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Yes, I DO!

No not that that kind of "I Do"! But as a listing agent I do make my own appointments!

Every once in a while, when I'm talking with another real estate agent, the subject of appointments comes up. When I say that I always - yes, always - make my own appointments, I can almost predict what will happen. The eyes widen, the brow furrows, there's a quick intake of breath, and then, "You're kidding!"

No, I'm not. "But doesn't it waste your time?" they ask.

Showing the wrong house to the wrong buyer, that wastes my time. Making my own appointments saves time and aggravation for me and my sellers. How can this one task make a big difference? (And it also saves time on follow up.)

Here are just a few of the issues that I can and do clear up while making appointments on my listings. And yes, I've actually had all of these and more:

Mismatches:

The condo restricts pets; they have a dog and a cat. No, you can't sneak them in.
The prospective buyer is 93 years old, and the unit I have listed is on the top floor. There are no elevators.
A condo with no balcony - not a good match for someone with claustrophobia.
A penthouse unit - a bad idea for someone afraid of heights.

The buyer is a wheel chair user. Would you at least remind them, it's split-level house?

The family wants all bedrooms on the same level. Are you sure you want to show this Cape Cod?

Missing Information:

The buyers haven't put their home on the market yet because they want to wait until they find something they like. What's the chance I could be showing them a house they can't afford because the seller will not take a contingency.
My listing is a co-op. The by-laws require the unit must be purchased for cash - there can be no mortgage. If we haven't discussed this first, it would be no surprise when the buyer asks if the monthly fee "includes the mortgage payment."
My client's condo has high monthly fees. The prospective buyer didn't ask before seeing the property (and his agent didn't tell, obviously). Then he asks if we can negotiate the fees down along with the price. Um...sure, right along with the property taxes.

And then there are the "must or must not haves":

The fireplace must be wood burning. The fireplace must be gas. We only want a pellet stove. We don't want a fireplace - it's not safe.

Must have a swimming pool. Absolutely no swimming pool!
The house must be on a main road with sidewalks and nearby neighbors. No, the house must be secluded, away from prying neighbors. No cul de sacs. No shared driveways.
The townhouse kitchen has to be at the front so I don't have to schlep groceries through the house. Who wants a kitchen at the front? We need a kitchen in the back so we can walk out on the deck.
Must have gas heat, must have oil heat, must have a heat pump.

And on and on. You get the idea. There are so many ways that well-meaning sellers, agents and prospective buyers can waste their time and energy. Over the years I've learned that the one best way to eliminate these issues is to make my own appointments and ask the questions up front. That way I can assure sellers that more qualified buyers will be visiting their home.

Good buyer's agents appreciate my telling them about the pros and cons of the properties and frequently when they share their buyer's need; I may have another coming on the market. Or how about we run an "ad" for your buyer on http://www.buyers4yourhome.com/ ?

So yes, I do!

Baltimore,Md.

Posted by Margaret Rome-- HomeRome Realty on 02/10/2007 03:07 AM

Comments (53)

buyers4yourhomecom, appointments, i do

Originally posted at: Margaret Rome's Blog: Yes, I DO!

53 Comments on Yes, I DO!

FEB

2007

Hi Margaret, Well you all ready know I agree with you 100%. It also give me the opportunity to match them to another listing they have missed. I have sold many a house by doing this. Plus it gives me another opportunity to speak with my sellers. This, to me, is the most important reason to make my own appointments.

Bravo, Margaret. I had a 4-level townhouse listing and a agent, who had not met the buyers (nor clearly hot chatter with them about their very particular needs), brought the buyer and his wife (he was wheelchair bound) to see my listing (I did all the showings). Duh. What a waste of time for everyone. I ALWAYS make all my appointments, on both sides. Good job.

Jeff

Having "ads" for buyers on your website is a great idea.

Bryant, You really get it! Another chance to talk with the seller, another chance to match them with another of my listings or a future listing.

Jeff, Glad to see you are giving this level of service. Thanks for the positive comments.

Sharon, Those "ads" have been so positive!

FEB

2007

There is a home that matches everyone! All it takes is listening to what they want and need vs what they are asking to see. Sometimes these are totally different things. So then showing them something great that fits their actual needs and wants usually sells the home.

Danny, Nows there's a concept! Listen to their needs! Thanks for stopping by. I am going to read your posts!

Margaret -- Congratulations on the Gold Star! Since we are a small office we make the appointments for our listings. It is about that personal touch, they actually hear from one of us.

Margaret - I do to.

Colleen- I got your message. I've been away and just getting back to work.

Margaret, I agree with you. A couple weeks ago I called a firm to make an appointment to show a listing as directed on the MLS;only to be given another number to call. Their appointments had been outsourced. Not only did the appointment person not gotten back to me in a timely manner but also left a very unprofessional message on my machine; there were more laughter than words. To make a long story short I did not get to show the property.

Margaret,

I find it hard to believe that a Real Estate Agent would "not" make their own appointments! What is the point of being an "agent"? Yes, sometimes its very hard to do everything that needs to be done, but isn't this our job? I expected nothing less of you and I'm sure your clients don't either!

Margaret, great post. When I started out I was so green that most of these things would not have ocurred to me. It's not only the buyer who should be asking questions but the good agent of course. A receptionist can't do it as well. Good work.

We use an appointment center...which I love but I always make a point to call the showing agent before the showing and go over things...just to avoid the type of things you mentioned. Never had a problem with our showing center..yet. Makes it easier for everyone involved.

Margaret,

Thanks for the post. I am with you. I make all of my own appointments as well. From some of the prior responses, it would appear that some agents need to have a discussion about their customers NEEDS, as well as their desires.

Margaret...

Ahhh. The Queen shares a few of her secrets of success :)

Love it :)

Once again, a very clever title and subject.

Brrrr, it's cold here!

Thank you for posting this.

Very interesting and very true.

Mario

We, too, use appointment centers in the KC area. It seems to be a real negative here if an agent cannot set the appointment with the appointment center. I believe the reason for that is when you do have to contact the listing agent directly, not always can you get ahold of the agent. Rather you must leave a voicemail and wait, and wait, and wait for a return call only to be told they must check with the seller...more waiting. Because of the inefficiency of that process agents shy-away from listing that you must first contact the listing agent.

Jacqueline,

I probably was one of those agents, especially if you called the office and left a message. However, now I have all showing appointment calls directed to my cellphone. I can answer immediately, confer with the seller and provide a timely response. I cannot tell you how many appointments of late were confirmed with agents sitting in their car with clients outside of the property. While en-route to scheduled appointments they passed my listing and the buyer was intrigued enough to request a showing. This works for me and the sellers!

Colleen, i want to be like you when I grow up..2 gold stars in one day! As a small office you know the importance of making your own.

Chris, Glad to see you that you do!

Jennifer, Everyone loses. How do you think the seller would feel about this? BTW I suggest to sellers, prior to listing, that they call on listings of agents they are interviewing.

Karen, It is the exception here. Appointments are made by the receptionist, the floor duty agent or CSS.

Maggie, The receptionist does a good job in making the appointments quickly with the info given by the llisting agent.

Monika, Sounds like you have made the system work for you! You may be on to something. Get the appointment made and then a quick follow up to share pertinent information. Good use of time!

William, You are so right. I had a listing.. the entire back yard was made into a wonderful oasis with ponds, waterfalls ,decking etc. I always asked if the buyer had young children..being concerned with safety. One agent's assisstant said: How would I know? Just make the appointment. When I called the agent for feed back.. "They have young children and they hated not having a back yard!"

TLW, Just trying to grow up to be like you and BB.

Ed, Thanks and the photo of the roaring fire was just for you. So keep warm!

Ladies and gentlemen,

I know this post is about making listing appointments. But in 2 of the first 3 posts I read the terms restricted to a wheelchair and wheelchair bound. Please learn to use the term wheelchair user.

People with disabilities and their families are tuned in to language that they hear as discriminatory or insensitive. Wheelchair users are not bound to their chairs. With or without help they leave their chair to sleep, bathe, use the toilet, drive or ride in cars, enjoy amusement park rides. You get the idea. People with disabilities are a growing part of our population. Modern science has allowed those who previously may not have survived a serious accident or disease to live for many years. Also think military vets and aging population. They all live somewhere.

Accommodation and interaction with people with disabilities might make an educational meeting presentation for real estate professionals. Thanks for your consideration.

Nancy, we're really enjoying your posts. http://activerain.com/blogsview/34321/The-Tip-of-The Shame you don't have a profile so we can put a face with the badge.

Making contact with other agents on listed properties has many advantages and the more you talk to YOUR clients the more you are in their thoughts, and in their conversations. The power teams use minions to make appointments and many times the person you speak with has never seen the house or only put the sign up and installed the lock-box ~ great Post!

Here in Charleston, we also have an appointment center that everyone calls to make showing appointments. As soon as the appointment is make, the listing agent receives and email informing them of the showing: day, time, and agent. From there we usually call the showing agent to get a feel for their clients and to see if we can answer any questions prior to them seeing the home. Several times thins has helped the agent answer questions on the spot, and in turn, present an offer sooner.

Mario, Thanks for stopping by.

Jacqueline, Agents are very surprised at how easy it is to reach me and to show my listings. Like William, my calls come to me directly and most appointments are made immediately. Sometime last minute, I will head over and meet the agent or the buyer. Many times a buyer has called who can not reach their agent and I have opened the house for them and honored the agent. This is all about doing what is right for our clients.

Nancy, Please note that the post is revised using the term "wheelchair user" and your comments are appreciated. Have you thought of doing a post, for Active Rain, about people with disabilities? The last thing we want to be is insensitive!

Margaret,

I totally agree and make similar efforts for my seller. When I have clients that require certain courtesies because of pets or small children at home. They depend on me to make sure agents just don't show up. In this case I usually put my number in the owners number location and agents end up calling me to arrange the showings. It's more work but as you know Margaret your sellers appreciate you for it.

Tina

Thanks for the welcome Margaret. And thanks for accepting my suggestion and making that change.

I know you were not trying to be insensitive. It's a matter of many people not thinking about it, usually because it has never been point out. Language can be heard different than it is intended and can harm a business opportunity.

I'm afraid I do not know how to start a post. I suppose I could check on the home page to learn how to set up a profile. But, any of you could start a post and open the discussion.

I have to make my own appointments - I can't stand to have someone else do it!

I need to be responsible for my OWN time.

Scheduling appointments yourself... now there is a concept. I can understand certain jobs having someone schedule your day, but in real estate and mortgages, it should be up to the individual to schedule their own time. There are too many things that could go wrong by allowing someone else to plan your day. Thanks for sharing this info...

Margaret,

This is a great post, thank you for writing on this issue. I also, make my own appointments, what is the point in having somebody else do it? If I am not involved in my business, I won't have one for very long.

On the other hand, sometimes an agent blabs for 5 minutes about how "unique" their listing is and why you should cancel all of your other showings and just "write it up." Many times after I hang up I realize they haven't given me the lock box number and I have to call them back!

The part of making appointments that really wastes my time is: agents who don't call back and listings that are not updated.

Glenda, This gives you another opportunity to solidify your relationship!

Jim and Maria, You seem to have it worked out. Since I may not be in front of email 24/7 ( you may find that hard to believe) I prefer to have the calls come to me direct.

Tina, This comment sums it up..."they depend on me"...."they appreciate you.."

Nancy, thank you for your sensitive comments. Please call me 410-530-2400. It would be my pleasure to walk you through how to start a post. Remember we have all just recently learned.

Marc and Jason, Guess you can say we are control freaks. But who better to control our own time?

Laurie, There is no point in having someone else do it. Well said: "If I am not involved in my business, I won't have one for very long."

Randy, I am going to go check my listings now. :) Agents who don't call back... now there is another post.

Rick, Just the facts ma'am, just the facts.

Margaret, Nancy is actually not in the business but has been reading AR for a while in preparation of selling a home later in the year. Maybe she could be a guest writer for you and write something related to this. I would never have even thought of how wheelchair bound would affect me if I were indeed in a wheelchair.

I was with one of my long time customers yesterday who had polio as a child and uses a lark to get around. I referred to it as a wheelchair and fortunately she corrected me right away. Next time I'll know. A post related to this would be excellent.

BB, Maybe we should have a category on AR for buyers and sellers so they could post. Boy could we all learn from listening to Nancy! In fact Nancy's comment would be the beginning of a good blog. And it would be neat to hear her experiences beginning prior to listing.

Sorry but am I the only one who does not know what a lark is?

A lark is one of those motorized scooters that folks use that have a hard time walking.

You know it would be really cool to have a consumer forum on AR. We do have a lot of them reading and quite a few commenting. I like it.

FEB

2007

We make our own appointments as well.

Thanks BB, I never heard that term before.

A consumer forum. What an idea. I am sending the Rain gods exerpts from the above comments.

OK.. someone above makes their own appointments but we don't know who you are. Please sign in.

Thanks Broker Bryant for clarifying that I am a consumer. My appologies. I did not mean to mislead anyone. I just saw an opportunity to educate; and I hope to see a future thread about the real estate industry and people with disabilities. Have a great day all.

The only problem with scheduling showings on your own listings is that you need to be available 7 days a week. I had a property that was only scheduled by the listing agent and tried to get in for one of my clients. The listing agent called me back 2 days later and asked if we wanted to see the home. My client already had an accepted contract on one of the other homes we saw. Was this servicing her listing I think not!

Nancy, thank you for emailing off AR and here is my resonse to you that I wanted to share.

"Please don't apologize. You are certainly not cluttering! I am hoping that we can have a forum for consumers like you. I think you have added so much to the group. I welcome your comments. After all it is you, the buyer and seller, that can teach us how to be better agents. For that I am grateful. You are welcome anytime to comment on my post and I would be honored. The consumer group would have to be monitored for problems like you bring up. I would be delighted to have you post this message on my blog. In the mean time if you write about wheelchair users, I would be happy to publish the post with your permission. And my phone number 410-530-2400 is still open for you to call me.

I will now go take a look at Chris's comment.

Here is one of my mottos:

"Don't let unimportant things or unimportant people become important!"

You, Nancy, are important.

Thanks so much for writing.

Margaret

James, Those of us who do make our own appointments are available to our sellers. Making appointments is a big service that we provide. There are times when the office is NOT open or someone has stepped away from the duty desk etc. The appointment systems are not available 24/7!

This past week, I played 'Buyer Agent" made 7 appointments to show a friend who was moving from Ca. The process was not an easy one. On one of the appointments, they had to call the owner. The owner said not today, the dogs are out no showings today. THen I get a call from the listing agent. "why aren't you showing the property?" I asked if we could go in and she said: " well not if you were told not to." UHHH...ok.

Another home had a lockbox, the agent was from another part of the state and had his keybox programed for his area. My code would not work. This agent said " You have a problem, you should have your box keyed to "our" area". This vacant propert has been on the market for over 200 days.

Another office just gave out the lockbox combo information, without even asking my name.

James, I will continue to make my own appointments!

Margaret -- thanks for thought... I don't write for Gold Stars, I write for the audience I am trying to reach. I did it again this morning... You were so right, do what you do for thank yous, the rest will follow...

Margaret your shining this morning:)

If you 3(Colleen,BB,TLW) are trying to make my day, consider it a success!

FEB

2007

Hi Margaret, I'm a little green, but do you go to show your listings when another agent is showing his client the home? I thought as long as the other agent called first to see if they could go and see the listing, and it was ok with the owner, I didn't have to be there. I am still waiting to get that first listing, but I want to do what is right, so should I always be present when another agent is showing a listing of mine?

FEB

2007

I make ALL of my own appointments and I show many of them. It will be easier for me to explain this so I am going to call you right now!

Enjoyed speaking with you, Michael, and explaining how I work. Wishing you success and welcome to the rain. There is so much good information here for all of us!

I enjoyed talking with you too! I can see why you have a radio show, you have a very nice voice and I hope I can remember to catch it one of these Sunday mornings. Thank You for the time on the land-line, I greatly appreciate the time and information you gave me! Best Regards,

Michael, My pleasure! Thanks for the kind words. It helps to love what you do and I do!

APR

2007

'Appreciate your comments on my blog "Are these homebuyers for real?" and yes, you certainly may link to it. My post and yours come at the issue from different angles but they do complement each other.

APR

2008

IN theory, I agree with the idea that the listing agent might be the best appointment-setter, but in reality (here in Denver at least), whenever I have to call the agent to set a showing, that listing goes to the bottom of the pile. Why? Due to the reasons mentioned - the agent doesn't answer the phone and if she does, she almost ALWAYS wants to call me back later because it's an inconvenient time. OR, what really gets on my nerves, is she insists on telling me all about the house, all the special features, how motivated the seller is, etc. none of which I care about until I've seen the house - in fact, I'm sure I won't even remember all her helpful commentary. When I'm setting showings, I want to get it done efficiently, not talk to 10 listing agents, all desperate to sell their listings.

Again, if it's handled professionally, no problem, but here, at least, it never is. Because we do have showing services available, it's considered sub-service (read: one-man shop too cheap to hire a service) to have to call the listing agent directly for showings.

That said, this is a helpful post for me because my agent in Alabama told me she sets all her own showings, as if it were a benefit to me and I was horrified. Now I understand her approach.

Thanks for sending me this way!

Jennifer, Thanks for taking time to comment.

This is how I make it work.

By making all my own appointments, the buyer agent only makes one phone call. I am available 7 days and "my" office is not closed for appointments.

Agents don't get put on hold and wait for these messages: "I have to call the listing agent for the alarm code and dog restrictions." or "the showing instructions say "call the agent" or "I can't reach the agent" or " I can't find that property in the system" or the office or the CSS line is busy.

It is Saturday morning and I have just set 3 appointments. Agents know when it is my listing, the process is very easy. One of the listings that I was near, I stopped by and opened the house for the agent with lights, shades etc. Saved her time and she was able to spend that time with her clients. I was on to my next appointment.

Note: my sellers are real people,some with special needs, illness, some with several small children etc. For me, I am the only one who communicates with the owners.

When I take the call, I am the one who can give them the security code, or the location of the lockbox, or any other instructions to make it easy and pleasant..

JAN

Well, this certainly makes sense to pre-screen your buyers, whether yours or others!

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