Cary NC Real Estate >> Raleigh & Cary NC Real Estate Blog

Jennifer Allan wrote a featured blog today entitled, "My New Buyer Calls at 7:30 am on Sunday Morning - Do I Jump? You Betcha! " which I really enjoyed reading.  Jennifer always has enlightening stories to share.  While reading Jennifer's blog today it reminded me of an experience that I went through with a client over the past year and a half that started off poorly but, in the end, became a success story. 

Early last year I was at the office working phone duty and a nice elderly lady walked into our office indicating she was looking for a Ranch home in the Cary area and preferably in the Active 55 Subdivision around the corner close to where her daughter lives-in Heritage Pines.  

Many of you have read my blogs and know that I have focused on the Active 55 segment and have targeted this area as a high growth area for my business.  That said, I indicated to the client that I am very knowledgable about the preferred community and area they are looking in indicating I would love to help out.   

I worked w/the client and her husband showing them the available homes on the market, getting them Pre-qualified for the loan, sending them floor-plans on the units they were interested in, restrictive covenants, you name it.  I really thought that I had developed a good working relationship the husband and the wife.  Then I got the dreaded phone call from the wife indicating that someone put a "For Sale By Owner" sign in their yard that very day and that they appreciated my assistance and would be using my lender but that they would be purchasing the home directly from the owner!!  I know we've all been there but I tend to take these things personally.  To say that I was disappointed is an understatement.  And, that was the first occassion of working w/this client. 

I politely indicated to the clients that I enjoyed working with her/them and would love to help them with any additional real estate needs they might have in the future.  I also kept in touch with them and tried to put the past behind me.  Then I get another call from the client(s) indicating they are looking for a Villa in the same neighborhood for the mother/mother-in-law.  I worked with them several months on this opportunity and guess what happend?  Same deal.  The clients were at the Heritage Pines Clubhouse and found out about a gentleman that purchased a Villa and passed away before actually moving in.  So, they bought directly from the owner again.  I'd say all in all the two lost sales cost me $15,000 last year.  Again I kept in touch with the clients and kept a good attitude hoping they would give me a referral somewhere down the line. 

In March of this year I get another call from the same clients.  At this point I'm only imagining why they would be calling.  They have actually decided to sell the Villa in Heritage Pines and buy a Single Family Home in the neighborhood and they want to use me as their listing agent for the Sale!! Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel. 

After two failures with the same clients I have now listed their Villa in Heritage Pines and have it under contract scheduled to close June 6th.  I must admit I could have easily given up on these folks but it's not my nature.  I hung in there and it eventually paid off for me(Another successful closing 6/6).  Since I got the listing I now have another listing in Heritage Pines and the clients have told their neighbors what a great job I've done for them.  I've also sold the other listing in Heritage Pines so I'm batting 1000 at this point. 

My advice to all agents is "Never give up when the chips are down" and "Always hang in there with clients even though you think they may have gotten the best of you".

In the past I've blogged on several occassions about my Cool Mobile office and the benefits of having one. One of my first blogs was entitled Tech Savvy Agents Have an Advantage in the New World Of Real Estate.  And they do! After that I added a few new tools to my toolkit and wrote How to set-up a world class Mobile Office with 5 Simple Devices and showed agents how to get going.  Honestly, I can't imagine living w/out all of my tools now.  I'm  on the go all the time and my mobile office helps me keep in touch when I'm out of pocket. 

I found that the devices were great but it was cumbersome when I had to dismantle all of the "stuff" and reconnect it in my car.  Further I had a hard time w/my tablet when I had clients.  I had to balance the tablet on the steering wheel, in the middle console, on the hood, etc.  When I flew to Dallas to visit my parents in March I read about a device that actually buckled into your seat, had space for a calculator, extra paper, a perfect area to sit my laptop so it won't slide around, and two integrated power outlets (one for my laptop and one for my printer).  

Those days of juggling my laptop are over. I bought the AEGRIPSUPER-01 Super AutoExec Mobile Workplace w/Power Supply.  I decided that the Auto Exec was the perfect fix to my current problem.  And, so far,  it has been. The benefits are fabulous and my stress level over having an organized "mobile office" are over.  I can pull up listings on demand and write paperwork and print it out when needed.  

If you have been on the fence about "going mobile" don't wait until you are the last agent to jump on board.  By then, you may be left in the dust.
 

Forgive me Rainers for not keeping in touch.  I have had a crazy spring season and, unfortunately haven't been able to keep up the blogging.  However, the events that transpired yesterday were just too juicy not to share w/my Rainer friends.  There certainly is one thing I can say about this business - every day is a new day and no two days are alike. 

I had back to back closings yesterday.  Yeah!! Well that's the way it was supposed to go down.  In real estate there is always something that comes up.  Read on for the details. 

Some long time friends of mine that used to live next to me in Park Village sold their home with me and bought another larger home in Wellsley in the afternoon (these neighborhoods are right around the corner from each other).  My friends put their house on the market at the beginning of April and they had multiple offers on their home the 1st day.  They spent a lot of time, based on my advice, getting their home ready to sell and it really made a difference.  They spiffed-up the landscaping, repainted the entire home, and we even had it staged. 

Everything on the sale of the Park Village home went as planned.  My clients moved into a hotel the day before to make sure the home was ready the day of closing.  They sent a cleaning crew and carpet cleaners the day before closing so the home looked fabulous for the walk through at 1pm .   At the closing yesterday at 10am the sellers were happy,  the buyers were happy, the Buyers Agent-Erin Callahan- was also great to work with. 

That leads me to what happened at the walk through for the home my clients were scheduled to close on at 2pm in Wellsley.  The sellers of this home were using a company that provided an Entry Only listing in the MLS.  So, I worked directly with the sellers from contract to Closing.   On a side note-I had written in the contract that the sellers would have a cleaning crew clean the home and have the carpets professionally cleaned.  So, earlier this week I call Mr. & Mrs. Seller to find out when  when they will be moving.  They tell me they are moving on Thursday and Friday.  I paused  thinking - how in the world will they be able to get out of the home on Friday, have us do a walk through, and have the cleaners in all before 2pm... I've been in this business long enough to smell a rat and it was a big one.  Well maybe not a rat.... So I schedule the walk through at 1pm the day of closing knowing they wouldn't be ready regardless of the fact the sellers have assured me that the home will be ready. 

1pm yesterday my clients and I show up to the home as scheduled to find the sellers in the midst of moving things out of the home.  They indicate that they signed the day before!! Just because sellers sign the paperwork on the sale of their home doesn't mean my clients are going to sign on a home that is still being occupied by the sellers!! I think that came as a shock to them.  What planet are they from? See the picture to the right? Does it look like they are ready to close?  The wife was in the kitchen packing up the pantry when I arrived. Needless to say the repairs weren't been completed nor the home professionally cleaned!! 

Here is another good one.  I had requested that the owners take their pets with them so that the little boy(who is allergic to pets) won't see the gigantic snake in the garage, the three cats, and the big dog looming around.  I walk in and the cat flies out of the cupboard and the dog runs out of the bathroom.  We spent a half an hour chasing them down - at the same time (2pm) that we were supposed to close!!! Thank goodness little Freddie didn't see the commotion. 

I immediately divert the cleaning crew scheduled for another job to this home and I informed the sellers that if they weren't out by 4pm we wouldn't be closing.  I owe a lot to Mirna Alvarez for bringing the girls over and making the best of a very bad situation.  Mirna helped the sellers move their "stuff" out of the home and cleaned everything up so my clients could get into the home last night.   As for the former owners - they showed up at 9pm to collect the rest of their stuff.  The nerve!!

Anyway, yesterday is behind myself and my clients.  They have a beautiful new home and are happy to get settled in and move on!!