Conserving Gas... Is It Worth It... ?

I'm fortunate in that many of my buyers prefer to scout out the neighborhoods and houses first before asking to see inside.  I have other buyers who like to follow in their own cars, not necessarily good for the planet.  For those that want to ride with me, I try to plan the most direct routes.

Karen Anne...

Amen :)!  It's the same with people who say "Oh I don't want to make more money, I'll have to pay more taxes"...duh, where is the rational in either of those statements.  I have two buyers agents and I have harped on them for years, the only thing the phone is for is to set an appointment.  Get the customer in, build trust, get your buyer's rep. signed, prequalify, explain the process...be a professional!  There is no doubt in my mind if they would start doing that (and get off mass e-mailing of new listing), they both could do 10 times the amount of business, which of course more than pays for the gas.

Liz

I love the approach - you are so right - it is the perfect opportunity

Hi K.A., Real estate agents carting clients around in cars and showing them tons of houses all over town???  How kitschy!  I love that you are so into retro marketing ideas!  :)

I thought that this approach to client service went out of fashion with Gas Stataion attendants in starched clean uniforms and home milk delivery!

Great post, thanks for sharing your insights!

Karen Anne.....you may have a point here and it is something I haven't thought of.  I usually get a committment upfront from my buyers.

Good post, Karen.  Thanks for stopping by my Hang on Sloopy post.

Judi

I don't ever worry about the cost of gas. Because I ride a pony to work. Naw, I drive a little two-seater, so that means when I show property, I either take my husband's Prius and waste his gas (which is kinda hard to with a hybrid) or I ride with the buyers.

Hi Karen,

You've made a really good point in your post.  To further agree, in my opinion, the key is to make sure that you are working with qualified buyers who will be loyal to you.    How is your kitty doing? 

I'm with you on this one! I have them come to my office and meet with me and a mortgage broker and once we get them pre-approved off we go to find a house, in my car unless they have kids and we can't all fit in one car.

I agree that our job is to show homes and if you can't afford it, then you are doing something wrong and you are sounding cheap when you tell someone to just drive by and if they like it to call back and you will come over.

Karen Anne:  An interesting way to look at things.   I never tell buyers to drive through neighborhoods to eliminate things, and then get back to me.  I do, however, do that to renters.  A buyer is a precious commodity and should be treated as such.   Treating them well pays future dividends when their referrals start flooding in.

Good points, Karen.  The way I look at it, if I'm not burning fuel, I'm not doing business.  The more time I spend at the pump, the more stuff I've got in the pipeline.  Pun most certainly intended.

Karen Anne--I agree that a true buyer with a signed buyer's rep agreement is worth taking around to see homes.

Karen- Great post. Oil companies are making huge profits, which cut into our profits... Why should we have to sacrifice losing more profits by driving less for our work. Don't get me wrong I am all for cutting back the needless driving, and planning my trips to the store together rather than go to this store this day go to that one that day etc., but why should any of us have to cut into our profits any further by not doing the driving that is needed for our careers. I get 10 mpg, and I still give free estimates, sure I could guess hoping the home owner actually knows the size of their yard, sure I could charge an estimate fee, but both of those could cause me to lose more money than doing the free estimate. Just like you said if you tell them to drive by 10 houses and if they see some they like call you and you will show them to them, they might just go elsewhere causing you to lose quite a bit more than even $50 in gas to drive them all around town.

Goodness I guess it logged me out when I was reading your post...lol well here is the rest of my information below,

Thanks,

Tom

I think we all have to be more careful to work with REAL CLIENTS.  Texas is doing better volume-wise then NY.  What is becoming problematic - unfortunately, is whether these people are SERIOUS or just tire kicking.  When I take people out I am often covering a large amount of territory.  I try NOT to go to several towns the firs time out. I want to see how serious they are and if they put anything on their "maybe list." If after 14-15 showings, they haven't chosen a couple of "maybes" I have to start thinking about whether I am wasting fuel and time.  I am letting people go more rapidly these days because there are so many people who are very ambiviant about buying and because I have been burned before driving all over the county with people who aren't really serious.  Last summer,  I had six buyers running me ragged.  Not ONE bought a thing.  One famous case: I put over 600 miles on my car with one client. I had an EBA bu they dumped me the minute it expired and bought FSBO a couple of months later.  I was absolutely furious. They had me running all over  the bloody county.   I'm learning that if the buyer is SERIOUS...they will have some "maybes" pretty early on and the word "compromise" and the phrase "give and take" are not bad words....

This may be more of reflection of the market and how many chronic fence-sitters everyone has than gas prices - although that pays a role when its' close to $50 to fill up a tank and I'm not getting sales.

You are absolutely right, that as agents we shouldn't let the gas prices affect the way we do business.  We should, instead act and think like the rich do, and that is if something goes up, there's a way to make money on it.  We can either buy stocks where the oil industry is or simply take advantage of the situation and convince buyers to meet with us and let us drive them around.  Where I"m from, many buyers are reluctant to drive with the agents, so this gives us an upper hand now to use with buyers.  Close contact in the car with theses buyers is essential in building rapport.

Great post

Karen Anne,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. In tough times some agents try to cut the buyer's tours, some - save on marketing.  Yes, we need to consider all our expenses, we need to be more efficient. However, it's important to remember about the opportunity cost of our savings. Opportunity cost of gas savings might be very high - from loss of chance to ask our buyers the real questions and listen to important answers while driving to complete loss of business.