ENTER THE TWILIGHT ZONE OF A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MAZIE MARVEL, A REAL ESTATE AGENT.

It's a rainy week day in Middletown, USA.  Mazie Marvel is getting ready for another day in her real estate office.  Mazie is an agent in a small real estate brokerage.  Mazie was recruited by her present broker about 3 years ago.  The main reason she agreed to move her license to her present office was the offer of a private office with a door.  Mazie moved from a large office where she worked from a desk space she occupied next to Joe Long, a long time agent in Mazie's former office.  Mazie sells more real estate than Joe and she was convinced that the private office was her ticket to success.  Mazie was never comfortable meeting with clients or customers or speaking on the phone in the desk area of her former broker.   

A Day in the Office.  Mazie is on the road and in her office by about 10:30 a.m. after stopping at Starbuck's for coffee and a Maple Nut Scone.  Mazie is a regular at the Starbuck's location and scans the morning paper and joins in friendly conversation with other "regulars".  Mazie doesn't talk real estate with the groups at the coffee shop because she doesn't want them to think she's there just to "sell them".  Mazie found out long ago that most of the regulars at the coffee shop have friends, relatives or neighbors who are also real estate agents.  Mazie arrives at her office and begins her routine of checking the "Expireds" for the previous day and selects a list of addresses to find telephone numbers.  She then prepares the advertising for the monthly magazine.  Mazie is planning an Open House with one of her listings and calls in an ad to the local newspaper.  Mazie has 4 listings and prepares some mailings to the neighboring houses in the neighborhood. 

After lunch from the office refrigerator where Mazie keeps microwave dishes, she telephones the owner of the house she plans to hold Open and discusses lowering the price for the advertisement, which is expensive.  The Seller advises that they are "not in a hurry" and is "not going to give their house away".  The Sellers have a home in the South to which they plan to retire as soon as their home in Middletown sells.  Once the ad is placed, flyers for the weekend finished, Mazie is off to the local board to purchase a flyer box for a new listing.  On the way home, Mazie stops by one of her listings to pick up agent cards to call for feedback.

MAZIE'S REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE.  Mazie is on a commission agreement with her broker that provides for her to split the commission 70% to Mazie and 30% to the broker.  However, in order to maintain her private office status which includes free copying, free fax, free phone, shared advertising costs, Mazie must produce a minimum  of gross sales each month.  Otherwise, Mazie pays her broker $1,000 a month and pays for her own copying, fax, telephone and advertising expenses.  Mazie has met her monthly minimum for about 3 of the past 24 months.  The average home price in Middletown is about $180,000, down from about $220,000 2-3 years ago.  Mazie needs 2 good sales a month to avoid the Office Fee and get help with expenses.  After the office expenses, taxes, board fees, training fees, gasoline, and advertising, Mazie is netting about $3,500 a month for living expenses.   Mazie believes that she must present a professional appearance on a daily basis and has a clothing budget of about $400 a month.  She purchased a luxury automobile a while back taking a clue from other agents and brokers who appeared to be successful and who drove luxury vehicles.  The high car payments are painful, but Mazie believes that it's just a cost of doing business.  Mazie has about $1500 in savings and rents a small apartment.  

 MAZIE MARVEL'S BUSINESS PLAN.  Mazie works hard and services her listings with friendly attention making sure the brochures are in the house, does Open House on a regular schedule, gets feedback from the agents who show her listings.  Mazie maintains regular advertising in the magazines for her listings and follows her broker's advice about working Expired Listings for new business and calls them several times a week.  Mazie secures about 25% of the listing appoints and beleives that is about average for her office.  She did very well a few years back, but the folks she sold to then aren't going to be selling for quite a while.  Mazie's best year was 2004 but she doesn't really understand why her listings were selling so fast then, but not now. 

LIST TO LIVE?  Mazie's broker has preached that listings is where an agent has the best opportunity for success and Mazie beleives she is doing a good job, she has never managed to carry a sufficient inventory of listings to be able to break through to the higher income levels enjoyed by one or two of the agents in her office.   Mazie's office has a contract with a relocation company and Mazie is offered relocating buyers, but the relocation company gets 35% of the commission and the balance is split with the broker making Mazie's net income from a relocation sale about 35% of the sales price.  Mazie's broker generally gives relocating buyers to newer agents who don't have listings and who take telephone duty.  Mazie believes that her best opportunity for more income is more listings.  So, she goes back to the phone to telephone a dozen Expired Listing owners.  Mazie sometimes feels that she isn't working to live, but feels that she's living to work. 

MAZIE MARVEL'S REAL ESTATE PRACTICE IS, INDEED, A JOURNEY BACK TO THE TWILIGHT ZONE OF REAL ESTATE SALES.

Chapter 1.