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Hello, Goodbye

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams NJ Metro Group

With the changing market, surely there will be alterations in some of the relationships we have with clients, even those we felt closest to. Those who purchased at the highest point in the overheated market of the past, while understanding that the economy is larger than all of us, may yet place the blame alot closer to home -- upon their real estate agent. The very same agent who may have become a good friend and advice-giver.

While loyalty will still be primary to many in our client circle, the uncertainty, the fear, and the overwhelming sense of despair all around us, now, will, for some whom we've helped, prevail. We'll wake up in the morning, check new MLS listings, and see that our good friends have abruptly left us behind, without even a call or email. The message is crystal clear. And, yes, it hurts!

It comes with the territory, though, this coming and going of those we work with, because our job is to traffic not only in knowledge, but in support and interpretion -- we help them figure out what's best, don't we. It's our job to seek out the right living situations for our clients, help them work through emotions, work with them as they compare and contrast homes, and support them as they decide to move forward and through a transaction. In time, some decisions look fantastic, others just curdle.

The buyer who stretched just a bit beyond the comfort zone may now wish he hadn't. Thinking back to that moment when it seemed not so daring to take on more debt, he may focus less on his own sense of entitlement at that moment and more on how we may have supported the decision. 

With so many out there with homes in jeopardy, it behooves us to stand back a bit and reflect on all of this -- the advice we gave, the support we rendered, and the legacy of those choices we all made.

 

 

 

Posted by

Roberta Baldwin, Principal

The Baldwin Dream Team

Keller Williams 

Montclair, NJ 07042

973-420-9043 (direct)

RobertaBaldwinTeam@gmail.com

Barbara Delaney
Park Place REALTORS, Inc. - Roanoke, VA

Dear Roberta,

I understand your pain! Fortunately, I never sold a house to a buyer who couldn't afford it!

All of my clients are very comfortable!

I may have lost a bunch of potential buyers, but I told them the truth, as I perceived it!

 

Barbara

 

 

Feb 05, 2009 01:59 PM
Anonymous
Roberta

To elaborate: In New Jersey, for at least a decade, it was not uncommon for people to bid tens or hundreds of thousands over asking. But even those who didn't, in a market where the average home might be $500,000 to $1 million or more, losing a job or just being part of the current recessional frugality, is enough to cause changes in relationships with Realtors. Now, cuts in so many major professions with offices here, are decimating the two-career-couple nest.

Feb 05, 2009 02:10 PM
#2
Mark Phillips
RE/MAX Hometown - Magnolia, TX

We all made decisions on how we advised out clients.  Our business is attached to our reputations.  Every time you give advise your clients are looking at you as the expert in the field.  That's the job we do.  Our professional livelihoods are now linked to our past advise more than ever.  Those that were in it for the quick buck and truly didn't give good advise are leaving our business.  This is what should happen.  No agentor lender can keep every client, no matter how good the advise was.  The decision to purchase was ultimately the clients. 

Feb 05, 2009 02:20 PM
Larry Bettag
Cherry Creek Mortgage Illinois Residential Mortgage License LMB #0005759 Cherry Creek Mortgage NMLS #: 3001 - Saint Charles, IL
Vice-President of National Production

I've seen this all too often.  Needless to say, I have seen that decimation often.  Too often actually.  Good insights here.

Feb 05, 2009 02:22 PM