She called out of the blue. Nervous yet determined. She wants to move. Her reasons, which she shared, I will keep private here. I gently asked questions. She wants to sell her current home ($500,000 range) and buy another home ($900,000 range). She was anxious to get started. I made an appointment to meet her in person at her home.
She has lived in her current home for 22 years. It is paid in full. As we walked around she mentioned the other agents she had met with. 6 to be exact. I knew she had but not how many. She was so exasperated with how she was treated. Some just came, gave their spiel and never followed up. Others came, gave their spiel, stayed in contact a time or two and then disappeared. A few tried bullying her or so she felt. She said she felt she was a number to conquer not a person to help.
She talked, I listened. I talked, she listened. I showed her, on paper, why her home should be priced here. No one else did that she said. I showed the estimated expenses she would have. No one did that either she said. I asked her wasn't a 5000 square foot home a tad large for just she and her son? We discussed back and forth and she thought a bit and agreed. No one had gone over that part with her before either.
She is a very smart lady. An introvert who needs someone she can trust to help her through all the craziness of buying and selling a home. Her husband was the one who did it for her 22 years ago. Now it was her turn. 
Meeting this lady has shown me once again that selling real estate is not about the deal but instead is all about the people. And when we come across these kind of people we need to slow the process down a bit. Instead of doing everything by the book or system we have in place we need to step back and take a deep breath.
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