Atlanta Buckhead Midtown
Gratitude for TRUE Realty Professionals - 3
In Atlanta Buckhead Midtown and the Westside -- well, even the Old Fourth Ward as well, one feels gratitude towards TRUE Real Estate PROFESSIONALS.
How does one define what makes an individual a TRUE PROFESSIONAL?
Let's start wth one word - CONSIDERATION - as the basis for everything else.
The TRUE professional focuses on best serving her or his Client. That means ACCURATE LISTING INFORMATION. ACCURATE starts with Listing input online and includes Lockbox location information, Exhibits uploaded in Listing online and attention to Appointment times.
Remember: Show Respect for the Time Other Professionals Dedicate to Your Listings.
Yes, each of us works to make a living. Yet we need each other to soar ahead. If we were to add up the time wasted on SMALL details, we would have an extra twelve hours every week - or many more. What details? Well, let's start with these:
- Lock Box Locations and Information
If the Lockbox for accessing the Listing is not is a VERY obvious place, in the Listing information, clear directions must spell out where to look. House has Front Door - not there. Side Door - not there. Garage Door - not there. Gas Meter - not there. Fence to back yard - not visible from Driveway or side of house and then behind a bush - FOUND IT! Would that have been a time to give the Agents showing your Listing REALLY clear instructions of where to look? Posts about this situation are abundant. For example, Joan Cox asked about The Many Locations of the Lockbox. Rod Pierson wrote about Location of Lockboxes - even the comments there are worth reading! Or check out the post by Hella Mitschke Rothwell entitled Lock Boxes - Important Tool. Another one is by Connie Harvey - I Have an Appointment - But There Is No Lockbox! Cannot resist one more - from a very special AR member - Gary Woltal - Forgive Them - Hmm- maybe not? - Listing Documents
Every time when writing an offer, the Selling Agent needs Exhibits to complete the Offer. If those documents are not where they are supposed to be - uploaded at the Listing - then the Selling Agent must CHASE after the Listing Agent to get them. What a total waste of time! Something is backwards. The Selling Agent is working double by having to track down a Listing Agent. Then asking for the Exhibits so your Client is able to make an offer on THEIR Listing!
Oh, the Listing agent suggested sending in the Offer without all the Exhibits and finishing the offer later? WHAT? So inconsiderate because EVERYONE down the line is affected by that one Listing Agent's non-professional behavior - start with the Loan Officer and the Closing Attorney just to begin. The documents could have been uploaded when the Listing is added. Whose responsibility is that? Yes, the LISTING AGENT. - Accurate Data online
Here in Atlanta Buckhead, the elementary school known as E. Rivers was established in 1917 on land donated by Mr. Rivers. If the Listing Agent is entering the names of schools, those names should be accurate. Rivers Eve is an Elementary School also yet in a different city - 22+ miles away. Since E. Rivers is a very desirable school, your Buyer Client says, "Show me everything in the E. Rivers School District". The Selling Agent sorts for E. Rivers. Will that home citing Rivers Eve be included? NO!!! Except now, yes, because we know to check for the Listing Agent errors. However, is that Listing Agent serving his or her Client? Obviously not... BTW - the response "Well, I don't do data input. Someone at the office does that." is a little bit like "The dog ate my homework". -
Appointment Courtesy
Setting an appointment takes time. First the Buyer Agent tries to contact the Listing Agent. Maybe the first call maybe it takes more than one. Please - as often as possible - check to see your Voice Mail isn't full. Then the Listing Agent contacts the Seller. After receiving an answer from the Seller, then the Listing Agent replies to the Selling Agent. LOTS OF STEPS!!!
BTW - hardly even worth wasting time writing about those Selling Agents who do not call to cancel an appointment if they cannot come. Recntly, one of our Sellers - mid 70's - left the house in the dark, rainy 38 degree weather on a Friday evening. With the SUPRA Keybox, I receive notice that the SUPRA has been opened. Not that night...
After over an hour, I suggested she go home and put the chain on the door once she got inside. Also insisted that the Seller NOT LET THAT AGENT INSIDE if she showed up later. In fact, she called the next day to ask for another appointment. When asked why she didn't call to cancel, she offered obtuse excuses - "The Buyer was tired." I couldn't figure out how that stopped her from using her cell phone to be polite but ...
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Feedback Request Courtesy
If you as the Listing Agent want Feedback, please have the Courtesy to ask ONE TIME. The Selling Agent receives a request from Showingtime, from Supra and from other services the Listing Agent uses. Personally, I always answer one. NOT ALL THREE OR FOUR but the services automatically send and send with messages implying you are not a team player since you haven't given Feedback.
Listing Agents - Just a hint here - PLEASE be sure the address is ACCURATELY encoded into your Lockbox data. When taking a Buyer Client around, I am showing five or six condos in Atlanta Buckhead, Midtown, Westside or Old Fourth Ward areas, all in the middle of the City of Atlanta. Feedback requests with an address far away in a different city in the suburbs indicates that the Listing Agent did not have the courtesy towards other Agents to update the Lockbox. Sometimes, the address is not even there - just BLANK spaces!
REMEMBER: TRUE PROFESSIONALS SHOW RESPECT FOR OTHER PEOPLE.
The TRUE professional focuses on best serving her or his Client.
That means ACCURATE LISTING INFORMATION.
ACCURATE starts with Listing input online and includes Lockbox location information, Exhibits uploaded in Listing online and attention to Appointment times.
Let's work together to make each other's lives easier!
Then each of us may enjoy those extra twelve hours a week!
All the best - Lynn
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