Richard Weisser posted a great idea earlier about an "accountability" measure for listing agents when it comes to submitting offers. Others commented on that and suggested that it be extended to house showings as well. Both are great ideas.
Just a refresher, I live and work in the White Mountains of Arizona. Plenty of beautiful homes for sale here, but we also have lots of land. Not all of this land is easy to find. Just look at the road map, some might say. Easy enough... if one existed! Which brings me to the point of this post.
"Contact listing office for map", is a very common phrase typed in to the "directions" section on our MLS for rural/remote listings. The problem with that is that many of my clients just show up out of the blue. They'll come in on a weekend and ‘contacting' that listing agent is either impossible or very inconvenient (must wait for them to fax the map to you while you pray that it is legible when it comes through). I've even had helpful agents in the same office check the file only to find there is no map there! It must be that listing agents are either too lazy to type in the directions, or they just want to know when someone is showing the property. (A simple, "please call with feedback" usually takes care of that.) Honestly, directions should be required. If you feel the directions are too long or complicated, scan your map on to the listing. Say... now there's an idea! Don't have a scanner? Take a good picture of it with your digital camera and put it in that way.
In today's market it seems inexcusable not to provide good directions, or be accessible. In fact, I've gotten more business from clients who say, "We called two or three other agents and you're the only one who answered the phone." What? I dunno... is it just me?
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