I joined Active Rain about 3 months ago, and I must confess that I am addicted to this group of professionals. I have learned a lot from the members of this group, there are tons of useful tips on how to handle almost anything relating to real estate. I have pick up a few marketing tips that have made a difference and I have met some wonderful people who's knowledge is so generously shared that I have nothing but admiration and respect for them.
During this time I have had two of my clients move out of the area. In the past I will look for the nearest office or look up the CRS or GRI members on that area and hand over my clients without knowing much about the individual except the number of years in the business and the professional designations, I figure if I have those designations and they do too, then, they are like me... wrong!
When I posted my first seller referral I received lots of inquiries, I particularly asked that the agent must be CRS or GRI, I screened them and found a wonderful active rain member who right now has a new $850,000 listing. This Realtor was new to AR also but had the designations I wanted and she lives 5 minutes from this listing, took action, followed up with the client and with me. Good feeling!
My second referral is an all cash buyer for about $600,000 but this time I actually went to the AR web page of the individuals and read some of their post in their blogs, looked at the inventory of homes, cheked the ability to reach them, the 800 numbers, I called them on the cellular and actually was able to pick the best Realtor I could possibly find.
Both of my clients are absolutely delighted with the individuals I found for them. But by sending buyers and sellers referrals out, I have learned that the receiving agent must meet a few requirements in order to compete for and win the referral: Numbe one: Quick response of course, a couple of hours after the posting the referral was assigned. Professional web site, if you don't have an online presence but my client does, there will be no connection! Professional designations like CRS, GRI, E-Pro at least, this will tell me how commited and updated you are in the industry. A toll free number, I will gladly pay for the call if someone is going to give me a listing, wouldn't you?
I also appreciated the brief introduction some of them had when requesting the referral. Some did ask for the referral, others just told me how wonderful they were. The better ones even gave me tips! Like: "a part of that city carry Mello Ross taxes that are high, be careful you get an agent who knows the area well..." That was great! I used that in my interview with the Realtor that ultimaltely got the referral and warned my client to keep an eye out for that.
The ones I did not care for were those whose geographical area was not what I was looking for. Or those Big Designations-long experience-leaders of a team who wanted the referral but when I asked who will handle the client, they told me their "buyers agent" who happen to be a new Realtor with just a few months of experience, ouch! That is a no-no for me! If I give you a referral based on YOUR experience and knowledge, YOU must handle the client! Please remember that the client will give me feed back and I will have no problem looking for another Realtor if you drop the ball.
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