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Sally Searcher - WHY?

By
Real Estate Agent with Florida Future Realty, Inc. BK3071625

Sally Searcher Let Me Explain

 

So yesterday I receive a call from a prospective buyer. We’ll call her Sally Searcher. So, Sally had called on one of my listings.

 

Sally: Is the home still available, what can you tell me about it, how much is it…etc.

 

Me: Thanks for calling Sally, how long have you been looking?

 

Sally: Oh, hold on we’re driving around looking at homes.

 

Me: <gasp> You are not wasting your time & gas randomly driving around calling on signs are you?

 

Sally: Yes, we have been SO busy driving around trying to find a house.

 

Me: Sally, are you working with a real estate agent?

 

Sally: No. We are not.

 

Me: Sally, that house is blah blah blah blah (price, size, gulf view, etc.)

 

Sally: Wow, that sounds great. We want to see it. When are you available to see it? We could be over there later this afternoon.

 

Me: That’s great Sally. I am not personally available at that time but I could have one of my agents assist you.

 

<PAUSE>

 

Sally: I’m going to be very honest with you. We only want to work directly with the listing agents.

 

Me: Could I ask why?

 

Sally: Because then we can negotiate the best deal.

 

Me: Well actually that isn’t quite true. The listing agents work for the seller. We work to assist the seller in obtaining the highest and best offer possible.

 

I personally prefer to only work for the buyer or for the seller. When I work directly with the buyer I help them buy the house for the best possible price and terms. In this market it is critical to have your OWN agent showing you homes. I would be more than happy to have one of our agents be that agent for you.

 

Sally: Hold on a second. <She goes to speak to her husband, for I kid you not, about 5 minutes.

She comes back>: Well, if we should be working with one agent we already have someone in mind.

 

Me: Ok Sally. Feel free to have your agent give me a call to set up the appointment.

 

Sally: Well, can’t you or one of your agents go ahead & show me the house?

 

Me: With all due respect Sally, if you are working with another agent they should be the one to show you the home. It would be a waste of one my agents time to come out and show you a home if you are already working with another agent. But if you don’t have an agent and wanted to meet with one of my agents and decide if you wanted to work with them then they could show you that, or any other house that is on the market.

 

Sally: Really? They can do that?

 

Me: Of course. I go over with her the agent’s experience, skill, personality and she feels better. I’m referring her to my mom. My mom has been in the real estate business for almost 30 years. She’s lived in Cape Coral since 1994. She doesn’t pressure people and she is very helpful.

 

(obviously this lady has a trust issue with agents)

 

Sally: Well should I call you back for an appointment or can I call your mom directly?

 

Me: Either. Again, my name is Susan Milner with Florida Future Realty, Inc and my mom is Peggy Milner with Florida Future Realty, Inc & her # is (239) 282-9219.

 

Sally: Great thank you. I really appreciate your candor and look forward to working with you/your agent to buy a house.

 

(There were parts of the conversation left out but you get the drift)

 

Now, I’m not for sure if Sally will really decide to use just one agent. She already told me she is out there calling every sign. But it is very sad to hear consumers driving around randomly wasting $3.50-4.00 gallon on gasoline calling random signs – we have a lot of them you know! And all the while expecting to get a better deal going directly through a listing agent.

 

In this market I think it is critical to have ONE agent working for you. One that you trust of course and who is showing you the best houses that match your criteria.

 

Does Sally know that after one 30 minute conversation with her & maybe 1 time out viewing houses I could hand pick the 3-5 BEST houses in all of Cape Coral for her? No, of course she doesn’t realize that. She doesn’t KNOW me. She obviously doesn’t TRUST me. YET anyway.

 

Later I observe another agent in the office following up with a buyer. This buyer had been doing the same thing. After a few minutes of counseling and armed with better advise he is on board again to allow one agent to do all of this work for him.

 

Consumers, if you are considering a home purchase, please give us a call and a few minutes of your time. We have access to ALL of the available homes for sale. We know what the inventory is like and we watch for new homes to come on the market as well. You will get a much better ‘deal’ working with ONE great agent vs. a million random ones.

 

If you aren’t ready to give us a call, feel free to visit our Real Estate website to search for the available homes in SW Florida (we cover Cape Coral, Ft. Myers, Estero, Bonita, Lehigh Acres & surrounding areas).

 

Yours in Success,

 

Susan Milner

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

(239) 218-2229

Search Cape Coral & other area listings: www.Florida-Future-Realty.com

Susan@SusanMilner.com

 

 

Comments (5)

Tony Fantis
Fantis Group Real Estate - Salt Lake City, UT
Realtor,Principal Broker - Salt Lake City
I hate it when I see that happen...but i guess it always will.  There's always somebody out there offering poor advice!
Apr 15, 2008 01:56 AM
Rosario Lewis
DDR Realty - Newburgh, NY
GRI, SRES - DDR Realty - Orange County, NY
I have run into more than one client who did not understand the power of MLS until I explained it.
Apr 15, 2008 02:01 AM
Steve Loynd
Alpine Lakes Real Estate Inc., - Lincoln, NH
800-926-5653, White Mountains NH
This is A better example of consumer education than all the times we tell drive-bys the same thing over and over. Get the buyers to your office and they'll be half way to ownership, Great post.. did you hear from her again.
Apr 15, 2008 02:02 AM
Jay LaGace
RE/MAX Realty Team - Cape Coral, FL
Cape Coral / Lee County Real Estate - 239-443-8795

There are alot of Sally's out there, I just cant believe how many. Its amazing how many people want to do all of the work or try to by themselves. Would someone fix there own broken bones, or remove a tooth???

 Call a Professional and let them do what needs to be done.

 

Apr 15, 2008 08:19 AM
Peggy Milner
Florida Future Realty, Inc. - Cape Coral, FL

Yes we did hear from them again.  They were truely delightful people.  I showed them the house and choose another that I thought that may interest them.  Still working with them.  I am sure if   and when they buy, that I have earned their trust and they will buy from me and only me.

 

Susan's Mom

Peggy Milner

Apr 16, 2008 04:00 PM