Do you like my Realtor® BAT-BELT?
By Brian Ortiz, Realtor, Chicago IL
Chicago Real Estate
Many, many moons ago I was an up and coming manager in the Hospitality Industry. I worked for some of the higher-end hotels in Chicago. It was common that some guests in the hotel were paying over $400 a night. After 10+ years managing all front of house hotel staff I had accomplished just about all there was on the Rooms side of the industry, aside from the Housekeeping Department. When it became apparent my career was on a collision course with the Housekeeping Department, I dove right into a large 700 room hotel, with 5+ floors of meeting space.
Once I began in Housekeeping, one of my personal daily goals was to do a final inspection of the arriving VIP guestrooms for that day. As I inspected rooms each day, I always found something little that could be done. As time went on, I realized I always needed some of the same things over and over again. Unfortunately, they were always far away in my office, and not with me. Soon I began carrying around a little "kit" when I went to inspect rooms; it kind of became a running joke with the staff. It contained basic things I might need while "VIP-ing" a room. Anything from scissors to cut carpet threads, a needle and thread if a curtain hem was loose, screwdriver to tighten screws and a little bottle of "White-Out" in case the white baseboard had a shoe scuff mark.
As I have shifted into Real Estate, I've found these old habits die hard. Whenever I sit an open house, I always (with the seller's permission) basically do the same routine as much as I can between visitors. I sometimes get a little grief from my colleagues, but when I ask them what they do for downtime at open houses it is typically something like a cross word puzzle or reading. I figure I am there anyway and it's part of my job to show the property at its absolute best. It's not hard labor. I'm not doing renovations or anything like that. Just little touches or tidy ups. Sometimes my sellers notice days later or a potential buyer walks in while I am in the middle of something. It's really a win-win situation. My sellers are pleased at "how hard" I am working to sell their home and help them, so they typically mention it to their friends. Buyers walk in or sometimes maybe someone just looking at the competition. They see what I do for the current sellers and wonder what their real estate agent does during open houses. I can now count 4 clients all of whom knew about "my bat-belt" so to say, of tools, and stated that is a reason they chose me.
I want to stress I know this is not a typical thing Realtors are expected to do. I also know these things should fall into the seller's responsibility. Additionally the way I handle myself does not ever insult my sellers. I don't walk in and scream that the floor is dirty and start vacuuming, and I don't do deep cleaning or get too involved. I only bring the kit when I know I will be at the home for a while, usually open houses only. It's just little a little touch to help sell the home and show my clients I am on their side, and we are a team.
I initially began writing this post to see if anyone else does things like this or have a little "bat belt" kit they bring along. In case you do, here are a few items I find helpful. Please feel free to share yours.
- Air freshener/spray
- As mentioned above-> scissors, white out, screwdriver.
- Windex
- Paper towel
- Cordless portable handheld vacuum
- Light Bulbs (to replace burnt out ones)
- Lint/Pet hair roller
Thank you for your time,
Brian Ortiz, Realtor, Chicago Area Real Estate
http://www.brianortizproperties.com/
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