I had a call about one of my listings today from an agent in Simsbury. Simbury is about an hour away. She wanted to know if motorized boats were allowed on the water at my Inchcliffe Drive listing in Gales Ferry. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. The listing isn't on the water although it does have a nice winter waterview. The agent would have recognized that if she was familiar with the neighborhood. The National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers rates "neighborhood knowledge" second of the reasons a consumer selects an agent. I'm constantly amazed that agents representing buyers, show properties in towns and neighborhoods they know little about.
On January 10th of this year, the Connecticut Multiple Listing Service was formed combining a number of MLS systems in the state. It seems, as a result, some agents are showing properties out of their geographic comfort zone. While I'm sure their GPS system or Mapquest will get them to the listed property, they are unfortunately doing a disservice to their buyer clients. How can an agent adequately represent a client in a town or neighborhood they know nothing about? When I was new in the business, I had this fear that I would sell a buyer their dream home and they would find out the day after closing that a shopping center was being proposed right outside their backyard. As a result, I was always diligent about following the newspapers concerning land use issues in the towns I cover in New London County. I keep a folder of clippings about subdivisions being proposed and future development concerns. That's the easy part of knowing a Neighborhood
But how do you know that one subdivision in town sells for more than another even though the housing is seemingly the same? How would you know if a subdivision or a particular street has had a history of water problems? Or the historic things like a former inground oil tank system? Unfortunately that information isn't usually found in the local newspaper, a book, or as part of a real estate course. Instead, agents spend time in licensing classes memorizing useless information. Do you think a client cares if you know how much the fine is for violating a provision of section 20-343bb in Connecticut State Statutes?
Neighborhood knowledge is accumulated from experience. If you are an agent living in West Hartford, don't be showing houses in my neighborhood. And before you call yourself a neighborhood expert, make sure you are one.
Know Thy Neighborhood.
Amen.
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