Selling a Home in Philadelphia: Beer Not Required But Never Hurts !

Selling a Home in Philadelphia does not require beer or wine or any other alcoholic beverage.  But it never huurts ! At least that is what my wonderful and extremely humorous client thinks. I ask you...

Was this a Dream or was this a Listing appointment?

I met with one of our long term clients to sell 2 of his properties.  I did my usual due diligence as any good Realtor would do in terms of researching both properties, preparing a solid comparative market analysis (CMA) and so forth.  When my client the seller gets to the property, I am greeted with tremendous warmth and respect as usual. I receive a huge man-hug and joyful Happy New Year wishes.  In addition, and to my surprise I might add, I notice my client brings in a few ice cold beers to celebrate us meeting and getting together to list his properties for sale !!

Wait a minute I think to myself... what about my CMA? I had my game face on and was ready to talk Real Estate... We take a quick tour of the property, crack a few jokes, catch up, and chat a little bit about the market and so forth.  When we get to the paperwork, he sees the CMA and the dialog goes like this:

Seller:  "Chris, we do not need to go over this. We both know the market.  Where would you list it ? "

Me:      "$120K to $130K." (I say with confidence but look at the seller for his reaction)

Seller:  "No, no, no." (He says firmly)

Me:      "You think it should be higher !?!?! (I worry for a split second)

Seller:  "No. (he exclaims)  Lower !  We must price to sell !"

Me:      "You are so right" (I smile and think ... Is this a dream or a listing appointment)

After that he signed both listing agreements with no haggling over the commission rate or the length of time of both properties.  He had complete confidence in me. His crew was finishing up, his partner came to have a beer or two, and we all talked about the market, had some fun and some laughs.

It is an honor when you have that type of relationship with a client where there is mutual respect and trust. That type of client relationship really says a lot to me about our service not only as Realtors who sell homes in Philadelphia, but as mutual friends.

I'll say it again... as for Selling a Home in Philadelphia, Beer is not required but trust and respect certainly is.