When Clients Become Friends

It doesn't always happen, and a great deal of the time Realtors and their clients are glad  to go their separate ways at the end of what is often one of the more stressful experiences of their  Client's lives.  And, we are not their friends, but a Professional, a Realtor who is their advocate to guide them to a successful close of their transaction.

 While you may get invited to the housewarming, and you may invite them to dinner, it rarely goes beyond that to where you genuinely become friends. And that is as it should be.  Friendliness without familiarity, comfort without excessive fluency.  It can get to be a real mess to let those boundaries blur until after close of escrow. We may be their confidante to their problems, but we must be discerning and discriminating as to what we share of our personal lives. It is about our clients, not us.

 You will always be there as their Realtor in a professional capacity. (hopefully)

 And while its not always appropriate, sometimes the chemistry is just there and you become genuine friends. After all, there were things about you and your Client that attracted you to each other. Sometimes you may not have liked what you saw about yourself in that, but there it was, none the less. The type of Clients I get always tells me something about myself that I can become aware of and use as a growth experience.

 At times, you share interests, or hobbies or fundamental values. I have made a few wonderful friends through this wonderful business over the last 27 years. Opportunities I would never have had to get to know people so thoroughly  that one never would get in most businesses. We learn about their finances, their children, their hopes and dreams; and still, that elusive quality of becoming friends just doesn't happen, then once in a great while it does.

I'm not saying it should, it's not forced, and most of the time it's unexpected. If we are professional, we maintain a boundary of professionalism, and sometimes the line gets blurred. Especially when people are vulnerable, as they sometimes can be in these situations.

 But we must always maintain that boundary of professionalism until the deal is closed. Then sometimes you find that you still get in touch with each other and it morphs into a genuine friendship. That's nice when it happens, when you are both on the same page.