Home > Blogs > Bob Prevelige > Zenith Mortgage Advisors

Is Real Estate a 24/7 job?

By Bob Prevelige

Mortgage and Lending with Zenith Mortgage Advisors NMLS# 5016

January 06, 2007 03:22 PM

I have been a lender for 8.5 years now. In that time, my business model and outlook on our industry has shifted quite a bit. I had been told, and told my clients, that being available at a moments notice was a key to "good service", and I was willing to do that.

I have had a change of heart though, brought about largely by the teaching and coaching of Buffini and Company.

It seems to me that if I am great at what I do, people should be willing to wait a few hours, or even until the next business day, to hear from me. I have not had any noticable loss of business from this perspective, but I have had a tremendous increase in my quality of life.

If I were to call a doctor, and he offered to come to meet me on a Sunday night at 7pm, or Monday anytime, day or night, I would question his value. People want what they can't have. If we conduct ourselves professionally, there's no reason we shouldn't have the same opportunity to command respect.

Being available all the time burns us out, wears us down, and prevents us for giving our clients our "all" because we never have scheduled time to recharge our personal batteries. I think this is also one of the reasons that real estate has one of the highest divorce rates of any profession.

Real Estate is not my life, it's what I do to support my life outside of work.

Comments(8)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Ken Spencer

Buckeye, AZ

for Verrado, Buckeye, Sundance

I got you on this one. Can't anything 24/7 or I find myself getting burned out not to mention a loss of sleep, family and all that's important in life.

Ken

Jan 06, 2007 03:51 PM

Bob Prevelige

Zenith Mortgage Advisors - Hopkinton, MA

CMPS

Ken- That's exactly right. We've forgotten or never realized we can make more money, in less time, and serve our clients better if we set some boundaries. Thanks for your input.

Jan 06, 2007 03:58 PM

Jeff Tomas

Accounting and Tax - Rockford, IL

Accountant

A lot of it depends on the individual loan officer. You have to be able to bal. your personal life from your work life. For me.... the one who got me into the business was my wife. She is a loan officer as well. The family understands what we do and why we do it. So when its family time... its family time. I have a difficult task as I am located in Illinois and I have maintained a home office for over 2 years now. I have clients that live on the west coast and since there is obviously a time difference, some of my clients on the west coast do not get home until after 7pm my time. I do not believe it is really a "questioning of value" if the loan officer is meeting the client at 7pm, but being there for your clients. After all, if you are not going to be there for your clients as a trusted advisor, they will take their business elsewhere. The same goes for a realtor. We are all in the same business..... Service. If I wanted a 9-5 job with weekends and holidays off. I would go to work for a bank. The bottom line is this...... we all knew that the hours would really suck sometimes. But no matter what.... I hold on to that first loan I ever did. A newly married 21 year old couple. That was the best feeling!!

Jan 06, 2007 04:11 PM

Jeff- I agree with you to a point, but here's my thinking...if I was sick and needed a great doctor, I'd rearrange my schedule to meet with the best one when he was available. Do you believe, and more importantly, do your clients believe that you are the best at what you do? If so, let them compromise their schedule to accomodate you, not the other way around. If you value your time and advice, your clients are more likely to as well.

Please bear in mind, this is my ideal position, and not one that I can successfully live out every day, but it IS the standard that I try to uphold. It hasn't hurt me yet.

Jan 06, 2007 04:35 PM

ARDELL DellaLoggia

Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

I jump when the situation requres it. If the person may lose the house they want if I do not or if getting there firs tiwllmake the difference for the client. But I do not jump up for someone who is not ready to take action, or when the situation has no immediate urgency. It's not whether or not I want to, but whether or not the situation at hand requires that I do.

Jan 06, 2007 07:13 PM

Marc Blasi

Palm Beach Gardens, FL

24/7 is the nature of the job.

I agree, some people do go a little bit overboard!

On thing I do disagree with is making someone wait to have their phone call returned "even until the next business day". I think that is a horrible practice- I would never do that, and if it was done to me that would be the last time I used that party.

Jan 06, 2007 10:37 PM

Jason Price

Mortgage Financial Group, Inc (NMLS 219650) - Tavares, FL

The Mortgage Rider

Bob,

I do see where you are coming from. There are times where we need to step back and say this can wait till later. But there are times that need immediate attention (as some of the comments suggest). There is a happy medium between 24/7 and living life freely. It is up to each person to find that line.

I make myself available 24/7, but there are times where I say this is something that can wait till later. I know as of lately, I have been putting calls through to VM when I am pre-occupied. Once the message comes through, I check the message to determine the urgency of the call.

Thanks for sharing.

Jan 07, 2007 12:58 AM

Ardell- You seem to understand what I am talking about. Urgency is not the same as importance. Clients want a call back on Sun, when they aren't buying for 3 months, they'll have to wait until monday. If that means they go somewhere else...oh well.

Marc- you said "24/7 is the nature of the job". I don't agree. Some choose to practice 24/7 but it is not necessary to be successful. I have mentioned in past posts about my friend who closed more than 420 units last year (2005). I can tell you, he doesn't return calls on weekends. Neither do I, unless it means a client's offer may not be accepted. If you return all calls immediately, and your clients expect it, good for you, I just don't happen to think it is the only path to customer service and long term success.

Jason- I'm with you. If my clients get my voicemail, even when I'm not already on the phone, it allows me to decide if their call is important, or if they just have a unrealistic sense of urgency.

Please understand, I don't think I'm too good or too important to return calls quickly. Often I do. However, if I always do, then I always have to going forward, and when business is jumping as it is now, there isn't always time to return calls immediately. I need to set client expectations that can always be met, and usually exceeded.

If people know that I likely won't call them back same day when they leave a message at 6:30pm, they seem to be patient enough to wait until the morning. I'd like to think it has something to do with the strength of the referrals I get. People have been told by their friends that I am THE one to talk to, so they'll wait if they have to.

Incidently, these philosophies do not work, when I have random rate shoppers calling. They'll just move on to the next phone number in the book. I'm OK with that too.

Jan 07, 2007 05:33 AM

Is Real Estate a 24/7 job?

Comments(8)

Bob Prevelige

Service Areas

Real Estate Resources

Recent Posts