Dead Realtor Lane, Revisited
While reading Debbie Laity ’s post this past week and a post by Debbie and John McCormack a while back it reminded me of one of one of my first jobs out of college and a lesson that I learned while buying timber in the suburbs of Detroit.
After leaving the US Forest Service in ‘87 I moved to Southeast Michigan where I was hired to scout out and buy high quality hardwoods in the outskirts of Detroit.
Quite a culture shock from the wild mountains of New Mexico to a place where gangland executions and pot plantations were common in the forests.
But the trees were top notch here so we would find them and buy them.
My mentor at this job was also a UWSP graduate as were all of the Foresters at this company. Like many employers that I have met around the country, they like Point grads, and confine their hiring to only the best.
On one of my first days in the woods with my mentor he taught me to drive around looking for potentially good stands of Red Oak, then get out and start hiking the land to find out if the tract was large enough and operable before actually contacting the landowner.
I thought that this seemed a little rude and dangerous, but my mentor explained to me that it was a blessing when a landowner caught you on his land, since it would save hours or days in time spent tracking down the landowner and setting up a meeting.
Most of these landowners would calm down fairly quickly and apologize for threatening you with a gun when they found out that you were not a gangster, but rather a Forester looking to exchange a pile of cash for a few trees.
Soon after this when I started Woodland Management Service back in Wisconsin I adopted a similar approach with my staff and the chance encounter with a neighboring landowner, (without the trespassing that is).
Though we do not expect to see drug dealers and gangsters in the woods of Wisconsin, it is not uncommon for landowners to chase off trespassing hunters from their land.
So it is fairly common for a neighboring landowner to come out and check us out while we are surveying our clients boundaries or marking timber.
Generally they are rather hot under the collar, brandishing weapons when they rush up to us.
But we do not worry, because most of these people will be clients by the end of the day.
After we explain what we are doing for their neighbor, they feel a little silly about their aggressive behavior and invite us to take a walk on their property where we point out things that need to be done and opportunities to improve the wildlife habitat on their property.
These folks almost always sign up for our services, and we can laugh about the day we met for years to come.
So when you see one of these aggressive signs in your travels, remember the dog with the loudest bark is generally the most gentle once you get to know them.
Knock on the door, tell them you got a laugh out of their sign and ask if they mind if you take a picture to share with friends.
Chances are that you are the only realtor who has taken the time to meet them and you could be the realtor of choice for them either now or in the future.
photos courtesy of
Debbie Laity, http://activerain.com/blogsview/4484130/serendipity-sundays---i-m-glad-i-didn-t-come-across-the-owner
The Morgue files for all but the first one.
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