FUNNY TRUE STORY; CLUELESS REALTOR IN KATY (Houston) TX.
I got my real estate license in 1976 and was very excited about my new career. I was given a desk complete with a phone (they were rotary back in the old days) and told good luck...that was the extent of my training. After about a week of sitting at my desk and staring at my phone expecting something to happen I got bored (and more brook), so I went to my manager and ask if there was something I should be doing? He told me, "Well why don't you go knock on some doors". Actually good advice however I did not know it at the time plus that's all he said, he didn't tell me what to say or offer any other insightful ideals.
With nothing to loose except my dignity I got in my car armed with some brand new business cards (any one out there remember the franchise Red Carpet Realty?), and off I went in search of some doors to knock on. After driving around until my gas gage indicated I would have to stop soon or else. I gathered up my courage and business cards and got out of the car in a neighborhood that was fairly close to my office in the SPRING BRANCH area of HOUSTON. I went to the first house on the block I had stopped on and went to my first door and "knocked"....THANK GOD NO ONE WAS HOME :), what a relief! Arriving at my 5th home, there was a man on a ladder painting his house. I called out, "Hi my name is Liz Carter, (my first brilliant word of the day), and I'm with Red Carpet real estate". Fortunately he was a nice man and came down of the ladder and shook my hand. I see you are doing some painting...DUH, my next brilliant statement, he responded with yes since he had just found out he was being transferred was fixing up his home to sell. Remember this was 31+ years ago and I still remember the conversation vividly. Well I just stood there, and he finally said, "Would you like to see the house?" Yes of course, triple DUH, and in we went. Not having a clue what to do next, thank God my office was close by and after several trips back and forth from his house to my office and back, he and his wife signed a listing agreement with me. The whole time spent from start to finish was around 6 hours; this might be the longest listing appointment of recorded history!
In about a week the seller called me and said that one of his co-workers wanted to see his home and could I meet them there? Is there another word for Duh???, so off I went and low and behold after viewing the home they said to me, "We would like to buy this house". The saying, you could have knocked me over with a feather comes to mind, and I managed to say let's go back to my office. I promptly and of course barely able to hide my excitement went in search of someone to help me, since I was still CLUELESS. Thank goodness my manager was there and went in and explained everything to the buyers and wrote the contract. Then wallah in about four weeks I got a check, and thought boy have I found the right "job"! The transaction went smoothly and no one got hurt, surly there was divine intervention. This is a funny and scary at the same time true story of my fist real estate transaction. Now looking back, with thousands of closing later I of course realize how disastrous this could have turned out.
It's sad but the consumer today faces the same problems many years later, getting stuck with a clueless agent who is totally untrained, under educated, and has no ideal of what they are doing. Most agents do not get proper training even today, they are told to take floor time, hold open houses, run print ads, and hope someone calls them. When I was licensed it only took 30 hours of classes, pass the state test, join the MLS, and you became a HOUSTON Realtor. Thank God we have increased that and there have been other good things, but still sadly we have too many people who hold a license who should not.
I just finished writing on active rain my TOP TEN REAL ESTATE THINGS TO BE POSITIVE ABOUT IN 2008 .Positive for 2008; Represents a golden window for buyers to find excellent deals on homes with excellent financing, by Liz Carter . One of them was we will have less competition since when the business gets tougher agents leave the business and they have been doing so in record breaking numbers. That is a great thing for us and for the consumer; it is a purge of the real estate industry. Let's all keep growing, learning, and doing the best job we can for our clients. Helping new agents with a mentor program when they first start is a great way to help them, and our industury. Give some of your time, knowdlege, and expericance when a new agent comes on board. I even go out of my way to help agents who work for another company, it's just the right thing to do.
Would love to hear from you on the strange and funny things that have happened to you also, maybe we should write a book? It's good to laugh, especially at yourself. My post of things to be positive for in 2008 has been posted on active rain in case you would like to read it.
Wishing everyone the best year of your life in 2008! Liz Carter, owner/broker Liz Carter & Team Realty. Serving the greater Houston, Katy and Sugar Land areas of Texas. http://www.lizcarter.com/, 281-391-SOLD (7653.
Yes this is me under water, back in the olden days of FILM, it took Bill (my better half, sometimes), many shots to get this picture I use in all my advertising. A fish would swim by, I would have to take a breath, so bubbles were all over the picture, a current with come up and I'ld loose my position, the list goes on and on, but we finally got it. We had a blast. I've used this in my ads for 20+ years, with the tag "Before you dive into buying or selling a home...talk to someone who knows the waters" I get strange calls, like, "I need to talk to that lady with the goggles", or "Can I talk to that lady in the water".
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