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Office Duty and In-House Property Tours STILL WORK on Lake Livingston!

By Joni Bailey

Real Estate Agent with 101 Main St. Realty 518539

June 08, 2014 04:57 AM

Office Duty and Agent Property Tours Still Work on Lake Livingston!

Many agents no longer work at an office, and that's fine. Real Estate works differently from location to location. Being rural, office duty is still a GREAT thing in the Lake Livingston area market. Lake Livingston is HUGE! Many people hop in their car and take a drive out to the lake and end up frustrated because they are overwhelmed once they get here. So they drop in our office looking for help. Yippee!

We also have sellers stop in to list their home. I know it sounds unheard of to all of you big city agents, but living in the country, our people still like face to face meetings -- and a personal touch.

I can't tell you how many times people tell me that they see that I work hard simply because they see my car at the office EVERY day. And that is why they call me when they are ready to buy or sell. They know I suit up, show up, and work hard EVERY day.

And just like being at the office, suited up, and ready to work -- STILL WORKS -- So does in-house property tours.

Our two Lake Livingston Area Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Anderson Properties offices get together on Wednesday mornings and we go out and look at any of our listings that have not been toured. We tour from 9 am to Noon.

Here's what happened on our last property tour:

Office Duty and In-House Property Tours STILL WORK!

When we went to the first property, I heard one agent say "OH! I have buyers coming next week looking for something just like this!!"

2nd Property: "HOW much is this? GREAT! I have buyers looking in this price range!"

4th Property: (Same agent that commented on the 2nd property) "Wow! They can look at this one, too!!"

5th Property: Selling Agent: "What do you think of the price?" General Consensus: It needed to be lowered. (Result: Price Lowered)

We toured 8 properties in 6 different subdivisions.

Results:

Two new agents are familiar with 6 subdivisions.

3 properties are going to be shown.

An agent was able to help their seller realize that their asking price needed to be lowered.

Our agents are better equipped to assist their buyers and sellers.

Technology is awesome, and I love it. But some of the old fashioned things like office duty and in-house property tours STILL work today!

Office Duty and Agent Property Tours Still Work on Lake Livingston!

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Rob Thomas

Prestige Homes of The Tri Cities, Inc. CALL....423-341-6954 - Bristol, TN

Bristol TN-VA & Tri Cities Agent, ABR, GRI, e-Pro

Joni,

When people see your work ethic they are enthusiastic about working with you!

have a great day

Rob

Jun 08, 2014 06:46 AM

Tammy Lankford,

Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA

Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

I get my agents to go and look at our new listings too. It always is helpful if they have seen it when calls come in from signs (which still happens here)

Jun 08, 2014 06:47 AM

George Souto

George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT

Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Joni there are a lot of things that can be replaced by technology, but this is not one of them. Even though video tours have gotten much better, nothing replaces being right there touching an feeling the house.

Jun 08, 2014 07:44 AM

Nick T Pappas

Assoc. Broker ABR, CRS, SFR, e-Pro, @Homes Realty Group, Broker/Providence Property Mgmnt, LLC Huntsville AL - Huntsville, AL

Madison & Huntsville Alabama Real Estate Resource

Joni, I've just learned a little about your area that I was asking about in a new post of my own. We are on the same wave length.

Jun 08, 2014 08:04 AM

Tammie White, Broker

Franklin Homes Realty LLC - Franklin, TN

Franklin TN Homes for Sale

Joni, I work from a home office so no opportunity for floor duty for me. Our office doesn't do caravans either. We've tried to do them but there's just not enough interest.

Jun 08, 2014 08:10 AM

Jordon Wheeler

The Jordon Wheeler Group - Fairburn, GA

J W Group Real Estate Sales and Service

Hi Joni,

So wonderful to hear of your success! You are awesome.

Jun 08, 2014 10:55 AM

Joan Whitebook

BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH

Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

I think that it depends on the market for sure.

Technology is awesome, and I love it. But some of the old fashioned things like office duty and in-house property tours STILL work today!

Jun 08, 2014 11:37 AM

Laura Cerrano

Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY

Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

Being firming your manner and personality while being genuine all tends to work well together. Love and light, Laura

Jun 08, 2014 03:44 PM

Kat Palmiotti

eXp Commercial, Referral Divison - Kalispell, MT

Helping your Montana dreams take root

I still do office time, but it's just time that I use to do other things. I think in the last six months, I've only had a few calls for rentals, and one person came in looking for a $5K mobile home. In my area (and we're not in a city) it's not a good way to get leads.

Jun 08, 2014 09:13 PM

Michael Setunsky

Woodbridge, VA

Your Commercial Real Estate Link to Northern VA

Joni, it's hard to argue against a system that works for you. Way to go!

Jun 08, 2014 11:06 PM

Joni Bailey

101 Main St. Realty - Huntsville, TX

Your Huntsville / Lake Livingston Area REALTOR®

Pamela: And it's fun! I love getting together with our other office.

Sybil and Lanre: If it is slow, I just use the time to do internet marketing, claim properties on Zillow, Trulia, Blog, update photos on listings, make flyers Yyes, I still make flyers for some properties), create YouTubeVideos. There's tons of things to be doing. And every car that passes by sees that I am doing it. It's great advertising.

Rob: Right on!

Tammy: It is amazing how many times I hear "I saw that on MLS but just didn't realize ______." You can't know a house just from looking at pictures. :)

George: That's right! And buyers know it. That's why Trulia has check ins. So buyers can see which agents have actually been to a home. They want to know what it is REALLY like!

Nick: I will see if I can find that post!!

Tammie: I hear that a lot. But it still works on rural Lake Livingston! :)

Jordon: HA! Thank you. :)

Joan: Absolutely. In the big city where the offices are on the 3rd floor, consumers have no idea who is there or not. In my town EVERYONE knows who shows up, and, more importantly, who does not.

Laura: It's always good to keep it real!

Kat: That's another reason office duty is good. It helps us to get other things done, that we may not get done otherwise. :) Good point!

Michael: It may not be right for everyone, but it still works on Lake Livingston! :)

Jun 08, 2014 11:36 PM

Roy Kelley

Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

Smart agents know the inventory and do take time to preview homes and to attend broker opens. Some will also stop by the open houses on the weekends.

Jun 08, 2014 11:55 PM

Joni Bailey

101 Main St. Realty - Huntsville, TX

Your Huntsville / Lake Livingston Area REALTOR®

Roy: Absolutely! And they are better prepared to serve their buyers and sellers.

Jun 09, 2014 08:16 AM

Ricki Eichler McCallum

CastNet Realty - Corpus Christi, TX

Broker,GRI,ABR, e-Pro, TAHS

A well deserved featured blog, Joni! I totally agree! Suit up, show up and work. It is the key to success no matter what you do. Face to face meetings produce better than back and forth emails, texts and tech stuff I think. Give me a pen! Sign here! :)

Jun 09, 2014 12:02 PM

Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties

Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN

The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730

Joni, That is the way it used to be in Clarksville. But now the town is so big and traffic so dense that it takes almost an hour to get from one end to the other. Many of our agents do office duty. I do not because I have no extra time in my day.

Jun 09, 2014 12:08 PM

1~Judi Barrett

Integrity Real Estate Services 116 SE AVE N, Idabel, OK 74745 - Idabel, OK

BS Ed, Integrity Real Estate Services -IDABEL OK

Joni, your face to face with clients lets them see how knowledgeable and trustworthy you are.. Floor duty is that time for f2f. Love this!

Jun 09, 2014 01:31 PM

Bill Reddington

Re/max By The Sea - Destin, FL

Destin Florida Real Estate

Floor time works sometimes and most times not. Maybe in a real small town atmosphere. Don't do floor anymore. Much better luck in front of computer and on phone. No distractions.

Jun 10, 2014 06:06 AM

Robert Bob Gilbert

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Anderson Properties - Katy, TX

Your Katy TX ( West of Houston) Real Estate Expert

Joni, Good to hear these in-house property tours atr working. We don't do these tours at all. I have found floor time is totally worthless. The odds are about 1 out of a 1,000 or worst that you will get any type of lead by working the floor.

Jun 16, 2014 06:23 AM

Donna Foerster

HomeSmart Realty Group - Parker, CO

Metro Denver Real Estate Assistant

Joni~ Real estate is LOCAL. It's great that you are able to generate business from office duty and property tours. It really doesn't work in our area, but I would certainly do it if it did!

Jun 28, 2014 12:31 PM

Endre Barath, Jr.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA

Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Joni, nice to see that there are face to face meetings with clients dropping in to the office.... I sold once a million dollar condo to a buyer who did just that, he dropped into the office in Beverly Hills....now that is become a rare event due to the internet, DocuSign etc....Endre

Aug 07, 2014 03:35 AM