Gas Guzzling Your Gains?!

suzanne, you have to meet the people or someone else will and they may get your sale. i think it is important to quaify your customer. are they ready to buy or just looking.

If you are in business you look to cut other expenses. You quit doinf newspaper ads as they do little. Your fuel cost should be a small fraction of your over all revenue. You just cut other things along with being more careful. If you know your inventory you can skip a lot. My norm is 5-6 places and its time to buy. It very rare that I show 10 homes or condos to one buyer. Try taking two buyers at once!!!

Suzanne,  I think the days of playing tour guide for potential buyers may be over.  I really encourage my clients to shop online until they find a few properties that they are really interested in and then we go look at those as a starting point.  It is just too costly to drag folks around while they kick tires.  I spend a lot of time with new prospects to try and narrow down what they are really looking for and then we look at things on the computer before we go.  I set my tours up with economy and time in mind and we make one trip up the road and another back down. 

I think people really are pretty much prepared and know what they want these days before they ever contact the Real Estate Agent.  Often it is the luck of the draw if you are the one they call or if it another down the street.  Our market is different thought in that many of our people are just passing through or up for a weekend.  They don't live here and they don't have a lot of time to look around. I know they aren't driving around these days calling on signs.  One of my sellers is complaining because no one is picking up flyers from the box.  I told him they just aren't driving around looking anymore.  They are searching online until something sparks their interest and then they are calling for more information. Times have changed in the industry and we are all just going to have to adjust and so are our customers and clients. 

I guess we need to really do a better job of qualifying our buyers to make sure they are in the market and know what they are looking for.

I love the first line in your profile --- "You are my focus." 

I'll shuttle  clients wherever they want, AFTER they preview properties on line.  It's work looking for a home, and I find most buyers that actually call to see a house are not wasting time.  Many will insist on "drive bys" before they are willing to look at property.

I find that the real impact is that I try to plan my own driving more carefully and carpool more when previewing properties/open houses.

I drive a rather large truck.  I've asked clients to drive and I will pay for their gas.  20 bucks in their car goes alot farther than 20 bucks in my car.  Nobody has yet to get offended for the request. 

I have clients that have presented me with gas cards, insist on putting gas in my truck, and flat out leaving cash in my truck.  All without request.  I also had a one that just had really bad gas, but thats another story. 

If I had a buyer that Realy had to see the property, I would likely show it to them and eat the cost.  I'd make them meet me there though.  If the client is a sign caller to begin with and will call because I can't get them in today, then the deal is likely not going to go smooth anyways. 

I try to make sure my buyers are well qualified before I put them in the car and are prepared to look at homes to purchase.  It usually works out well.

Hi Suzanne... As a Short Sale Specialist, I work more with sellers than buyers, but even still, I am making sure that seller's are ready to make a decision about listing before I drive (sometimes 30+ miles) to their homes.  I am doing far more initial consultations by phone than ever before to save both time and gasoline.