I have sold a few listings on major roadways, the largest being about less than a half-mile off Concord Pike in North Wilmington along Murphy Road in the supremely desirable subdivision of Deerhurst. There are four lanes of traffic there, two in each direction. To top it off the house had a shared driveway with the neighbor, so making a three-point turn was a near impossible task unless you owned a Smart Car or Fiat, a Mini might even be pushing it.
That house sold, and relatively quickly, partially because of the efforts of the homeowners to provide information on the positive value of living on a “busy main road” as they termed it, partially because it was just a great house in a great neighborhood at a great price, with a great pre-listing appraisal to go with it. None of these facts are overlooked in my commentary that follows, I am even incorporating some techniques I learned – and a few things my clients taught me in that sale.
Real estate agents are lazy. I say it over and over, if you don’t believe me I said it on stage at the RIS Media/Xplode event in Rye, New York in May 2011. Lazy, lazy, lazy. Not all, but many, and when it comes to the most basic things like knowing the market, that’s when it makes no sense to me. For the last few years, I have always suggested to my clients that they “drive by” or use “Google Street View” if they were not sure of an area, or if I knew a road to be busy, or a neighborhood to have amenities they were not seeking (“Well there are benefits to the stream when the paper mill residual toxic waste is cleaned up, someday…” – that is totally made up before anyone thinks I am serious). I spend a lot of time training and coaching new to experienced agents, even experts, and sometimes the things that seem most sensible, logical and efficient to me are completely mind blowing to them.
Nice lot right?
I recognize that the technology learning curve that has happened to the world, not just our industry, over the last 25 years has been immense, and some have refused to move forward more than they must, making do only with knowing the most basics, how to check email and maybe log on to the MLS. Others are so far ahead of the curve they are marking where the curve will eventually follow, not quite bleeding edge but close to cutting edge. The most basic of expectations of our clients though has nothing to do with technology, it has to do with our own market knowledge. Here’s the test and example I use, tell me if you can do this…
The phone rings, you are on office Floor Duty, you answer it
“Thanks for calling Real Estate Brokerage, this is Any Agent how may I assist you?”
The consumer on the other end is inquiring about a listing your office has, it’s your chance to potentially get a new client (bonus points for knowing the difference and that I am using consumer/client correctly in this sentence). You quickly employ whatever tactic you use (or if you were trained by me, you use the one that gets you the client and their phone number, as well as an appointment for a Buyer education meeting, oh I am not telling you that here, that’s not what this post is about) to engage them in a conversation while you pull the property up and appear to be completely “in the know” about all aspects of the house.
You answer their questions, you discuss the builder, the amenities of the property, and the school feeder pattern, offer a few resources and ideas on local shopping, and chit chat.
You go in for the conversion, “When would you like to see it?”
“Well, we are new to the area, we would like to drive by first, then if we like it we can call you. I don’t have a GPS, how would I get there?”
Perhaps I am reaching with the “I don’t have a GPS” but that isn’t the point, what if they instead said “I am not familiar with that area, is that near Main and First by the Acme Market?” What do you say? If you know exactly how to tell them to get there, congratulations you have the basics down – you know your local roadways and streets, and how to get places, if not – guess what you just lost – all credibility to that potential client.
This is where technology needs to wait for the first few years you are in the business. I always tell new licensee’s that the best thing they can do for the first three years is to not use a GPS, to actually look at maps, write out turn by turn directions, drive the route. Turn down streets you don’t know. How can a client believe you are the “Expert” if you don’t even know the basics.
Which brings me to the point of today’s post. I have a listing on a busy road. As a parent of former toddlers, I know the fear a parent has of your child darting into the road, in fact Katarina used to run down the driveway (it is a downhill incline, it screamed out to her to do it) and into the street. I was terrified that she may get hit by the school bus exceeding the 25 MPH posted limit on the cruvy hilled drive that was a major cut through between busy road ways, similar to the one on which my listing is located), it is amazing how fast I can run downhill in pursuit of a 20 month old.
If you want to see what I mean, take a Google Street View look at 1100 Milltown Road, Wilmington DE 19808, the view is before my client renovated the house when it was a Foreclosed property, or even before that, the current appearance is the image on this post. Now walk up and down the road. It is a busy road in the Pike Creek area, busier on some days than others, and at certain times than others. I have never had a problem getting in and out of the driveway, there is street parking, my clients added an additional section to the driveway. Notice there are occupied and well maintained homes up and down the street. See my point?
I get about three to five appointment requests for this property every day, I know Milltown Road, I believe nearly anyone who lives in New Castle County Delaware knows Milltown Road, it’s not an extremely long road, it’s just a very well placed and traveled road. The appointments are confirmed, the agents shows the house, I get the feedback “Client did not like busy road”. All I can think is that at some point in time that agent MADE the appointment, after having either sent the property to the client, or received the listing from the client. Is their clients time so worthless to them that they won’t even offer “Have you taken a look at the location? It is a busier road in the area, the house has a great lot and a fenced yard, I have been inside and you can’t really hear any road noise, but that kind of location is not for everyone. How about you take a ride by, feel free to walk the lot, and if you want to see it I will gladly set up an appointment”. Is that really so incredibly difficult? I think of it from the clients perspective, and imagine the thoughts in their head go something like this “I hired this person as my real estate expert and they know I want a house on a cul-de-sac ideally with no traffic, or down a rural lane and they are showing me this? Time to find a new agent, I don’t have time to waste like this”.
This is why consumers distrust “us” and I use “us” as in our whole industry. This is why they think we are only out to “make a sale” “close a deal” and maybe some of you are, but I am out to become someones real estate agent for life, and for all their friends, their families, for generations to come. A legacy, someone they send holiday cards to, and invite to family events. Sometimes our job isn’t to sell a house, but to help a client understand if it’s the right house or time for them to even purchase or sell real estate. Taking your client to something they have no interest in is really not beneficial to anyone.
Someone out there is saying “But Maya, what if it IS the right house for them” and it could be. I always say that the house the client avoids the most often turns out to be the one that is meant for them. In this instance, you can barely hear the road from within this spacious home, it has an enormous lot sided by a stream on over 1/2 the property and a quiet few neighbors on the remaining half. With the six-foot vinyl fencing you have the ultimate privacy, and an enormous back and side yard.
Could you put in a half-circle driveway, probably, do you need to worry about getting the street cleared in a snowstorm? Nope, the state is maintaining that road from the first falling flake. Is it high visibility and therefore less likely to perhaps have any vandalism or break-ins? Yes, that is another advantage of a higher traffic roadway. I know that some of the agents showing 1100 Milltown Road are aware of the road, and they tell their clients, it’s the ones that send me feedback “We didn’t go inside, the client didn’t like the roadway” that make me feel there are a few too many people in our industry that should probably be practicing how to properly bag dry goods and produce at the supermarket. I know my client is tired of reading the feedbacks, and asking me “What kind of idiots are these agents?” – and what can I say? Nothing.
It isn’t rocket science. Be the area expert, and know the area roads. You have one chance to impress a client with your expertise, why lose it over something so simple? Get to know your market, drive your area, ask other agents to help you, and if all else fails admit if you are not familiar with a place but offer to get more information and get back to the people. Honesty will always win over false bravado and poorly deserved “expert” titles.