Behind Door Number One…

I will have to say that I am no big fan of Vanna White. I don’t know her as a person, but I was always annoyed when she stood there and turned over letters (or touched the spot to light them up). I’ve never been a big fan of The Price Is Right for the same reason. Having models stand there and point to cars or washing machines or letters that are clearly visible has always seemed unnecessary.

Yesterday, I was following a conversation on Twitter involving Rob Hahn. He was wondering what the agent’s role was at a showing. Good question.

Rob, I am no Vanna White. I also realize that my role is not, as it has been in years past, to be the initial conduit of information. By the time my clients see the property, they are familiar with it, having seen photos, video tours, and likely having driven by. In some instances, they are savvy enough to have met the neighbors and have asked about neighborhood conditions. The last thing that they need is for me to walk through and pose in the kitchen saying, “Look at the granite countertops!”

When I walk through a property with a client, I take notes. What are the questions that there are no readily accessible answers to? This is where I am useful. Once they settle on a couple of properties, are there any albatrosses associated with them? Familiarity with the area helps with this. One property that I had shown last year abutted a proposed development that I discovered had been deep-sixed a week before. My clients are happily living there today.

My added value to the client lies not in that I have access to the lockbox codes or pay for an electronic key. And any agent can schedule a showing. I think I am useful in my observations of the buyer- sensing what is important, and following up with detailed information in that regard. In this way, they can arrive at the best decision for themselves, and this decision will be different than, say, any other buyer looking for a 3 bedroom 2 story with a garage in a certain zip code with a price cap of $400,000. How can there be a cookie-cutter approach to this?

Showing homes is not rocket science. It is an art. It is not a matter of pointing out the master bath surround, or the partially-finished basement, which the buyer has likely already seen even before stepping into the house. In this market, it is listening and trying to help whittle down the choices available so that the sheer numbers of properties out there do not cause paralysis.

Yes, I open the door. I walk through with the buyers. But in this age of readily available information, the property itself confirms or dispels any preconceived notions about it that a buyer has. So what I am trying to do is open a different door- not a door to a home, but a door to the buyers themselves, and help them through the process of choosing what they really want and walk them through the steps of ownership. That’s my value.

Real estate or social media questions? Find me
...On Facebook where you can access a home search
...All of my online links
...On LinkedIn
...Email me at diane@realtyman.com
...or call 978-840-4014