Keep Calm and Remember You Work For Your Client

Keep Calm and Remember You Work For Your Client

The market in Alexandria and most areas of Northern Virginia is tight right now; inventory is beyond low and homes that show well and are priced right are receiving multiple offers within hours of coming on the market. Some are receiving 10+ offers. When these are the conditions we are working in some agents stress and egos run high.

The barrier to entry in our profession is far too low and when the market is good you could shake a tree and 20 Realtor’s® will fall out. There are incredible agents, terrible agents and everything in between. I’ve always felt agents who aren’t in this business to serve their clients need to get out but, I digress.

I have clients who have been looking for a home and we were set to see a listing that had just come on the market overnight. We all noticed the home was listed as 6 levels and realized every level had been duplicated causing what should have been 3 to show up as 6. I gave her a call and let her know I thought there was an error and we both chuckled about a townhouse being 6 levels. She was so appreciative that I called. It took maybe 2 minutes of my time and is something I hope someone would do for me. Let’s face it, typos can happen, there’s a lot of info that gets input for a listing.

Fast forward to the showing going very well and my clients wanting to make an offer. I gave her a call back because I feel it’s important to connect with the agent on the other end in the form of a phone call when my clients want to make an offer. She was equally as kind as the first call and thanked me for contacting her to see what would be appealing to the sellers to include in the offer. We all already knew there would be multiple offers and being able to tell my clients what the sellers were looking for helps give them more information to work when deciding what to include in the offer.

I’m in a place to serve them and provide them with as much information as I possibly can. In this case, my client's offer was chosen and the other agent disclosed they had an offer that was slightly higher but, the agent never called to ask any details. He had emailed the offer and listed in the offer that it expired in 24 hours. Because there was no conversation the details aside from price weren’t what the sellers were looking for.

The fallout rate with contracts is high right now and building a rapport with the other agent goes a long way. I have no doubt we’re going to have a smooth transaction because there’s a mutual respect that’s been created. We each represent our client’s best interests but, all parties are working towards the common goal of settlement.

It’s a two-way street when it comes to agents working together – real estate is a team sport. In the past few months alone I’ve been called old school, asked why am I not emailing or sending a text, and even been told by one agent that she doesn’t take calls about offers, just email it and wait to find out if it’s accepted. In that case, my clients decided not to offer all together because they felt that the agent would make the process difficult.

We’re in place to serve. It’s our responsibility to a client to advocate for their best interests at all times. Keeping calm and showing respect in order to achieve the best possible outcome every time is a must. Anything less than that is a disservice to the client. Agent to agent relationships are important and can make or break a transaction.