You'll need to do some homework. In order for this post to make much sense, you'll need to read up first. Please read Larry and Sheila Agranoff's post "Should We Even Respond To This One?" (a featured post from 12/21/09) - if you're not a member of ActiveRain, the post will not come up for you as it is marked "Members Only." Be sure to read through the comments as this is what my post is based on. So what would you do? I hope you left a comment while you over there, but let … (32 comments)
client: Are Your Clients "Thinking" And "Hoping"? - Seeing Two Words In A New Light
- 12/08/09 06:57 AM
photo courtesy of mollypop Finally...a connection. I had a call today from Stacy Jones of The Jones Team in Katy, Texas, we've been trying to connect for awhile now, but today we finally spoke. It was a conversation about real estate and technology (mostly websites) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's always great connecting with other agents and just sort of bouncing ideas and thoughts back and forth. The call went on for about an hour and I think we both took away a few things while chatting. Sometimes in the middle of a conversation about something, a light goes … (8 comments)
client: San Antonio Home Buyers - Why Many Agents Won't Show You A Home "Right Now!"
- 09/14/09 01:01 AM
It's a common thing. Recently SarahGray Lamm wrote a post titled, "ADVICE NEEDED: Blogging Works. Now What..." The basic premise of the post was how to handle the buyer who calls and says "I need to see this house right now." Not a client, but someone you've never met before. Every Realtor® I know gets these calls and everyone I know handles them a little differently, but the outcome is typically the same. I'm hoping to help San Antonio home buyers understand why many agents won't show the home on short notice. Time Management To put it simply, we as agents … (22 comments)
client: Remember this little fellow? You won't believe how things have changed.
- 09/08/09 07:48 AM
image courtesy of g.originals The angry cat in a box. Anyone who's been reading me for sometime, might recall the story of the cat under my deck that I wrote back on December 21, 2008. The story was a bit of a parable about the cat we find in our backyard and how we were building trust and a relationship. I never actually compared the cat to real estate in any way (except for a note at the bottom saying I think most people would get exactly what I was getting at). The cat in the photo above wasn't the … (16 comments)
client: E-mail Communications During Negotiation - Don't Hit Send Too Quick.
- 09/02/09 02:52 PM
photo courtesy of Truth Went Trendy Ever done something that made you say "Oops"? Lucky for me, although I have, this story isn't about me. I'm involved, but I didn't hit send too quick. I've been involved in negotiations for my buyer this week and today, I received an email from the listing agent about our last counter offer. It was yet another counter. Reading the email, I noticed it continued on past the agent's signature. What did I find? Communications between the sellers and their agent. Private, confidential conversations. I admit, not much was revealed that would be considered … (50 comments)
client: Caution I'm Hot - Are we protecting consumers or making them dependent on the law?
- 08/07/09 05:00 AM
photo courtesy of CarbonNYC The thought process. After reading Erik Hitzelberger's post titled, "Attention Real Estate Pros: Are you ready to be sued?" (which was written based on a comment I made on a previous post of his), I got to thinking about all the things that we can get in trouble for. It also comes from a conversation I had with Kristin Moran in the office yesterday and some of my general philosophy as well. Erik's post revolves around the idea that we might see lawsuits arising from delays in closing and buyers missing the deadline to close in … (12 comments)
client: Listing agents in San Antonio: Do your foreclosure homework and save me the trouble.
- 07/20/09 05:14 AM
photo courtesy of bgilliard I hate this sort of phone call. I'm picking up the phone in just a moment. It's the sort of phone call I hate to have to place. I have to let a client know some news that changes everything for them today. As of this morning, they were happy people. This afternoon, they won't be. We've been looking for a property for them for two weeks now. We're looking at foreclosures mostly and we finally found one that was going to serve their needs. We wrote a very strong offer after I did my research … (13 comments)
client: Customer Loyalty In The Age Of Social Media - AT&T's Failure To "Get It."
- 06/10/09 03:35 AM
photo courtesy of indichick7 Brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is a simple concept. Build a brand, get people to like it, and they will sell your product for you and remain loyal customers for life. Since the dawn of sales, the concept has been pushed as the only way forward to a strong customer base, both in terms of retention and growth. Think of some of the products you've remained loyal to over the years. Do you prefer Coke to Pepsi? Do you use one particular brand of toilet paper and never (even if it's on sale) buy another? Do you … (12 comments)
client: It's Time To Bury This Monster.
- 03/24/09 02:32 PM
photo courtesy of sscornelius I read something the other day and a crusade was born. I am going to kill something. I am going to bury it so deep in the ground the world will forget it ever existed. I am going to see to it that it is destroyed and removed from this world. I am on a mission and none of you can stop me. I am not an angry person in general, but I have reached my limit and the only answer is that it has to pay. And its death is the only way to resolve … (18 comments)
client: The Code of Ethics - Bite your tongue!
- 03/23/09 06:53 AM
The Code Of Ethics and Standards Of Practice. A recent conversation between myself and Randy Hooker brought up some interesting thoughts on the National Association of Realtor®'s Code Of Ethics. For those of you unfamiliar with the Code (as we call it, also referred to as the COE), it is basically a set of guidelines to help determine our duties to clients and customers, the public, and other Realtors®. Within the code, we are taught to apply these ethics to our daily practice of real estate and it also sets forth a system to deal with those that break the … (12 comments)
client: This is why I never give up on someone (a referral story).
- 02/23/09 03:27 PM
photo courtesy of AchimH We all love a good referral. Its the pinnacle of a job well done in real estate. The best pat on the back you can receive for the work you do. The signal that you're doing things right and your clients are happy. We all strive to get them and when you do receive one, you take great care in making sure that the referrer is thanked and the new client gets the excellent service that your past client told them about. I received a referral a few weeks ago. I consider this referral rather special. … (46 comments)
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