Retired Real Estate veteran Barbara Todaro had a great post last month
Get Your Feet Off The Desk And Do Your Job Or Someone Else Will!! Her post had to do with CMA requests.
As new agents I think we get the idea that if I do task A then I will be paid this amount. Real Estate is not that lineal and sometimes our efforts show their rewards in the most unexpected times. I had some buyers this last year that put an offer in on a house. We were up against a few buyers and it could have gone either way. Later on I was at the home inspection and met the owner. After talking with him for a while he said you probably dont remember me but you did a cma for me about 10 years ago that saved me from making a very bad choice. We chose your offer as a thank you and to let you know we remembered you were there for us. I was floored and very happy for my clients to get their dream home.
I view Home evaluation requests as great relationship builders. I dont know how many times someone will call up and say remember me you did a CMA for me a few years ago? Well Im ready to sell. No one lists a house for sale simply because they liked the figures on a cma. People usually ask what their house is worth out of curiosity, maybe interested in a refi, selling privately to a family member. Perhaps they want to know if their tax evaluation is out of line, or how much the value has improved since they bought it. They might be looking at selling but its probably in the early stages of planning. When automated valuation like zestimate came along it outraged the real estate community because the figures are never right. If you think about it though what it did do though was fill a niche. People could type in their address and get a figure and even with a false figure that immediate gratification builds a sense of trust. They had a question and got an answer. Chances are you can ask you clients, friends and family what they think their home is worth and they will give you a figure they found on zillow or redfin. If you want your clients to have true information that is meaningful then be the one to give it to them. Give them a reason to put their faith and trust in your advice by helping them without any expectations.
I just had lunch with a couple that started out with a cma request a couple of years ago. He called me up with the first words being "I'm not selling" and I responded with "Great I'm not buying so WHAT can I do to help you". In the end I helped them find a lender to refi their home saved them thousands and made life a little more manageable. Since then they have sent me 12 clients so far and this lunch was by their words to "talk me into selling their property this year".
Every interaction, every request, every conversation is a building block to a relationship. We want to be chosen to be in one of the most personal parts of their lives, their home, their finances, their family. If we want that honor we had better be willing to give a little something of ourselves first.
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