Some Agents are, obviously, more Important than Others... or at least they think so.

(LAKE TAHOE REAL ESTATE BLOG) This is not a rant, but it is amusing. And it addresses the fundamental thing, that one element, that is both essential and a component part of every successful sale of every home. And that’s Teamwork.

The Background:
Normally one doesn’t think of teamwork within the context of selling a house. If one does, and this is a thought from an elevated level of awareness of, or a lot of experience with, real estate transactions. The team that works is most often thought to be the Seller and the Seller’s agent, or the Buyer and the Buyer’s agent. Both are true. But there is another.

The team that is more likely to be overlooked is both agents working together on behalf of their clients to bring a deal together... and make it work for everybody involved. We have found that in our current real estate market, the agent team is even more important than ever to get a deal in place, and one that will actually close. Think of us as working behind the lines, doing the groundwork, paving the way for everyone’s best interests and wishes to be considered and met.

The Temperature Read:
What is the core cause for the agent team to work successfully is communication. And it starts from the first phone call. We call it the “temperature read.” And here a lot of critical information is delivered, or deducted to best serve each of our client’s good. The temperature read also sets the tone of how, or if the agents can work together. Many deals are made, or fall apart here, before anything ever happens.

  Before we show a house, much less get, or make an offer, we’ve done our temperature read. From it we pretty much know, or have a good idea of the other side’s willingness and position. (We are not talking numbers or value here; we know that immediately... because we always know, well, the numbers. What we want to know is does the buyer or seller on the other side know the numbers too, and are they in denial or acceptance of them?)

Getting Expectations in Order from the Beginning:
In addition to setting the framework for a potential deal, this important first communication very much helps give clients a better understanding of a particular property, either before or as they see it, and it also allows the agent to help the expectations of their client to be as realistic as possible. A misplaced expectation can be, and often is, a deal killer.

The Phone Call... sort of!
So we got a phone call from a pleasant assistant of a primarily time-share agency a few days ago. It was about showing one of our higher-end listings that produces significant vacation rental income. The agent she works for, Mr. So and So, who I know by first name, though only via phone from a deal that didn’t come together last year, wanted the vacation rental income history sent over to him in writing because he had someone who might want to see the house.

I told her what the rental income is, the name of the management company and specific property manager that handles the property, that I have documentation of it, and the amount of income is something her agent could pass on to their client with absolute confidence. I also explained that rental records are a family’s private financial information, but that I have client permission to provide them once we have someone who has a shown a real interest in the property. I also told her that I have a duty to disclose them as part of due diligence.

Further, I told the assistant that I am instructed to say that this family is exceptionally motivated to sell, and that this is something her agent and I should talk about asap. “Please have him call me.” 

They Didn’t Get It:
The next morning the assistant calls again. Mr. So and So, is really busy, you know, and he wants documentation of the rental history... before showing the property. I started to explain it all again to her, but stopped and asked her to please have her agent call me. I suggested that he probably was not too busy to sell a $1.3M house.

What’s odd about this from the onset is all the “Mr.” stuff. This is a very casual place, a small town where everyone knows each other, especially in our real estate community. There is an informal, and particularly friendly nature of doing business here, and if I called someone and told them I was “Mr. Bolen”, they’d just laugh. That air rarely works up here in this mountain air.

Another thing that’s a little odd is it is routine for an agent up here to call the property management company to get a read on the income history and potential of a property. About 65% of our homeowners do not live here, and as such we all frequently have to address whether a property would be a good vacation rental or not. The only way to ascertain that is to call the top property management companies who do business here. That is how one normally confirms in general a rental history prior to factual due diligence documentation.

  Mr. Big Gets Bigger:
A few hours later the assistant calls again. “Mr. So and So wants me to tell you he’s so busy...” she rambled on nonpersuasively. I again asked to speak with him, and she said. “just a moment”, and after a few minutes I was disconnected. And I have not heard from them since. This is what I’d call a bad temperature read.

False Objections, Real or Imagined:
We all get them. This is when somebody tells us one thing, and they really mean another. A good example of it is a buyer terminates a purchase contract, while they still can, because they don’t get the snowblower. That’s a false objection; the real reason is always either buyer’s remorse or the price, after all, is too high.

Here we got a false objection from Mr. Big, or at least an compelling indication that something wasn’t on the up and up. A good agent, who has a good client, is never too busy to communicate and do their homework.

If they are, how can they possibly represent the best interests of their client?