Even though my license may say sales person, I do not ever want to be an overbearing salesman. I often tell people, North Idaho sells itself, I am just here to make it happen as smoothly as possible. Don't get me wrong I work hard to get my listings under every nose I can, and I work hard to show my buyers the house they can fall in love with. But when a client comes in and you realize they hate it, it isn't for them and they can't wait to get out, you don't act like you are moving in for the kill because you want a paycheck.
I have been away on vacation and I happened by a real estate office that houses a dear friend of mine. We were sitting at her desk catching up when one of her colleagues walked in with clients in tow. One of the clients said yes "that house was really nice, but it is 100k more than we were approved for. We want to see something we can afford". The silver tongue speech that followed just dropped my jaw. It was like a well rehearsed speech at one of those motivational seminars that have you digging out your money for something that won't work and you didn't need. I felt like I had to get out of there before he started talking to me. The desperation was oozing out of the agent and he was trying everything that he could to convince them to write a contract. In the end the clients escaped with a excuse to pick up the kids and a "promise" to come in at 5. The agent went back happily to prepare the contract as we watched the clients walk into the real estate office across the street. Who could blame them, they were accosted and treated like idiots, even if it was in the nicest of ways. I certainly couldn't see them trusting this agent to walk them through one of the most important decisions of their life or get them through the roller coaster ride they were going to have for a home they couldn't afford.
At some point in time in all our careers we pray that buyer walks through the door, or that escrow closes in time to pay the mortgage. But at no time should we allow our financial needs to dictate our responsibilities to protect our clients best interest. The second our clients put their name on a contract, that is the time they need us to be willing to move mountains to ensure that it goes through. There is nothing more satisfying than helping people find their dream and then making it a reality. We all know those "it feels like home" signs when a client starts figuring out where the couch goes, and measuring the dining room to see if their table will fit. People may not always know exactly what they want, but they do know when they see it. Our job is to make sure they get it
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