Blogger's WARNING! This is only meant to be a humorous/nastalgic look at the question: Is your car an extension of your personality or just another technology tool?
Maybe my cars have held me back. If cars have been an extension of agent persona or kharma maybe I missed the bus (although I did own a Karmen Ghia once...but that was before real estate). In a previous posting I mentioned my first real estate car...the Ford Escort Station Wagon with the hardwired cell phone and the permanent stain in the back seat from one of my buyer's offspring.
Then there was the '82 Buick La Sabre with the velour electric seats. Now that was a sweet ride. Can you hear the theme from Driving Miss Daisy playing in the background? Later came the '91 Dodge Dynasty (my wife still pronounces it, DIE- NASTY). It was dark blue with dark blue cloth seats. It looked like a government motor pool vehicle. I think I might have interrupted a drug deal or two just driving that one around town!
In 1999 I purchased a slightly-used 1996 Chrysler Concorde. It was a very comfortable car but had a bad trunk seal when I bought it. The first time I had a flat tire in it I opened the trunk and the spare was totally submerged. Where is Jacque Cousteau when you need him? Since 2003 I have been driving a small SUV ....a Hyundai Santa Fe. I bought it the Sunday before we went into Iraq and all the car dealers wanted to make deals. 141,000-plus miles and I am still very happy with it. A few years ago I worked in an office where we installed our own sign posts. That was a little tricky when the bottom of the post went up against the dashboard so that the rear hatch could close.
Your style of business and your marketplace may determine what kind of vehicle is most practical for you. My market area of Pierce and Thurston Counties covers a huge territory on the map with more than a few miles of rough primitive roads. Last Winters' snow and ice made me glad for All-Wheel-Drive. I've made a lot of "property checks" at my vacant listings and carried my ladder, shop vac, cleaning supplies, etc. (My idea of "full-service" scares my Broker sometimes).
The point is.....was I known as the agent with the little red car or the agent who "did it all" or the agent who got it all done? I'd like to think it was the latter. I think that has always been true......that clients and customers remember you for what you do for them and not for what you drive. With the economy the way it is maybe my next real estate car will be a scooter? Maybe a scooter trailer for my open house signs?
Comments(2)