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Great Things Happen when Agent "Does the Right Thing"

I heard a great story yesterday from the Keller Williams office I work with in Wausau, Wisconsin.

One of our newer hires, who came to us from another firm but is relatively new in the business, had her first listing appointment last week. The appointment came about as a walk in to the office. He was an elderly gentleman who lived about 2 blocks from our office. He stated he needed to sell his house so he could move approximately 3 hours north to live with his son and his son's family.

My excited agent scheduled a time to come out to his house to present a CMA. Being newer at this, she asked her friend in the company to join her and help her with suggestions on how to stage the house with the Seller. When the 2 agents arrived at the home, they found it an utter disaster! There were newspapers piled everywhere, dirty dishes 2 feet high on the counter tops, etc.... Those of you who've been in the business for any length of time have probably experienced someone's home in this condition.

Anyway, as the agent proceeded with her presentation the Seller got very agitated. He argued with her on the numbers the market analysis were showing as to the value of his home. He had it listed for the prior year with another firm in town and never received an offer. When my agent inquired as to why the Seller believed he hadn't received any offers previously he told her it was because of the "Doctors and the Aliens". "Doctors and aliens?" my agent asked. "Yes, first the aliens abducted me and ran all kinds of tests on me, now the Doctors want to do the same thing", the Seller responded.

Yikes, my agent thought. This poor man isn't mentally stable. She quickly thought of a way to graciously excuse herself from the meeting and left the man's home.

She then went back to the office and did some research on this man and his family. She was able to track down the son's telephone number in a town 3 hours from here. She called him that evening and explained what had happened earlier in the day with the man's father. The son was very grateful for the call. He, in fact, stated that never once had a real estate agent tried to contact him when dealing with his father. He agreed that his father was facing some challenges but the fact that the father wanted to sell his house to move in with the son wasn't going to work for the family. They had no room nor the ability to care for him. Sad is this was, the son also stated that the father would drive north to visit his family every 2 weeks and that if he took his medication regularly, his apparent dementia was held in check.

The son thanked my agent for contacting him. Told her he would speak with his father again about not selling his house and work to make sure the father was given the care he needed in Wausau.

I was so proud of Sue when I heard this story. She could have taken advantage of a bad situation, convinced the father to sign a listing agreement and tried to sell the house for him. She chose, however, the high road when she realized he might need help in this decision making process. That road cost her getting her first listing but I know that in the long run put her on the right path to being a huge success in this business.

Posted by Darren Kittleson, CRB, CDPE-Madison, WI on 03/16/2007 07:49 AM

Comments (39)

wausau, wi, keller williams, listing presentations

39 Comments on Great Things Happen when Agent "Does the Right Thing"

MAR

2007

That agent really went the extra step. She followed her moral compass.

Great story, and I totally agree, the high road is the ONLY road!!! Good for her!!!

Great story! She's going to help make a great name for real estate agents in that area with an attitude and heart like that.

And congrats on the featured blog spot!

"Do the right thing" is certainly a wonderful motto to live by. Your agent sure does; thank you for a wonderful story.

doing the right thing will pay off in the long run!!!

Great Story! I believe most agents do want to be a good source for prospective clients and their community. I feel that there's only a hand-full of people who are only out for #1. She did go the extra mile and I'm sure it will be to her benefit in the long run.

Not only did she do the right thing by calling the son, she did the right thing for herself by not taking the listing.

Can you imagine the grief she would have had with a listing like that?

Darren, thanks for sharing a "Feel Good" story. It always warm the heart when someone makes the right choices in life. Reminds me of the recent golfer that called an infraction on himself that cost him 2 strokes and ended up winning the tournament anyway. Eventually good deeds and actions come back to those with good hearts. Thanks for sharing a great story.

Thank you for posting this article. It is an inspiring story.

Hi Darren.

Good post. Obviously Sue is a compassionate person who puts other people ahead of her. I firmly believe what goes around, comes around. She deserves a big star.

Darren, Yes, thanks for sharing Sue's story with us. She did do the right thing. We had a similar situation at our beachside office with a seasoned agent, but I recognized the "walk-in" and explained to our agent after the walk-in left about her past. (She used to come in very well dressed trying to purchase the Rockefeller Estate) Truth was, she did need to sell her house, the brother, also on the dead was not in jail at Leavenworth, he was living in the home too, not James Dean. Our agent did the same as yours. The home was not listed as there were too many issues to be worked out with the 3 people on the dead and the woman's illness.

Doesn't sound like the owner has the mental capacity to sign a listing agreement anyway. Smart girl, just exit gracefully and let the family know.

When the time comes for the family to sell the property, guess who will get the call???

Sue showed her commitment as professional. She also displayed the qualities of a great human being - Both of which are in short supply these days. Thank you for the post.

That's a new spin on KW Cares. I have a feeling that this story has a few good chapters left to write yet. Thanks for sharing this.

It's a shame that as a society we don't want to get involved when we know something just isn't right. It's nice that the agent went out of her way and followed through with the son, unfortunately most people would just walk away. I'm sure he will call Sue when the time is right to list his dad's house.

This reminds me of something a little similar that happened to me. A few years ago, a woman at my dad's Independent Living retirement community needed to sell her home now that she no longer lived there. Her son contacted me and explained that his mother "needed to be in control" of the process and he asked me to meet with her. When I did, I found that she was mentally and emotionally "in and out" - one minute she was as clear as a bell, and the next she was either loopy or very agitated. I phoned the son and told him that in my opinion she did not have the mental capacity needed to enter into a legally binding contract (listing or sale of her home). I suggested that he obtain a power of attorney and that I'd be happy to help him to assist his mother in this transaction. The son did not want the responsibility and wanted to make his mother feel good about being in charge. I'm no shrink, but I could see that she was not capable of understanding (or retaining) things of this level of difficulty and more so, would lack the capacity for any contract to be binding. I said this as nicely (but directly) as possible. He was annoyed with me and insisted that I work with his mother directly. I had to decline, of course. Then he informed me that a colleague of mine whom I know had just done precisely the same thing a few days ago!! I'm not sure whatever did happen with that house, but I never regretted walking away from that situation.

So good to hear that your new agent took the initiative to find the son and let him in on what had happened. So many people think that Realtors are only in it for the money, and she proves that there are agents who really care about people and their well-being.

It is great to hear that in this business there are those who do the right thing. Sue went beyond the "call of duty" to help this family. Kudos!!!! We need more "agents of change" in our industry.

Some situations you have to walk away from. I had a buyer for a home. We were under contract and having an inspection. The seller wouldn't leave us alone and kept saying strange things. I spoke with my buyer and we ran away. I also called the listing agent and mentioned that dementia may be a possibility with his client. He, of course, was offended but the listing was ultimately withdrawn.

For our liability sake and for the sake of being able to sleep at night and look in the mirror in the morning, we need to know when to walk away.

Congratulations on your newbie agent being that aware!!

That's awesome! You have to wonder about the agent that just simply listed it. Wouldn't they want to know if their loved one was having issues?

I was so proud to hear how she chose to handle this. Your outpouring of awesome comments only validates this. I'm blessed to be in business with an agent like Sue Zeinert in Wausau, Wisconsin.

That is a great story, and a great example of doing the next right thing. In the short term, it may appear easier to move on and forget about it, but longer term, if we make these types of right decisions the cornserstone of our business, we will be successful in all parts of life

Good story, Darren. She did the right thing, IMO. Sad situation, though. Wonder how many other agents would take advantage of the circumstances?

Jeff

Sue makes us all proud she did the right thing. She is welcomed to join us, as we would love to have an asset like her as a member. There are way too many vultures out there and I am grateful this poor man found her instead of a pending disasterl

Thank you Darren for sharing. I am happy she's on our Team here in Wausau. Just working with Sue you know her heart is big as gold. She deserves that BIG STAR.

We need more agents who have this type insight and integrity. May the next 5 listing appointments result in sales!

If everyone in our business used the same judgement-we wouldn't get the negative press that we get!

Darren,

Sounds like Sue is the winner in this situation. There just ain't no road like the high road! Thanks for sharing this story.

That was great. I would have done the same thing. The really concerning part is that the son can not care for his father and has allowed him to live alone in this condition.

Great story ... I love when there are positive "out of the box" things that agents do. We get such a bad rap and I know its not the entire population of agents... but a nice story is a nice reassurance. Wish her the best of luck in business please.

Desiree

Great story we need more people like Sue in our profession !

Enjoyed reading the story -its a good reminder of the many good things that occur on a daily basis that we never hear about unless its shared --Thxs Darren

Joe --I am sure there are lots of people like Sue --we ust tend not to right about her though.

What a great story - and a true professional - it makes us all look so much better in the eyes of the public

Kudos to her.

What a great story! I just heard from an instructor at a local real estate class that Realtors were recently rated lower than car salesman in a consumer opinion survey. The first point I want to make is that most car salesmen work hard to provide a necessary service and an indispensable product and they do not deserve to be our benchmark for whether or not we have achieved satisfactory consumer confidence levels. The second point I want to make is that most Realtors work hard to provide valuable services to consumers as well. Your story reinforces that. Thank you!

I am very impressed by the integrity of this fine agent. It goes to prove that

"there is never a wrong time to do the right thing". Good Job!

win win or no deal - do you think the author of "I'll take the high road..." could have been a KW agent? :-)

MAR

2007

Great story! Way to go!

Sue will be rewarded for doing the right thing.

MAR

2007

It certainly sounds like she handled the situation in the right way. I can imagine trying to locate someone 3 hours away. It is tough enough to track someone down locally.

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