How to Become your Realtor’s Favorite Client!

I’m a people pleaser to a fault. I NEED people to like me. If you don’t, I will kill you with kindness until you do. I need my kids’ teachers to like me, I even need my counselor to like me- when I first started seeing her, I would make sure I asked her some personal questions to show that I cared about her and wasn’t just there to talk about myself… until she told me that she actually did like me and looked forward to my appointments (it could have been a lie, but it sure helped).

Quite often in my job, clients will call me and say “I’m so sorry to bother you…” or, “I feel bad for bugging you, but can we see this and this house?”, or if the house isn’t the right one, they’ll apologize for wasting my time.  It’s time for a pep talk to correct this thinking! Stop apologizing!

My job is to work for you! That means taking your calls, answering your texts and showing you homes! When I signed up for this career, I knew it was not an 8-5 job because likely, if you are purchasing a home those are hours that you are working your job so I need to be available for your evenings and weekends off! I love my job- I love looking at homes and finding the right one for you, or showing someone your home so that it can sell and you can move on. If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be doing it. Most of my work happens in the evenings and on weekends, so PLEASE call me whenever it works for you! (If it’s at 1am, I may not reply right away…) I get the majority of my texts/calls between 8-9am, lunch hours, and after 5pm, so you are not intruding. If I don’t answer, it just means that I am with someone else and will get right back to you as soon as you can! When we look at homes, it doesn’t bother me that you aren’t purchasing the first one we look at- that is a RARE occurrence. It’s important to see several homes to compare and become familiar with the market so that you know when your deal comes. This is your largest investment in life- not something to rush into because you feel bad that you’re taking up someone’s time (remember… this is my job!).  If you’re feeling rushed or pushed or pressured in any way, get out of that situation and find a new Realtor!

BUT… if you want to be sure that you’re a favorite here are a couple tips to make sure you’re in the good books!

1. Get Pre-Approved. No pre-approval means no house showings. I usually meet up with new buyers to explain the process of purchasing a home and what it looks like, how we will go about finding the right fit. After that, I send you to the bank/lender of your choice to meet up with them and hand over your paystubs and financial information. They take a look at your credit score, savings (for your downpayment and closing costs), and let you know what price of home you can afford. It’s not scary. It’s not intimidating. If it is, find a new bank/lender. You do not have to go to the bank that you have your bank account at. When I was newly single, I knew that I was in rough shape financially. I sat down with my lender and told her my goal was to purchase a home and asked her what I needed to do to make that happen. She pulled my credit score, highlighted the items I needed to clean up and debts I needed to pay off, got me a credit card to help build my score and in 2 years I was good to go! If you are declined or not qualified the first time you meet, that is not a failure. That is education and 1 step towards your goal. It is something to be proud of. You are taking your future in your hands. If you are NOT pre-qualified or waiting for your banker to get back to you, I can sign you up for an “auto email” that has your search parameters on what type of home you are looking for and the area. It automatically sends you all new listings that come on the market, and it helps you get a feel for what is out there and the pricing of the current market- it sets you up for realistic expectations on what you will be getting/price point. Which brings me to my next point…
2. Have Realistic Expectations. We all want a 5 bed 3 bath home close to schools with a huge yard for under $200000. But unfortunately in most cases that isn’t possible. Have a list of your “needs” and “wants” (HGTV), and figure out what you are willing to be flexible on, and what is not negotiable. Once you have seen a few homes or taken a look at your auto email and seen what homes with your needs are selling for, this may need to be adjusted. A miracle once in a lifetime deal rarely happens. If it does, chances are you will be up against 100s of others that have been waiting for that deal. And unlike HGTV, we don’t get qualified for $1 million mortgages with a basket weaving or yarn sorting job. It is important to be picky about the things that are your priority, but it is just as important to be realistic and know when expectations need to be slightly adjusted.
3. Respect all Parties’ Time.  How horrible would it be if I showed you a home and while you were looking around, I was on my phone texting other people or taking calls? The only time that it is frustrating as a Realtor is when someone wants to look at a home “just for fun”, or because they’ve always wondered what it would look like inside. There’s a difference if you are in the market and it’s a wildcard home that you’d like to feel out and check to see if it could actually work for you. But if you honestly have no intentions of moving or purchasing or even considering that home, you need to consider all the time and effort that others have put into making that showing possible. The home owners/sellers have spent time cleaning their home in hopes that this is the showing that will bring them an offer. They have found a place to go with their family during the showing time (which is typically right over a supper hour so it costs them a supper out). As a Realtor showing the home, I usually put in at least 30 minutes of time into researching the home that we will be viewing- looking into improvements, history of the home, tax & utility info, property assessments and property lines- it’s not just something that we show up for to hang out for 30 minutes. As much as I am more than willing to take my evenings and spend them with my buyers, if it is “just for fun”, then I would prefer to be at home with my kids or with clients that are seriously looking for a home that have limited time frames that we took time away from. If it’s a boredom thing, I 100% believe that there are more entertaining things out there than hanging out with me in homes! I’m fun, but not that fun…

If you are doing all 3 of those items above, you are 100% in my good books and have nothing to worry about! My favorite texts that I get from clients are the random ones of something funny they’ve seen online (an ugly house for sale or a weird toilet placement), or questions about real estate to settle arguments with their husbands or even the difficult ones from people going through hard times and trying to figure out where the heck to start and which direction financially they need to go to either stay in their home, or get it sold to start fresh. They’re never dreaded– let’s be real. I’m probably just designing rooms on my “Design Home” app, or online shopping on Amazon. Save me!