Last week, on a Saturday, I received a call on my cell phone at about 5:30 PM. I have always been of the opinion that if you're doing something, be it with clients or family, don't answer the phone. I am not and refuse to be one of those agents that feel that we should be available 24/7, no matter what time of day or night it is. Don't get me wrong, I used to be exactly that way and I would advertise it to the public. Until I came to the conclusion that, if I wanted to be a professional, I should act like one. Your doctor or attorney is not available at every whim of their clients. Why would a real estate agent be? For me the change was fairly easy as I do want to stay married to my wife. As I'm certainly not a bigamist, marriage to my work is not an option. I work to live and not the other way around. Does that mean I'm less passionate about what I do? Certainly not. I've just implemented a few rules for myself. One of them being that I don't answer the phone after 7PM. If it's really important, the caller will leave a message and I may still call back within minutes.
So there it was, the phone rang and I was not doing anything with my family or clients at that time. I answered the phone. The caller was a very nice sounding lady (and having met her now, she truly is very nice) who asked me if I could help her and her husband buy a house. As the conversation went on I learned that they are an older couple who really want to find a one level home in the Colorado Springs area, so they don't have to walk stairs anymore in their Fountain home. As it went, they also wanted to list their home as soon as they found their new home. I know, that's the world upside down in real estate world. You sell first, then buy, but hey, that's not a conversation to have on the phone. So I asked if they would meet with me. I could come see their house, and maybe give them an idea of the value and further explore their needs and then see if there is a future of us working together.
What really surprised me when I asked that question was that, not only was she happy to have me come over, but that I was the first agent that had actually suggested that. Obviously she had called several agents and not one of them had offered her to consult them on their plans. The housing market in Colorado Springs, CO is not all that good that agents can just let business pass by their door. Our most recent statistics over October 2010 show a decline in closings of 19% compared to the same period last year, as it also did in September. Nothing to write home about, even though our inventory level is lower than the national average.
I've been wondering about why then nobody made an appointment. And the only feasible explanation I can come up with is that the clients indicated that they want to buy before they sell. Yet that seems still odd as a lot of the customers need at least some, if not a lot of, education on the process. I guess I'll just stop breaking my head over it and delight in the fact that obviously there is so much business out there, that my competition can afford it to not be on their best game when a call comes in.
If you're a customer, try it out some day. If you don't want to go through this, than just call me. You can find me at http://www.propertymill.com.
If you're one of those agents that is doing so well that they can afford not being on their game, wait for future announcements. I may be able to help you get your game back.
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