.

There are many things at work here, some of them economic, some of them how our industry operates, and more. First of all, I'll throw out the economic factor. Not all agents have the money to upgrade their equipment each year. We're all business owners and we have to make decisions on where our money is spent. For those that run out to buy the latest iPhone, well, good for you, but not everyone is going to do that. I should have prefaced that with the fact that I do have a Sprint HTC phone and have capabilities to email, text, call and open keyboxes from my phone. So, I'm all set. But, I know other agents who arent'.

With regard to sending offers in the evening and expecting a reply. If you knew you were going to be writing an offer that night, and we're discussing degrees of professionalism here, it would have been reasonable to consider that YOU, the buyer's agent, might have called the listing agent during business hours to confirm their schedule. Plus, there is also an option in many email programs to require a notice of receipt for your email - use it, you might have your stress levels go down. Oh, you don't have the email program that offers this tool? It's too expensive to get or maintain? Ah, then perhaps you might understand why someone else doesn't have a different tool that you have. We all, as business owners, have to budget our funds to all the tools we use and because of this our industry is not standardized - heck, it's one of the reasons why this field is so damned competitive. The sad part is when the public doesn't require their agents to have some of these tools. But, I can tell you, not all clients care. Many of my older clients would prefer the older methods of in-person contact, less email, and more high touch. It all depends on the client. My technology based and younger clientele require the constant in touch mode of work and we strive to do that as well, while also letting them know that we respect their time and we expect the same of them.

It's easy to rant on this initial post about unavailability, but then I also see agents getting worn out from working non-stop. Lord knows we've been working mostly 7 days a week since last fall but with mostly listings and short sales to show for it... all of which take time and money. It's important for all of us to continue having a personal life because most of our referral base comes from this group, so it's important to feed all sides of your business and to prevent burn out.

One gal (comment 101) wants to say that if you only want to work 9 to 5 you should get out of the business. I disagree. I'd like all the part time people to remove themselves from the business, because it is most likely that these are the folks that are being complained about in this post. When the NAR puts out statistics that show a strong number of our members are part time agents, you can imagine that this might cause difficulty in reaching some agents. I recall a transaction I had about 2 years ago where an agent asked me not to call him during the day as he was at his main job - he only did real estate part time and couldn't take his real estate "work" calls during the day. The first time he told me this I was flabbergasted... then later I was just annoyed because it meant he was requiring me, the person who already works in real estate 50-60 hours a week, to spend even more time in my so-called off hours working.

There can be a shared middle ground on some of these things and rather than just complaining and hoping people "get it", we should continue to push for high standards, lessening the number of non-serious agents in the field (read part-time), and using those tools that are at our disposal to verify transmission of documents. Remember the fax? If I think contact is going to be questionable upon the evening delivery of a contract, I email AND fax it. That way I can get verification of delivery at a minimum on one of those methods.

And speaking of that... many MLS areas don't allow email transmission of documents unless the contract has it in writing that both parties agree to it, so you should make sure you're following your own local rules in that regard. I'm not defending the inaction or non-responsiveness of others, but for goodness sake, there are some things you can do about it.

William, I couldn't agree with you more! Your post is needed and spot on. If you're ever up in south Orange County, I'd like to buy you a beer.

JUL

William,

Better communication is definitely needed in this industry. I really don't understand why people don't return emails promptly either. It really doesn't take that much time.

JUL

HI William - I completely empathize. I have been trying to close an escrow for my buyers where the listing agent has no access to a computer or fax except at her office, and she is seldom at her office. She even took a trip to China and was where she couldn't be reached by phone. Of course she has no one who covers for her in her absence.

She finally did give me her cell phone number, but if I call her cell when she is out of the office, she merely says, "I can't do anything right now - I'm at home." Frustrating. I get calls at home all the time and have a home office so that I can provide whatever service is needed. Am I unusual? I didn't think so.

Hi Susan, This is certainly one for the books. Totally amazing. And people still hire her? I can only wonder what other profession she would be good for. Frankly I can't think of one. Could you even imagine if this became the rule and not the exception? Consumers do deserve better and I can only imagine the added stress this created for you and the party you represent. Thanks for validating this post with your example.

SEP

Have a question for anyone using outlook. I keep getting a message every time I try to open a link in an email coming thru Outlook. The same email links will open when the same email goes to gmail or yahoo without any problem. The message says to contact my administrator. That's me. Any suggestions?

Hi Frank, I switched over to Mail but I still have an Outlook account in a back up computer. I went into options in the setup and went all through it and can not figure out an area that might have been changed. If you still have support on Microsoft Office, I would try that. If not, try BING and type an abbreviated question and see if you directed somewhere that might shed some light on this.

Sorry I couldn't be more help Frank.

If you like, write a blog post and and add to the Outlook Users group and there are a number of people that are quite knowledgeable and might be able to help.

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