This past week I made a rookie mistake. It’s literally the only time I’ve ever made this mistake in the past 22 year of selling real estate full time. I learned the lesson early on, the easy way, literally when I got my third listing. Here it is, in a nutshell: when a potential client calls to sell their home, you always want to get in front of them as soon as possible.
Back in the spring of 2005 I received a call from a seller on Cambridge in Novato. They asked me to come in for an interview, and they had several planned. I came out the very next day with all my listing material. We were deep into the presentation when the daughter turned to her mother and said, “I don’t think we need to interview anyone else, let’s hire Andy.”
My first broker had advised in one of our company meetings it was always best to be there first, just in case they decide not to interview anyone else. She even mentioned telling sellers that she would call the other agents to cancel their appointments, and that’s exactly what I did! As a new agent at the time with less than 6 months in the industry, it felt pretty gratifying calling the two other experienced agents to tell them they could cancel their appointments. Incidentally, I sold the house for $100,000 over the asking price and my sellers were delighted.
This past Friday I received a call from a potential seller asking me if I could meet at the house to discuss a possible sale. The husband and I spoke for 40 minutes on the phone in a ‘pre-interview’, but the wife wasn’t present. My weekend was packed already with both personal and business appointments. I probably could have made the time if I really wanted to, but I explained to the seller my situation and he thought it would be fine to come in on Tuesday evening.
Monday morning the husband called to say they had interviewed an agent over the weekend and the wife didn’t want to interview anyone else. I dropped the ball by not getting out right away. That being said, I wasn’t too keen on selling this particular property and probably would have made time if it had been more appealing. They wanted to put it on the market in mid-November, which is not a great time in general, especially in that area of San Rafael and I let the seller know that. I must add, the market is extremely hot in Terra Linda right now for remodeled houses, and I think it will stay that way through the end of the year. This wasn’t in Terra Linda, so it was probably safer holding off until the New Year.
If it was a fixer, which this property wasn’t from how the seller described it, then November and December would be great months to sell. There are lots of contractors looking for homes they can flip quickly and get back on the market in the spring. I hope the seller can sell their home quickly. But if not, in this business we have a say. Sometimes it’s better to be the second or third Realtor.