Last Saturday, Valentine's Day, started out for me with an early morning visit to St. John's emergency room in Maplewood after my first ever blackout. No worries, I'm perfectly fine. I found out after a few hours of tests that I tend to faint when in extreme back pain but I digress...While waiting behind the curtain in a gown that opens in the back without much else on but socks, I heard one of the nurses discussing her search to purchase a first home with a colleague. Just a few feet away from me, I could clearly hear the discussion. "Looking at homes in St. Paul, White Bear Lake and Hugo....Lots of great homes on the market...(pages rustling) This one is a foreclosure...I don't really know what short sale means..."
Yep the REALTOR® radar kicked in but alas I'm not exactly dressed for success in the hospital issued garb. Besides I was still feeling a little woozy after the early morning fainting spell. After a few minutes of eavesdropping, it wasn't like we could go anywhere or do anything else...My husband jokingly offered to go out and give her my card but I declined. It is hard to be viewed as a professional REALTOR® and discuss homes in your skivvies between a blood draw and EKG.
I am just not THAT aggressive when pursuing a client.
I do know of an Anoka County real estate agent that is very aggressive. I heard tales of her amazing ability to drop everything that she was doing to run over and offer her services to every car that drove up to the home she had listed across the street. I heard the tales from a less-than-impressed family that had the unfortunate opportunity to be met by this real estate agent at their car. She was sunbathing when they stopped for a flyer. The aggressive agent didn't bother with a towel but high-tailed it over, barefoot and bikini-clad, to ask if they wanted to see the inside of the home. The mom, dad and preteen kids in the backseat, were shocked, quickly declined and drove away...FAST!
I know I am a very good REALTOR and buyer's representative. I would have been able to expertly assist the young emergency room nurse to purchase her first home. I know the market and have been taking buyers to see foreclosures and short sales all over St. Paul, Forest Lake and White Bear Lake for the last several months. I may have even been in some of the homes that she had printouts for. But as a professional REALTOR®, I chose to remember there IS a time and place for everything. This just wasn't the right time.
I prefer to save my aggressiveness for the negotiations and find my leads when I am fully clothed!
If you are buying or relocating to Minnesota and need help from a professional REALTOR®, give me a call or visit my website for a FREE Relocation Packet, Homebuyers Success Packet or sign up for Listingbook Twin Cities Home Search. I specialize in acreage and lakeshore properties in the north and east Twin Cities metro area including Ham Lake, Lino Lakes and all communities in the Forest Lake School District! Serving Anoka, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington Counties in Minnesota..JPG)
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Copyright 2009 Teri Eckholm http://www.terieckholm.com/
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