Buyers want a house, not an agent
Seth said to post something really interesting today (today was Seth Godin's 3000th post and this is my 791st).
I'll try my best.
I get a lot of inquiries from my website and blog. There seem to be two kinds of buyers. Some buyers are looking for an agent to help them with the purchase of a home, other buyers just want a doorman to open the lockbox and let them see the house.
Obviously, I prefer the first.
When I get an inquiry from someone who has searched the Charleston MLS on my website and they want to see just one home and if it isn't one of my personal listings, I always send the same email.
I'd be happy to show you this home whenever it is mutually convenient. A couple of quick questions, are you working with any other real estate agents, do you have a preapproval letter from your lender. Let me know what times and days are good.
You have to understand that real estate agents are required to ask if you are working with another agent before meeting them unless it is their personal listing. It's simply my personal preference to not waste my time showing homes to anyone who isn't financially qualified to buy.
Here is what's amazing. Very few ever reply to that email. Maybe they were working with another agent, maybe they haven't met with a lender to get approval, maybe they were just curious about seeing one particular house but overall, it seems they really didn't care very much about an agent.
Years ago when I first started in real estate, I might rush out at the first hint of a possible client and show them a house they wanted to see. Actually, not one of those people ever wound up using me as their real estate agent. So I learned quickly that I didn't want to become a doorman.
But Russell Shaw says, buyers want a house, not an agent. So what's an agent to do.
Photo courtesy of Flickr by ElvertBarnes