Golf Tournament and a Great Conversation I had with a customer

Hi Everyone!

We are a few weeks away from our Golf Tournament so if you are going to play please call Debbie at 321-749-7786. We are on pace to have our largest tournament yet and I can't thank all of you enough for signing up this year. My granddaughter will be at the tournament so you will be able to see why you are actually playing golf on April 26th.

So I had a great conversation the other day. One of the most frustrating part of being in Real Estate is the fact that some people think that we work as hard as we do just for fun. Don't get me wrong. We do have a lot of fun and probably more fun than most. If you remember in one of my past blogs, when I hire Agents one of my rules is they must be fun! However, this business is very hard and sometimes grueling. We shoulder most of the stress of the transaction so the consumer can have a smooth and painless transaction. If people actually knew how many times we saved their opportunity to buy a new home they would be amazed. As I was saying, one of the most frustrating things about being in Real Estate is that some consumers have no loyalty and don't think what we do is work. Let me say again, it's some of our customers. The majority of our customers are very respectful and loyal to us.

The other day I was talking with one of our customers. He is working with Charlie and he wanted to let me know that Charlie is doing a great job for him. He also let me know that he went to a builder that morning without Charlie. As soon as we hear that, our hearts usually sink. Many times our Realtors will show a customer multitudes of homes only to have the customer call us (sometimes they call) to let us know they either went to an open house, called a listing sign, stopped by a FSBO or dropped in on a builder and bought a home. This happens all the time and it's very tough on our Agent who has put so much work into helping the customer find and buy a home. All of the sudden, we are out of the transaction and our relationship ends. Of course the customer expects us to be very happy about this. We do put on the "that's great!" face but inside the Agent is struggling with what they may have done wrong do be so disrespected by the customer. If you put yourself in the Agents shoes, I'm sure you can appreciate the pain. Not to mention the cost it takes these days to drive people all around our county at $3.30 per gallon!

Ok, let's get back to the great conversation. Charlies customer went to a builder and before he even talked about buying their home, he let them know that he has a Realtor and he was not prepared to cut Charlie out of the deal. The builder was very happy to include Charlie which they all do. As with all builders, the Realtor commission or marketing fee as they may call it, is already built into the price. There are no special deals if you don't use a Realtor. In reality, most people who bypass their Realtor thinking they will get a better deal never do, they actually pay more for the home than if they were with their Realtor. Remember that the employee at the builder is legally bound to work in the Builders best interest and is legally not allowed to represent you at all in the transaction. There is nobody on your side when you don't use your Realtor. While talking to Charlies customer he told me how hard Charlie has worked for him and that they had been in touch for many months prior to them coming down to buy a home. He would have felt terrible having Charlie do all the work he has done and not get paid for all his efforts. It was very refreshing to hear. After all, when you cut your Realtor out of a the transaction they do not get paid for any of the job they had done for you. It's very disheartening when this happens. However, when I talk to people like Charlie's customer, it makes me feel good that someone respects and understands the amount of work we do for our customers. Can you imagine working 40 hours at your job and your boss decided to give your check to someone else?

In closing, our Realtors are going to give you 150% effort in buying or selling your home. We all work extremely long hours and are accessible to you any time and day of the week. All we ask from our customers is the same respect and loyalty that they expect from us.

As always, I'm here to help you in any way I can. If you live in Brevard County or are going to be in the area on April 26th, please give us a call about playing in the golf tournament. If you don't play, please pass the info along to someone you know that plays.

Take care and have a great night!

Mitch