I seem to be spending a lot of time lately talking to DIYers. Mostly I'm ok with that. I'm kind of a DIYer myself at heart. I like to know how things work, and I don't mind spending a little extra time to figure things out for myself. But personally, I draw the line at actually taking on all the projects in my life. Understand, yes. Do the actual legwork, no. Not necessarily. I am happy to pay someone to do the parts that, although I may understand them, I either don't want to be bothered with, don't have the time to commit to, or don't feel that my limited understanding of them matches the expertise and experience of someone that does them for a living.
Not so much for some of my recent callers. They have no shortage of self confidence, and see no problem taking on everyone else's areas of expertise. Hey, I'm even ok with that. Nothing to be gained by rudely informing them that they don't have a clue what they're doing. That doesn't stop me from being amused though.
Some for-instances:
- The lady that called me, declined to give her name, and then requested some information on one of my listings that closed escrow three months ago. I informed her of same. She started right in on me: "But I'm looking at it right here on the Internet!" "What website are you looking at?" I wonder aloud. "I am on Real Estate R Us, duh! And your listing is RIGHT HERE showing as Active." "Ohhhkaaaay <thinking, thinking> I guess I'm not familiar with that one. But here is a suggestion for you. Why not try a local Reno real estate website? It doesn't have to be mine, just some local company with IDX, you might find the data a bit more up to date." "I am perfectly capable of doing this myself! I don't need a Realtor®! And I see your listing RIGHT HERE!" " What would you like me to do?" I ask patiently. "Tell the buyer that I'm sorry, he'll have to move out because you are looking at an ancient listing on Real Estate R Us and might be interested? Here is another idea: if you will give me your email address, I will set you up with a login on ListingBook. You can still do it all yourself, but the data will be accurate...<click>." Alrighty then, never mind.
- Or the lady that called yesterday. She was looking at a vacant lot I have listed. She was more pleasant than the last lady, but explained to me that she a) was representing herself, b) intended to draw all of her own architectural plans, and c) wanted to act as her own general contractor in the building of her home. What was her background and expertise to perform said functions, you may ask? Well she was retired, and had a lot of time on her hands.
- Or the friend that called recently. Told me she intended to list and sell her house as a FSBO, but she wanted me to know that I was the first alternate. I knew that she worked extremely long hours, including weekends, and travelled a lot during her time off. "How do you plan to show your house?" I asked. "Well," she said, "I'll have an open house in a few weeks. They will just have to come then."
Do you people not value your own time? Take a minute, think this through. Figure out how much of your own time you are wasting, multiply by the value of that time (and remember this is your personal free time, not your job, I'm thinking time and a half at least), then multiply by a fudge factor for the things you will screw up through lack of experience. You may find that hiring a professional Realtor® is a bargain!
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