Not all real estate agents do these things

My basic checklist before I meet with a buyer to show properties:

• Clean car of all my kids', um, let's call it debris - check
• Plenty of gas in the tank - check
• iPhone and iPad fully charged - check, iPhone is obvious but iPad is so I can do CMA's on the fly if my buyer is interested in sales history, write up an offer on the spot if necessary
• Printed paper listings for both myself and buyer - check
• Review showing instructions to make showing appointments - check
• Calculate a good driving route if showing several properties - well, I often rely on my GPS for this, but I do scope out the general location of the houses
• Call agents to ask if the property is still fully available - check (sometimes they are working out an offer when you show it, your buying falls in love and you find out it's gone), especially if it's a new listing that is priced right.
• Update Sentrilock card and put it around my neck (to be sure I have it) - check
• I always have a car charger for the phone and iPad in my car, so that's not really on the list
• Water bottles for all - check, most of the time unless we are meeting at Starbucks, then it's coffee or tea on me

So, I thought this was a basic list,  and sometimes I do get rushed or rely more on the iPad than paper, but I always have my tools.   I learned this weekend it is not so basic of a list.   A seller of mine had an agent call and ask her to let her in to show her house - reason why?  She forgot her Sentrilock key.  I suspect she does not have one at all.  My seller obliged and made her show a card and stayed in the house.   I would have advised her to say no.   If the agent really forgot her key, and had any wits about her, she would have called me, and explained she was having a bad day and could I help...but calling the seller directly just made my seller think she's a flake and unprofessional.  But my seller did make the right call by not leaving her home in the hands of strangers with no access key.   She probably would have said no to their offer had it been all cash on the spot, she was so put off by the agent's lack of professionalism.

The next agent, also called my seller, to tell her he had interested clients, and he'd lost my number and could she tell me of their interest.  I immediately called him, and left a voicemail that we have an offer in hand and if there is interest, he should advise his clients to move quickly.   A few hours passed and my seller decided to ratify the nice offer in hand.  Never heard from this agent with supposedly interested clients.

Agent emails the next day that his battery died and it was too late to call when he got it back.  So his clients lost the house.

The agent whose clients got the house?  She called me the second it was listed to make sure I called her if an offer came in before she showed it.  She wrote a beautiful offer right after showing it, with all i's dotted and t's checked.  It got accepted and her buyer got a home.

The point is:  Not all agents do these things.  Not all agents come prepared, but not all agents walk out the door without a thought of what will happen next.  Make sure when you interview an agent to work with, you choose one who will have the tools at hand to make sure you will actually buy a house, not just look at them.    The market is moving fast here in Arlington, and your agent forgetting his or her key or charger (and calling the seller) can cost you a house.   We really are not all alike.