HEY AGENTS, HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF A REFERRAL?

I don't diss the agent from four hours away driving up on a Sunday to look at 27 places because it is all about sell the property on the lake, anywhere.

But wonder shouldn't you be plowing the time, gas, effort into your local area and not wasting 8 hours and meals, time away from your own Gold Mine local area? But if they want to come and be run ragged, I don't judge. Just don't ever darken their door with travel time unless it is a vacation to where they live.

Diminishing returns, real estate is a business first and less. Your profit is often in your expenses, how tight a business platform ship you run.

I do favors in and out of my territory? Wherever I go, my expertise goes with me

I have had to meet out of area agents to let them in my listings.  I personally choose not to work out of my area of expertise so I refer often.  This has resulted in great relationships with agents that also refer to me.

I've had agents from out of the area ask me to open a listing for their clients and show them the homes to save them the trip!

Hi Kate, I see it here too.  Things are different in every market and when the out of area agent is not familiar,  it puts them and their clients at risk.; things they didn't know or were not told or didn't even know to ask about can come back to bite.

Got a buyer interested in Lake Anna?

Just refer them to Kate.  She'll sell them, keep you advised and send the referral fee pro

Kate,  Lake Anna looks so serene! Thanks for letting us know that you are the perfect agent for this area!

I usually refer buyers to local agents - would never drive two hours to show anything!  However, how do you feel about listing in another county or area?   You can learn quite a bit about the area by doing research, reading blogs, checking comps, studying Trulia and talking with local agents.  I tried to refer a listing but when looking at the current and past listings, couldn't find an agent that impressed me.  I handled the listing and ended up having a fantastic transaction and meeting some wonderful agents.  Of course it is a seller's market in our area, wouldn't recommend it for in a slow moving market.

I'm guessing they are not part of your area MLS either, so are unable to research.

Kate ~ those agents would be so much wiser to refer Lake Anna clients to you, and everyone would benefit, including the referring agent themselves!!

This is a rookie kind fo mistake.  There are areas even in my own MLS I generally will not show.  Just too far away.

There are two ways of looking at this. If their client was a long time friend or family member, that agent has no idea of what kind of service you will provide. No one can guarantee to provide the type of service that you will, assuming of course, that you are a consciencious and hard working agent. Not everyone is. It's the same situation here in Lake Arrowhead. I've seen quite a few agents come into my open houses from other areas and have absolutely no clue about the area. I always offer them a referral fee. To date, no takers. Some may not even know that Lake Arrowhead is a private lake and that you must own in a specific area, called "The Woods," to even walk the trails around the lake, much less launch a boat. It's just a lawsuit waiting to happen. However, it's difficult to hand over a client to a total stranger. Not only could you lose a referral fee, but the client as well. After all, they have no one to blame but you. 

It depends on who the client is and your relationship with that client, doesn't it? Getting information about any area in the USA is easy to do and with Google Earth, the entire area can be seen from the street view to a birds eye view, so, the agent has the resources to perform easily with precision and efficiency.

Waterfront is really a specialized niche. Agents who are used to working in a city don't even know what questions they should be asking.

I agree - they're driven by greed, not by caring for the client.

Often Google Earth information is outdated. I would rather refer. If I am referring good acquaintences, it's only right to explain to them why.

Kate - you make a great point.  If an agent doesn't know an area, it really puts them at a disadvantage and it's a disservice to clients.  I prefer to make a referral so that everthing runs smoothly and everyone involves experiences a win-win. Excellent post!

Hi Kate,

Very good post and looks like a lovely community where you work. I always get referrals if it is past 25-30 miles but anything under that number is just normal freeway driving in our area. Sometimes I get bank referrals in the San Bernardino Mountains so I just have to do exta research more to learn the area but always do a good job selling the property and get top dollar. Referrals are a good way to estasblish good agent relations in other areas.

We have all ran into these agents. I am here to provide the best service possible. If I am not familiar with the area and do not have access to lockbox and MLS, I can't provide excellent service.

I try to work in what I call my service area, which is within about 20 miles (no more than a 45 minute drive) from my office or home, which is close to each other.  Outside of this area, I will refer it out, so I can concentrate on my service area and learn it better.  By knowing my service area better, I can better serve my clients that want to buy there.  I figure if you spend 5-6 hours driving time over a couple of days to show 5-6 homes and your client doesn't make an offer on one, you could have spent the time showing 2-3 times as many homes closer to other clients and take the referral fee for those other homes in an area you are not familiar with to start with.

I've been gradually narrowing my scope of "expertise" to a smaller area that I'm REALLY comfortable with!