I have a story to share with you that demonstrates what it takes to be a successful REALTOR®.
What does it take to be a successful REALTOR®?
To answer that question, I’ll share a quick story I posted on Facebook a couple of days ago. If you’re new to real estate, this story is especially important. Most of us are diligent about posting our successes online (e.g., “We sold a house in three days for full price with multiple offers!”) The downside to this is that the consumer thinks our job is easy.
The story starts when I was referred a client from an out-of-town RE/MAX agent. The client was the agent’s brother, and he was relocating to the Phoenix area due to a job transfer. He was a high Type D personality type—the kind of person who wants everything done immediately. I got the referral a couple of days before Christmas, but he needed to be in a house by January 6. It was a busy time in my household. Along with Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day, I was celebrating my 60th birthday on Christmas. Furthermore, this buyer had three kids (one of which was a special-needs child) and four large dogs, so he needed a one-acre property on the west side of town.
We had a challenge on our hands. We found a home, but we couldn’t negotiate the proper close of escrow so we had to back out. Once we found another home, we got the offer accepted and negotiated the contracts on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The day after, however, we performed the inspection and found some issues. All the while, the seller’s agent wasn’t very helpful, and she actually told me she didn’t care whether the home sold or not.
“Inventory is historically low, and as the year goes on, buyer demand will be high.”
That’s when we started looking for a backup property, and we found one, but we still made another counteroffer to the previous seller and their agent to make the situation right. They didn’t, so we canceled that contract and moved on to the third house. Fortunately, this seller’s agent was great and expedited everything for us. On the 6th, we were able to hand over the keys to the house to my buyer.
We got the deal done, but it took a lot of time and teamwork. That’s what it takes in today’s market to represent a client, especially one who’s relocating. Inventory is historically low, and as the year goes on, buyer demand will be high.
We’re in a service industry, so remember to go the extra mile to make sure your clients are happy.
If you’d like to talk more about what it takes to be a successful REALTOR® or have any other questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.
