I have made light of purchasing reticence within this virtual nook. I have assailed the inability of some to clear the hurdle that separates “browsers” from “buyers” in this ethereal cranny. I have most likely made some fearful to ever step into my vehicle as a house hunter, lest they be tormented by the subconscious meter that ticks inexorably closer to the outlying fringe of my patience in their pursuit of a home. The squeal of brakes at every red light reminiscent to the mind's eye of the protestations of a creaky shopping window closing against its will.
The truth of the matter, though, is as much as “career buyer syndrome” can be a frustration to the afflicted and their agents alike, most lamentation from professionals who bemoan the mileage on their vehicles, depleted gas tanks and missed soccer games for the client who is seemingly as likely to buy a nuclear submarine as a house, is misplaced. In actuality, the occassional encounter with such a client is vital to the continuing education of a REALTOR. What is the first thing most new agents are encouraged to do when they join this wild and woolly industry? Go look at houses. As many as possible. Learning the product and the values is a key to becoming the knowledgeable professional one (loudly) proclaims to be.
After a few years in the biz, new clients start coming our way through referrals as well as whatever lead generation techniques we have chosen to employ. Burgeoning careers look to be fast-tracked for success. This is a rather critical juncture. Let’s call it “I’ve made it syndrome.” Focused on the new business that is coming in by the bushel, it is all too convenient to convince oneself that there is no longer time for the menial task of viewing inventory that does not pertain to the immediate needs of current clients.
Agents get soft, lose that eye of the tiger. The hardcore open house and previewing training regimen is traded in for occasional MLS surfing. Next thing you know, Thunderlips and Clubber Lang are taking turns knocking your listless Rocky around the market.
The much maligned time wasting client is not actually a time waster. Certainly, there will always be those with whom we are not compatible. There will be those who are unrealistic in their wants, and are likewise unbending in their desires. We have the luxury of turning down the business we know represents a long walk off a short pier. That caveat notwithstanding, I maintain that the clients who spend six months, a year or … gulp, longer to find the perfect home represent an opportunity. That opportunity is to view inventory. To isolate new subdivisions, new styles of architecture. To leave the confines of the office and see that which we profess to know intimately.
Beats the heck out of sitting in a classroom while we obtain the latest in a long line of academic certifications that mean about as much as my Outstanding Achievement In Reading awards from Cochise Elementary School.
I have a particular client who drives me absolutely bonkers, and she knows it. Because I tell her. We laugh about it over coffee. We have looked off and on for several years this last go round. Of course, she has bought homes from me in the past, so in the interest of full disclosure, her leash is a bit longer than it would be for the average man on the street. The fact is that I have the time to accommodate her whims (no matter how busy we get, there is always an hour to be found somewhere during the course of a given week), and I have become quite the resource for mid-century modern homes in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area as a result. Never a big fan of that particular style of architecture in the past, our tours have brought a new and profound appreciation for this niche, as well as a knowledge base for the “it” builders and subdivisions that best exemplify the local modern community for which I previously had no use.
While we may bellyache from time to time about the instances in which we are the world’s lowest paid chauffeurs, there is always something to be gained in viewing houses. I may not get paid today, but the education may pay me threefold in the future. I have accumulated a fair amount of know-how during my decade in Real Estate, but there are always new stones to turn over and things to learn. Lessons that are only learned out in the field. That means turning off the computer and getting some face time with the real world on a regular basis. Doing the things that make us useful and needed in a landscape of online services and long-distance "experts" who would otherwise marginalize the local professional through instant, if incomplete, data. Information in the absence of context is useless. We provide the context. That is our job security.
So go ahead, my fellow professionals, and allow your precious time to get wasted as you look at 100 homes with the same foot-dragging buyer. Your continued employment in this field might ultimately depend on those lengthy weekend forays.
Of course, if you are looking for million dollar homes with an $80,000 budget because the market is “still declining,” I will gladly give you a referral to a top notch local professional.
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I always enjoy your written perspectives, Paul...very refreshing. Sounds like your client has earned your wasted time...reminds me of my fave line from The Little Prince..."it's the time you waste on your rose that makes your rose so important." Cheers and have a weekend of joy :-)
And I always enjoy your comments, Mara. Thanks for reading, and have yourself a terrific weekend as well.
Well I must say you brought a new perspective to the 'I want to see everything' type of buyer Paul.
And I must qualify the entire post by saying I can only handle one such buyer at a time, Cameron. My quota is full at the moment ;)
Paul, I read this on FaceBook earlier and again, it's so well written and I happen to agree that I do not mind showing a buyer more homes if they are learning and if in the long run, it helps them make a more informed decision. I also have a couple of agents who will get a referral if I do run across one of those special cases!
Always good to have a qualified referral partner on speed dial for those special cases, Russ ;)
Paul: I've always felt more or less same about viewing houses. It gets me out, learning new streets, new plans and new subdivisions so, even if that buyer turns out to be a dud, I look like I know where I'm going and what I'm talking about for the ones that do come through. Hope all is well. Peace.
Thank goodness for my network of agents to whom I can refer home buyers. Which, of course, proves that time in service has it's rewards.
New agents, beware, the buyer you accept today may still be looking next year. The reasons they aren't buying today will still be the reasons they aren't buying this time a year from now.
There may be a silver lining. Just think of the market knowledge you've gained while touring with a "home buyer" who just can't find the right property. Just think about that for a minute. After all, even if the "buyer" doesn't. . . if they're good company and encourage you to review listings, make appointments, drive from property to property. . . . . all with no offer written, you are now an expert, yes, expert for homes in that area.
Then, the phone rings. It's a prospective home buyer. They are seeking to buy a home in . . . . you guessed it. . . just the area in which you've been researching and showing homes to the buyer who just can't make up their mind.
Over the years on more than one occasion, I have been fortunate to be able to say to a caller:
"When are you available?. There's a home for sale in that community I believe you might like."
Paul:
I have had many conversations with my husband who is an hourly consultant about the differences in the mentality of someone like him and a real estate agent who has to spend many hours "without pay" and is able to see the big picture. We know after years of doing this that time spent showing houses to a qualified buyer will pay off. We just have to be able to keep the faith.
I had the exact thoughts these past few weeks.
I'm off today showing 23 homes to two sets of buyers who have seen an awful lot of home already. But it's taking me to see homes I would not have known about and it is stretching my comfort zone as far as areas that I am willing to cover. I'll be tired at the end of the day and will have missed my Penn State football game but hopefully it will make me a better agent.
Paul as always I enjoyed your post and have a buyer just like yours. Although this buyer has never bought a home from me, I have truly learned the market from schleping with her, and have sold others homes from my in depth knowledge learned from this process. I hope everything is going well for you and as winter approaches in Chicago, I am very jealous of you.
I like your comment, you can only handle one like her at a time. So true. I have different levels of buyer agents patience.
Some will take forever with a client and others know how to close, and qualify upfront.
I worked with local folks for a year...high end buyers. They only called when a home they thought they could live in came on the market. We established a great friendship.
But, when some want to see everything once or twice a week, long lists...then I think they have not been qualified or listened to on what they are really looking for. I mean at some point you have seen it all in my area...Ann Arbor.
Bastien's going to kill you:)
Same thing for me at times on the Mortgage Front. I've been guilty rewarded of from working with some folks up to three years before a transaction is finalized. Then again, I've also been prone to be the pawn in some clever consumer's ruse to pit my service, my pricing, & my time to try to bully the person he/she is actually working and closing with to try to deliver the same or better. Silly & sour me.
I do see your point in only being able to help one of those kind at a time. There are only so many hours in a day and only so many hairs on the head. The latter seems to dwindle with age.
Love the post! I think we can all relate...I'm going to print it and hand it up for a few co-Realtos to see... :)...thanks and Happy Selling!
Good post. I just finally made an accepted offer (after 5 failed attempts) with one of my long-term clients. I joke with them that they are my "three oil changes" clients, since I've been showing them houses for long enough and over enough mileage to need three oil changes on my car. I have an offer in with another couple who I've been searching with for even longer. In that case it was a frustrating search for the perfect foreclosed house -the $300K house that needs nothing but is sellihg for $100K now.
As a new agent I was guilty of what I call being a "pop tart". That's where I would pop up and go show a house to anyone who walked in or called in while I was on floor - no qualification, just unbridled enthusiasm to be doing something that felt like being a Realtor. I still react too quickly, but I do a lot more qualification now, even if it is in the midst of the first showing. I work for a designated agency company, so we are required to get a lot of agency paperwork filled out by the clients. That provides a good backdrop to explore things like motivation, whether they are pre-qualified and such.
Really good point. The most important part of our jobs is knowing the market.
P-Slay - I have actually taught this to my own agents, although in a much less eloquent manner. Thanks for the reference to Clubber Lang - it made my day. As for Bastian, will he take my career buyers as well?
This is the client I don't miss at all. Thanks to my vertical learning curve, I've moved on to selling submarines :)
Matt - Good to hear from you. Hope you are well. Time is only wasted if you allow it to be. When we fixate on the end game too much (paycheck), we miss the lessons of the experience. It can be challenging at times because lessons don't keep the lights on, admittedly.
Lenn - There are certain benefits that come with years of diligent service, such as referring long term projects to someone within your network. I doubt there is a home in your market that you haven't been inside twice, so I'd say you have earned the luxury several hundred times over.
Claudette - If we expect the big rewards, we have to take the big risk. We are never assured of a sale when we work with the general public, thus the incentives must be lucrative. Were we to be assured that every hour spent would result in a check, we would certainly have a great deal more security, but the lucrative pay would not be quite as lucrative. A steady check is very tempting at some point of every agent's career, but the allure of the homerun is intoxicating. Can't have one without the other.
Tim - That typifies my last two years. I have been an unpaid cabby more times than not, but the ongoing education has proven invaluable. I am not allergic to a payday, but there is benefit to be found in those who never buy anything.
Judy - No need to sing the winter blues. Pack your bags and head back down! Chompies on me :)
Missy - Sometimes I feel like I have seen every home in Maricopa County, but the simple truth is that there are far more left for me to see than homes I have seen. It's a chore, but it makes us better agents. Much as we long to fashion pinatas out of some of the more demanding non-buyers out there.
Sardi - I've danced that jig too many times to count. Sellers calling in the area expert for an opinion, only to take your informed opinions (and data) and list with their buddy, or the out of area agent who will do it for pennies on the dollar. Buyers enlisting multiple agents to help unearth that hidden gem as they feel it somehow increases their odds of success (like we don't all have access to the same data). No concern whatsoever about asking for their agent(s) to kill him(them)self(ves) with undying loyalty in the endeavor, while offering no reciprocation. They are out there. I have been used and abused before, and I will be used and abused again. I don't need the certainty of a payday, but I do demand a little humanism from my clients these days. If we take a year to find a home, I don't mind. So long as I'm their guy. I've picked up a little education along with an eventual check. Those that would leave me at the altar after providing their own protracted education, however ... there is a special place in Jeffery Dahmer's freezer for those folks.
Tara - Thanks. Hope your fellow agents find it worthwhile. Happy selling right back at ya.
Norm - I think we were all that enthusiastic when we started. Just the fact that someone would allow little old me to show them houses was mind-boggling when I was a 24 year old rookie. I jumped at any and every chance. I will still show nearly anyone a house for the points made in the post. Before we hitch our wagons together as a couple, however, qualification is vital. I don't need to take someone's DNA to show them a house, but I do need to know that they are legitimate buyers before we start putting together day long tours.
Jamie - So true. The agents who hide behind computers all day and fail to immerse themselves in the actual inventory provide little value above any online service. Want Zillow and other such outfits to replace eventually erase your need? Keep hiding in your office.
J-Cro - I pity the fool who doesn't see value in viewing inventory! Bastian will take care of every cast off you can send him ;)
Hi Jen :)
Paul After 33 years I am an expert on "knowing when to hold them and knowing when to fold them" Karen
Karen - Ha! It's like I always say, if it doesn't fit into a Kenny Rogers song, it is not applicable to my life ;)
Paul,
You certainly have a creative writing style. Have you ever thought of writing novels? Thanks for sharing.
Shari
Wow, an enjoyable readable blog and no pictures! Showing houses gets you really familiar with them, you become the expert.
Hey, I like the post, great idea on "I want to see everything!" LOL
Patricia/Seacoast NH Homes
I agree with Matt Groher it will only makes you practice and will only make you better. Keep at it.
It took me a while to develop your point of view. Looking at homes for some out-of-state clients (I sold their home in AZ several years ago and they wanted to come back) I looked at many homes that looked "good" to them on the internet. Ah, the wonders of digital photography.
But a funny thing happened along the way. I became more conversant and comfortable with the inventory available in the size, style, price range, and location in which they were interested. When they arrived to kick the tires the comps were more than numbers in the MLS. My level of service had been helped immeasurably by all those wasted hours.
Whadda know. I must have learned something visiting all those homes.
Time wasted? It's all in how you look at it, isn't it?
Lowest paid chauffeurs or taxi drivers Paul, we are the ones that allow others to treat us like that. Who says you can't fire one of these buyers, or refer them to your worst enemy?
Certainly our prerogative, Gary, but I often accommodate the long term projects for the very reasons cited in the post. It's all educational if you are open to it. Besides, it's kind of hard for us to complain about mistreatment when the very lack of guarantee is the basis for our lucrative pay. If it were easy and every person who set foot in our vehicles resulted in a check, our potential pay would have to fall to a commensurate level.
Shari - Yes, but all the good stories have been written ;)
Beverly - Not big into pictures on this blog. While appealing to the eye, to me it is usually a distraction. I'd rather focus on improving the prose than dressing it up. Probably a touch of starving artist type hubris ;)
Patricia - We are all too aware of the negatives associated with this type of buyer, thought I owed it to them, as well as us, to explore the flip side.
Roch - Thanks for reading.
Michael - I detect a kindred spirit in your comment. Look forward to a cross sale some day.
Paul - I read this first on your Facebook page, so...
Indeed, the education we get from this is very valuable. It reminds me of something that Ed Silva told me recently - it's on the job training, especially for newer agents who do not have the experience to know everything there is that is involved in buying a home. The same can be said for the seller side of things....
I can see this as a useful point of view provided they are actually looking realistically.
Christine - To which, I'd reply ... why? Even if it is a total wild goose chase, have you not improved your market knowledge? There is a limit to every agent's patience, and I am largely playing Devil's advocate here, but the intent and realism of the buyer involved in the (mis)adventure doesn't change the potential benefit to be gained. Whether or not the client I mentioned in the post ever purchases a home on this low-speed chase, the educational benefits are mine to keep. It may border on silver lining, new agey type thinking, but if we are looking only for a paycheck (which does make our world go round at the end of the day), such excursions are indeed fruitless. If we see benefit in gaining more command of our craft, however, we can use any pie in the sky, drug addled, delusional looky loo experience to further our on the job training. I thought I knew it all after year one, but the longer I hang around, the more I realize I have barely scratched the surface. New knowledge and expertise can lurk in the most unlikely of places.
William - Good, bad or indifferent, we can take something from every experience to become better agents. Not just more financially successful agents, mind you, but better agents. I like to think that my clients today benefit from the thankless pilgrimages of yesterday.
So I noticed that Nick hasn't responded. Is he your worst enemy, or what?!?!? Just sayin...
I've been showing large land tracts to the same couple for the last 9 months. I really do think they are going to buy eventually but if I weren't getting an education at the same time I might be a little resentful of the time spent so far (they're also nice people and I enjoy getting together with them about once a month).
The latest: I'm learning about waterfront property and TVA dock rights. Hopefully it will come in handy again someday.
Paul........thanks for writing about another one of the successful agents secrets. I believe that if agents suffering from a decline in business stopped looking for the magic bullet or holy grail and just did their job, they might be surprised to discover the results.
You are correct in stating that our lucrative compensation is directly tied to the random nature of our success. It must be human nature to revel in one closing and disparage 10 dead end clients.
Wonderfully written and purposively stated. Much better than sunday morning talk shows.
Hey Paul, I actually read through your entire inside view of the Realtor experience these days. Rather than just a "great" post, it provides the insight each of us must remember when searching for a home with and for a buyer. During these "hunts," I've been afforded the opportunity of being on the inside of some of the hidden gems in our great valley. Thanks for sharing, as always.
Paul:
You nailed it. There is no substitute to good o;d shoe leather! ( I work in New York City. We walk and take taxis with our clients!)
Good luck.
Rich
Paul, first off, Nick must be a particularly good friend of yours. Either that, or he is going to kill you soon. It's a long running joke in my office that my clients tend to like me so much that it takes them years of looking to buy a home. I never give up though. Perhaps they go on the back burner at times, but I keep them on my email list. I closed one that looked off and on for 3 years. They spent $565,000, so it was a nice chunk of change, and I got their listing. I just closed another that I have been running all over for 2 years. $490,000 at a full commission. Well worth it. Draining and time consuming, yes. But, in the end, perseverance pays off. But you are right, you can only do one at a time, two at most and thank God most buyers don't stick around quite that long!
One other thought. It's those long running clients that get to know you the best and refer you the most. The clients that buy right away may never get to know you well enough to be comfortable recommending you. That first couple, the 3 years couple, already referred someone to me that bought right away and I am now working with her sister. The two year client has referred her brother to me.
Yep, Nick is going to kill you. I just showed a few homes to a couple who are traveling around the southwest, deciding which city to retire to in 3 years - I'll send them to Nick. Nice folks bought me lunch.
It is fairly easy to keep up on the inventory in this small town. Another advantage is knowing what homes actually sold for and why. Invaluable info when meeting with the appraiser and getting the best price for my seller. I have usually been in every home that appraiser is using as a sold comp - it helps.
From the desk of David Dee,
Paul, how's it going my friend! it appears that you have a little rant going on here. It's all good..for some reasons..i guess. :) I've got one such case in the making. How about 1 year...that's what it took as the buyer was taking some time. We are closing on the deal this coming week if all goes well. It does pay off but you've got to hang in there for the ride. A few bumps along the road but the eventuality of the juxtaposition will be worthwhile.